The regular season didn’t end how the Peacock Tornadoes would have hoped, but they made sure they kicked off the post-season on the right foot on Saturday.

The second place Tornadoes cruised to a 49-6 win over the Estevan Elecs in the Moose Jaw High School Football League quarterfinals at Gutheridge Field.

“It was nice to get this first playoff win and get it out of the way for sure,” said Peacock quarterback Garrick Ward.

After losing 48-0 to the Yorkton Raiders in the regular season finale on Tuesday and having some key players go down with injuries, the Tornadoes quickly regrouped and got back on track with some new players coming up big.

“We went to the orange jerseys, the green ones have had some bad luck for us, so that helped a lot,” said Peacock head coach Bert Redstone.  “Getting the guys to play downhill again was huge, but it’s got to continue going forward.”

Ward led the way for Peacock as a duel threat in the win, completing just four passes for 85 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception, but adding 184 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Peacock's Mason Kurz powers through a tackle on his way to 129 rushing yards in Saturday's quarterfinal win for Peacock over Estevan. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Mason Kurz took Jackson Woloschuk’s spot in the lineup and served as running back and safety in the win for Peacock.  He powered his way to 129 rush yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in the win.

“I got put in two new spots for a big game in the season and it was definitely interesting,” said Kurz after the win.  “It was a lot of fun, I was glad to be put there.”

“We had Dawson Kurz, his brother, as running back last year and so when we had some guys get dinged up, Mason was excited to play and he was wearing his brother’s old pads, so there was some Dawson in him as well,” added Redstone.

The Tornadoes finished with 308 rushing yards and 462 total yards during a big day for the offence against the seventh place Elecs.

Peacock jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with touchdowns from Ward and Kurz.  Ward’s second of the game gave the Tornadoes a 21-0 lead at halftime.

Ward broke into the open field for a 47-yard touchdown in the opening two minutes of the second half and Peacock continued to roll after that.  Kurz and Tony Cushway added scores in the third quarter and then Tristen Kuntz sealed the win with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown with five seconds left.

Estevan grade 9 running back Hunter Eagles was the bright spot all season for the Elecs and that continued in the playoffs as he rushed 102 yards on 13 carries and finished the game with a 73-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“I was saying to myself that this is my last game to make something happen, so I tried my best, I didn’t really come off the field too much and finished strong,” he said.  “I wish I could have done more.”

It was going to be an uphill fight for the Elecs against the five-time defending league champion Tornadoes.  Eagles said they came out slow and couldn’t catch up.

“The first few quarters weren’t too good, but the fourth quarter some stuff started to come together, which was nice, and the defence made some big stops too, which was really good for us,” he said.

Estevan running back Hunter Eagles hurdles a Peacock defender during Saturday's quarterfinal meeting at Gutheridge Field. (Photo: Marc Smith)

The Tornadoes now advance into the semifinals to face the Swift Current Colts.

Redstone said this win was a much-needed confidence boost for Peacock.

“We needed to get through a game unscathed and we needed to have that, it’d been a few games since we came through a game clean, so that was big and will get the kids playing more confident,” he said.

The Colts finished fourth during the regular season with a 3-3 record and knocked off the fifth place Weyburn Eagles, 24-0, in their quarterfinal match-up on Saturday.

Swift Current receiver Nic Bachiu finished with four catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Parker Strojwas rushed for 125 yards on 21 carries as the Colts’ offence finished with 236 yards along the ground in the win.

The semifinal match-up will go this Saturday at Gutheridge Field. Kick-off is at 1 p.m.

The other semifinal will have Vanier heading to Yorkton after the Vikings topped the Central Cyclones in the quarterfinals.