The 2015 Swift Current Colts Season Review

Another season of Swift Current Colts football has come to an end.

Following a 33-0 loss to Moose Jaw Peacock on Saturday in the league semi-final, the Colts were eliminated from the playoffs and from provincial contention, bringing their 2015 campaign to a close.

It was a season of ups and downs for Swift Current, as a slow start had them searching for consistency early on.

The Colts kicked-off their season on September 3, playing host to the favoured Moose Jaw Peacock Tornadoes.

Moose Jaw controlled the game from start to finish, spoiling Swift Current's home opener by handing the Colts a 46-0 loss.

Nine days later, the Colts continued their season with a stop in Yorkton.

Despite only trailing 11-8 in the final three minutes of the game, a couple of late Yorkton touchdowns would seal it, and drop the Colts to 0-2 out of the gate.

Next, the Colts returned home for their much anticipated 'Thursday Night Lights' game against Moose Jaw Central.

Hoping the excitement of playing under the lights and in front of a big crowd would help Swift Current get into the win column, Central quickly proved that was not going to be the case.

The Cyclones defeated the Colts 34-12, which left Swift Current Head Coach Derek Murdoch frustrated afterwards.

"I'm disappointed, I thought we would come out and have a little bit more. We didn't get in a big hole or anything early, we were back and forth at the start. They just did things that we knew they were going to do, but we were unable to stop it. Again though, if you don't score, you're not going to win and this is the third game in a row we didn't score in the first half," he said.

Following the loss to the Cylcones, Swift Current realized that in order to host a playoff game, they would most likely need to win their final three games of the regular season.

With that in mind, the Colts travelled to Weyburn on September 26.

Although they were able to keep the game close, Swift Current was unable to get the victory, dropping a 22-14 decision.

Falling to 0-4 on the season, Murdoch said the team was not going to hang their heads and perhaps even foreshadowed what was about to come.

"If we can just get a win and get the gorilla off our back, it will go a long ways. The guys are frustrated, but no one is throwing in the towel which is the great thing about our team. I think they all realize how close we are but a win would go a long way to making a humongous difference and we are going to try and do everything we can week to make that happen," he said.

Sure enough, that following week, hosting Estevan on a wet and soggy Colts Field, everything clicked for Swift Current.

The Colts ran the ball well, they threw the ball well, and has they had been all year, their defense played very well again, leading to a 49-0 dismantling of the Elecs.

As it turns out, a rainy day was just what the doctor ordered to help this team find that elusive first win.

"Our game plan was to pound the ball, so when I woke up and saw the rain and saw how wet it was I had to chuckle because things kind of worked out for us that way. Before the game we talked about just going out and having everyone get messy, muddy and full of dirt and just having fun," Murdoch said after the victory.

Whether it was just a matter of getting the 'gorilla off their backs' or something else, the Colts season changed on a dime after the Estevan win.

Rounding out their regular season schedule in Moose Jaw against Vanier, the Colts still had a chance to host a playoff game.

In order for that to happen, Swift Current would need to defeat Vanier by 15 or more points.

The Colts would go on to win the game 20-6, as they came up just 1 point shy of bringing the playoffs to Colts Field.

However, despite coming up 1 point short, the team was still happy to be on a bit of a roll and building momentum as the playoffs rapidly approached.

Swift Current would finish 5th in league standings meaning they would travel to Moose Jaw for their quarter-final match to take on 4th ranked Vanier for a second straight week.

Looking for their first playoff win since 2009, the Colts went into Moose Jaw and promptly put an end to the six-year drought, defeating the Vikings 33-20.

Murdoch says the team was ready to go right from the opening kick.

"We just took over right from the start. Offensively we got the ball to start the game and we drove the field and scored, while chewing up four or five minutes off the clock. Then our defense got on the field and forced a fumble on the second play that Vanier ran and we got the ball and went down and scored again to really set the tone for the first half. We head such a good start, that we just rolled off of that," he said.

Winning their first playoff game since 2009 was in large part, thanks to the team's character and heart Murdoch felt.

"Our guys have battled. We talked right from day one, even after that first loss to Peacock that we knew we were a better football team then we had showed in week one. Then we had the same conversation after week two, and after week three, but the guys always believed we could be a good football team, and they have continued to work really hard. We have had those low moments, but now we are rolling and the guys are feeling pretty good about things."

Despite losing to Peacock in the semi-final, Murdoch was proud of this team and acknowledged how important that have been in continuing to build up the program.

"We've come a long way in the last few years, in terms of the culture and the vibe and our place in the community and the school. We are now a program that people want to be a part of and that used to make it difficult to recruit guys and now I think that is turning around, and it has a lot to do with those guys in the locker room," he added.

There will be plenty of new faces with the Colts next year, as they will lose a total of 17 graduating players.