The peewee River Riders battle against the Clavet Cougars last season. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Opening day

P.A. football teams ready to take the field for upcoming season

Sep 6, 2024 | 5:20 PM

As the days slowly get shorter and the leaves begin to turn colour, some athletes in Prince Albert are taking that as a sign that football season is on the horizon.

The season is set to get underway this weekend with both high school and minor football teams hitting the gridiron.

However, Prince Albert teams cannot start the season on the newly-renovated Max Clunie Field, so home games will be played elsewhere until the complex upgrades are complete.

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It’s rumoured that the first game on the new field will be the 12th annual Canadian Tire Classic between Carlton and St. Mary on Sept. 27.

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High School Football

Carlton and St. Mary will be playing in the North Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL) for its second installment with the league’s five tenants remaining the same. Both P.A. institutions will be joined by Martensville, North Battleford Comprehensive, and Lloydminster Comprehensive.

As is tradition, every NSFL team will play an exhibition game against an out-of-league opponent. This season, every school aside from Martensville will play against two out-of-league schools.

Carlton will face off with Saskatoon powerhouse Holy Cross in Prince Albert on Friday before playing their second exhibition contest in the last week of the regular season, heading to Saskatoon to line up against Centennial Collegiate on Oct. 11. Meanwhile, St. Mary will head to Alberta on Saturday to play their first exhibition against St. Paul Regional while their second game comes next week on Friday in Saskatoon versus Marion Graham.

To begin the regular season, Carlton will kick things off at home hosting North Battleford on Sept. 13 while St. Mary will begin the campaign on Sept. 20, also in Prince Albert against North Battleford.

Minor Football

The Prince Albert River Riders are ready to rumble this season and are looking to build off a successful 2023 campaign.

Looking back at last year, the Pee Wee River Riders managed a ninth-place finish in the Kinsmen Football League (KFL), defeating the Clavet Cougars 42-39 in a consolation game. To start the 2024 season, P.A. will open the season in Saskatoon on Sunday against the defending KFL champion Steelers at 9:00 a.m.

The bantam River Riders are also set to launch on Sunday, facing Clavet in their season opener in Saskatoon at 1:00 p.m. Just a couple seasons ago, the Bantams won it all claiming the program’s first KFL title since its inauguration in 2008. The bantams, again, managed success last season posting a winning record of 4-2 and capturing a semi-final playoff berth.

Playoffs in the KFL will begin towards the end of October.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com