The lights were on, and the sideline was packed full of fans, as the Swift Current Comp Colts delivered a statement win in their biggest home game of the regular season.

Thursday Night Lights brought a battle with the visiting Moose Jaw Peacock Tornadoes at Colts Field, and with it, a resounding 23-0 shutout win for Swift Current.

The Colts hit the field in their "Colour Rush" uniforms, emulating that of a former National Football League theme on Thursday Night Football - photo by Jody Seidler


"I think it started with the defence, and I guess it ends with the defence when you don't let a team score," said Colts head coach Derek Murdoch. "The defence was steady right from the start, and that kind of gives you a chance to kind of get to the game plan."

In a game heard live on The Eagle 94.1, tt was fitting that, in a stout defensive effort, the eventual winning points were set up by the defence.

With both teams still trying to feel out the opposition and get in a rhythm in the first quarter, the Colts D swarmed the Tornadoes run-heavy offence, heavily winning the field position battle.

The Colts pinned Peacock deep in their own end, eventually forcing the Tornadoes punter to take a knee in the end zone for a safety.

Adding a rouge on a missed field goal, the Colts held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter.

Things heated up in the second for the Colts offence.

"We've got too many guys that can make plays to not get that going eventually," said Murdoch.

Though, the first touchdown of the game came from one of the least likely suspects - grade 11 offensive lineman Lief Zeeb.

"That's my first touchdown, it's not something I ever expected to get to do as a lineman," said Zeeb, who caught an 8-yard dart from quarterback Carter Moberg in the end zone.

"They put me in at tight end, I saw the ball coming, and just dove down for it and made it happen - it was awesome."

Big play after big play started to rack up for the Colts, whose diverse offensive attack proved too much for the Peacock defenders.

Moberg and his tallest target, slot receiver Carson Letkeman, connected on a beautiful passing play midway through the second quarter.

Letkeman snagged a short seam pass from Moberg, and did the rest himself. He shook off several defenders, powering through a Peacock defensive back at the goal line for a 37-yard touchdown.

As well, offensive weapon Rhett Vavra wreaked havoc on the Tornadoes defenders, gouging them with pure speed.

Rhett Vavra had himself a night under the lights - photo by Jody Seidler


Vavra totalled just nine touches on the night, but did he ever make the most of them. He tallied seven rushes for 184 yards, and two catches for 109 yards - an average of 32.5 yards per play.

Moberg found Vavra on a little hitch play with under a minute to go in the second quarter - the receiver turned that into a 77-yard gain, eventually setting up Ethan Kurtz for a field goal.

The Colts took a 20-0 lead into the half, and continued to spread around the ball in the running game in the second half.

The ground game saw a heavy usage increase from Week 1 to Week 2, with Jordan Lamontagne logging a large dose of those carries.

Lamontagne ran aggressively to the tune of 15 carries for 82 yards. Rookie Josh Laroya also came on as a bit of a change-of-pace back, with bruiser Shane Friesen held out of the lineup with an injury, tacking on 17 yards on four touches.

"I'm sure every team that plays us is going to be really worried about Rhett, so to be able to run the ball successfully is obviously a huge advantage," said Murdoch. "Jordie was awesome for the second week in a row - really ran well, Josh Laroya played really well really for his first game, and then Rhett running the football, whether it was the Wildcat, or some of the jet stuff."

"When you're running the football effectively, it just makes everything else so much easier."

Ethan Kurtz scored the lone second-half points on a 25-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.

The Colts' crisp execution of the game plan and relatively mistake-free game was not only the goal against Peacock, but after a frustrating 35-30 loss to Central in Week 1, it was an expectation as well.

"The message was pretty loud and pretty clear that the challenge is on - we have to be better," said Murdoch. "Most of the guys knew it - they didn't need to hear it over, and over, and over. But, we made sure they heard it over, and over, and over. They answered, and it was good."

The Colts advance to 1-1 on the season, and have a three-day stint without a practice.

After that? Prep for the biggest game of the regular season.

"We're going to challenge them to come back Monday ready to go," said Murdoch, whose Colts squad is off to Eastern Saskatchewan next Saturday to face the Yorkton Raiders.

"You're going to play the two-time defending champs on their home field. They've had the bye this week, so they'll be well-rested and probably as healthy as they can be. We'll watch film from their game against Vanier in Week 1."

"We're 1-1 and this was great, now Thursday Night Lights is done. Be ready to go to work on Monday."

The Colts and Raiders will do battle September 21 at 2 p.m.