Raiders, defending champion Lancers dominanting WHSFL

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This article was published 12/10/2024 (724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Time heals all wounds — unless you don’t want it to.

Nearly a year later, the Oak Park Raiders still revisit their gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Dakota Lancers in the Winnipeg High School Football League AAAA semifinals.

“We talk about it weekly, this group of guys. And it just feels like yesterday,” said head coach Chris Ollson.

It can be a painful process, unlocking those cold memories from last November, but Ollson has no problem with his players living in the past for a few moments if it means it’ll motivate them for the future.

This season, the 6-0 Raiders have looked like a team on a mission to avenge their early exit.

Oak Park, who has climbed to No. 10 in canadafootballchat.com’s national high school rankings, has yet to allow a point against this year while knocking off perennial powerhouse St. Paul’s 42-0 and last year’s AAAA runner-up, Grant Park 52-0.

“For whatever reason, this team is clicking very, very well and they’re playing solid football, which is the best football I’ve seen Oak Park play in a long time,” said Ollson, who has been with the football program since 2012.

“The zero points against was nothing that we tried to do, it’s just kind of been happening and a little bit of luck in there, as well, because St. Paul’s has had the ball deep in our red zone, Grant Park had it in our red zone, Sturgeon had it in our red zone and our guys kind of make the plays they need to,” said Ollson.

The Raiders’ talent-laden defence has made life easy for the rest of the team, but that hasn’t stopped the offence from posting nearly 50 points per outing.

Running back Onan Furst has cemented himself as one of the best weapons in the local scene, with 916 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns, while receiver Nathan Esch has become a nightmare for defences to stop through the air.

Oak Park returned 15 starters — seven on offence, eight on defence — but was delivered a large blow when quarterback Ryan Wirtzfield elected to transfer to The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., prior to the season.

Wirtzfield was one of the best pivots in the province last year and was expected to be the engine of the offence once again, which has made the turnaround all the more impressive.

“It’s the time of the year where we’ve been going hard for two months already — some days we’re going four hours a day with football academy, film and practice — it’s a grind for these young guys, even our coaches, and Wednesday was probably our best practice of the year,” Ollson said.

“They just keep answering the bell. They just keep coming back for more, and I can’t commend this team enough for that.”

If the Raiders plan on reaching their goal, they may have to exorcise some demons to do it.

The 6-0 Lancers are strong once again and just as hungry to repeat following their first AAAA championship in program history.

While an undefeated season has been nice, head coach Mitch Harrison is more concerned with his team being battle-tested for the most important stretch of the campaign.

“The challenge is last year we had a lot more competitive games,” said Harrison, whose team has outscored its opponents, 313-8. “This year, the challenge has been keeping everyone focused on the task at hand even though the score isn’t really in a competitive spot.

“We’ve really just been amplifying the intensity in our practices, running a lot more game scenarios and two-minute drills and doing a lot more best-on-best work so we’re getting more difficult reps during the practice week so we’re ready for the game, I think would be the biggest change for us this year.”

Dakota has been so convincing that it’s climbed to No. 2 in the national rankings, the highest a Manitoba school has ever been. The experienced roster, which returned 13 starters, has won through an explosive offence and a ferocious defence that features a trio of defensive linemen who all appear destined to play at the next level.

Carter Kalcsics and Destiny Okedara, both in Grade 12, each have official offers from multiple U Sports programs while Ryan North (Grade 11) is already in talks with post-secondary schools.

“I guess I’m surprised that it’s only been one touchdown (against), like you don’t really plan for something like that,” said Harrison. “But am I surprised that they’re executing and making plays? Our D-Line is such a talented group that I understand why it’s difficult for some teams to move the ball.”

The Lancers haven’t rested on their laurels this season — Harrison has made sure of it. Instead, the coaching staff has used last season’s success as a tool to remind players they know what it takes to go all the way.

“All you accomplished was putting a target on your back,” is the message the head coach has preached. “We’re going to get every team’s best shot now because they know who we are and we need to be ready for that every week.”

It’s an effort they are sure to get from Oak Park should they meet again in the playoffs.

Harrison said he hasn’t watched last season’s tape since the day after Dakota won the championship — when he began preparing for the 2024 season.

“We didn’t finish what we wanted,” he said. “We won one but that’s not the end of it. We want this to be a sustained program that has sustained success.”

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Behind Dakota in the strong South East Division are Grant Park, the Steinbach Sabres and Vincent Massey Trojans at 4-2, while the Kelvin Clippers are 2-4 with one game remaining in the regular season.

Trailing Oak Park in the hotly contested South West Division is St. Paul’s and the Crocus Plainsmen, both at 4-2, and the Sturgeon Heights Huskies and Vincent Massey (Brandon) Vikings, both at 3-3.

The Springfield Sabres (4-2) pace a North East Division that also includes the River East Kodiaks at 3-3 and Miles Macdonell Buckyes, Kildonan East Reivers and Murdoch MacKay, all at 1-5. The Elmwood Giants lead the North West at 4-2, while the West Kildonan Wolverines (3-3), Maples Marauders (2-4), Garden City Gophers (1-5) and Sisler Spartans (0-6) trail.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam