The struggles the Peacock Tornadoes had on the field didn’t compare at all to the struggles they had at times on the field, and that was never more evident than in their Rural High School Football League Tier II final Saturday against the upstart Estevan Elecs.

At practice the evening before the playoff game, one of Peacock’s defensive backs had to be taken off the field and told his family’s house was burning down.

Between that and the death in the family of one of the coaches, the injuries and on-field struggles the Tornadoes had seemed minor.

“It’s just hard to focus on football when you’ve got all this stuff behind the scenes,” said Tornadoes head coach Bert Redstone after the Tornadoes 23-0 loss to the Elecs.

“(Also) injuries beset us brutally this year. You go into what is still a playoff game with your quarterback out, your running back is out, your top receiver’s out, your other top receiver goes out and your third best receiver is also not here. So what do you do?”

Receiver Davin Miller stepped in at quarterback for most of the game and performed bravely under the circumstances. But Redstone said it’s hard to win in a football season with only four grade 12s.

He felt the Peacock defence played well given their circumstances as well.

“It’s hard to have the offence go two and outs and have the defence on the field the whole time, and then you’ve got offensive injuries and so defensive guys are going both ways,” Redstone said. “Guts out on the field. It’s just awesome.”

Estevan meanwhile, added a trophy to a case that has been pretty barren in recent memory. The win is huge for their program, according to Elecs head coach Mark Schott.

“It’s our program’s first ever win over Peacock and our first shutout victory in the playoffs,” Schott said. “We’re pretty excited, we’re pretty happy and we played an excellent game today.” A lot of offensive weapons like quarterback Kaleb Bechtold, receivers Nigel Mack and Chase Martel, and defensive monsters like Kolby Forseth and rookie Justice Guillas had great playoff games.

“This is definitely the best Elecs team that we’ve ever had,” said Schott. “Our program is moving in the right direction. It’s a huge step for us and it’s been a long time coming. We’re really excited with the results today and we hope that that can translate to more success moving forward.”

In the Tier I final, the Yorkton Raiders defeated the Swift Current Colts 31-17.

Saturday, the Raiders will host Saskatoon’s Bishop Mahoney Saints for the provincial championship.

The Raiders may have met their match in the Saints. Bishop Mahoney has allowed only 14 points in their three playoff wins, including a 14-2 win over Balgonie Greenall, while scoring 93 points.