Tigers off to solid start in RMFL

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Published on Monday, September 23, 2013

By: Lanny Stewart

myWestman.ca

The Neepawa Tigers are off to one of their better starts in recent memory in the Rural Manitoba Football League.

The high school team has had some rough seasons in the RMFL the last few years, but so far in 2013 the club has been able to have some success, winning two of its first three contests.

First year head coach David Clark, an alumni of the program, says the coaching staff, which includes other former Tigers in Myles Cathcart, Rick Baker, Michael Douglas among others, have a vested interest in the club and want it to succeed.

"We just wanted to re-instill the pride of the football team," said Clark. "We knew going into the season that everyone was going to have to earn their spot. We have some young guys coming in, so we were basically going to keep it simple and once we felt we were able to execute the simple plays, we'll start throwing in others [plays]. But the biggest thing was to keep it simple and execute."

Last Friday, the Tigers showed just how much they have improved from years past. After falling behind 24-8 to Swan Valley after two quarters of play, the team was able to rebound in the second half en route to a 46-30 win.

"I didn't like how the guys looked after warmup," said Clark. "They were a little bit too loose and I don't think we were really prepared for the start of the game.

The Tigers wound up turning the ball over on consecutive kickoffs to begin the contest and were down 14-0 approximately five minutes into the game.

"That was a bit of a wake up call for these guys," continued Clark. "Once we kind of settled down, we were able to make some adjustments and we were able put up some good numbers in the second half."

The Tigers defence shined in the second half, forcing three fumbles and keeping the Swan Valley offence from displaying the rhythm they showed earlier the contest. Neepawa's offence also was able to display a strong running game as well, outscoring Swan Valley 38-6 in the final two quarters.

Neepawa quarterback Brenden Cowan finished the day with four touchdown runs, while on defence, Wyatt Salmon had a big day with nine tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

"We regrouped after the half and explained to the guys that you can't be looking at the scoreboard," said Clark.

He says a big reason for the club's success so far this year is the fact the club has more players than it did in years past. The Tigers currently have 23 players on their roster compared to 14 a year ago.

"We tried to get some more players involved in the program. Guys were expected to play both sides of the ball -- that wears on you after a while. So we were able to do some recruiting and get some Grade 9s and Grade 10s coming out."

Clark also gave credit to the previous coaching staff, led by Mike Davids, for helping set the stage for this season.

"Mike (Davids) did a good job of laying down who the base of veterans were for us -- who they were and so forth. We told the veterans at the start of the year that it was going to be a different year. We wanted them to kind of take ownership with what's been going on with the program and be proud of the program.

"The guys are really buying in to what we're trying to preach and I think they're starting to realize that now," he continued. "You've got to learn how to win. You can get pretty used to losing. It's not fun to lose but it can sometimes become a habit."

So far, so good for the Tigers, who will travel to Ste. Rose to take on the East Parkland Warriors on Friday.