The John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders football team play Humboldt Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Humboldt for the provincial play-in game. (John Paul II Collegiate/Facebook)

By Austin Mattes

JPII Football

Crusaders looking to earn a spot in provincial playoffs

Oct 18, 2024 | 6:08 PM

The John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders football team is set to take on Humboldt Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Humboldt for the provincial play-in game for a chance to advance to the provincial playoffs.

The Crusaders played Humboldt last week in the final game of the regular season, which determined who would host the play-in game. JPII lost the game 54-10 despite beating Humboldt 38-33 earlier on in the season.

Coach of the Crusaders Paul Fransoo said the team has to do better and that he is excited for the rematch tomorrow.

“We had opportunities and just missed little things. We’re hoping that we’re going to make it way more of a game tomorrow. The key factor here is looking at everything through the lens of what can you do better, we’re focused right now and we’re excited to be playing this game. It’s good for us to be here again, it’s been a while so we’re happy we’re going.”

After finishing the regular season with a 3-3 record, this is the first time since 2018 that the team has been in the play-in game.

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Fransoo said that it has been a good year for the team and that there has been lots of growth from the players.

“This is better than we were last year, so from that coaching perspective, we always want to see the growth and have players excel both physically and mentally in the game and we have seen that. I think for the most part we’ve had a great season so far and just being where we are with the crew that we’ve got it’s been great and we are just looking forward to Saturday.”

This will be the third time JPII and Humboldt will face each other this season and Fransoo added that it’s details and teamwork that have been the focus for the team going into tomorrow.

“It always tough playing a team three times in a season but ultimately, we’ve worked on a lot of things this week and we are just trying to iron out the details. The team is going to have to come together with that growth that we have seen from the physical side and the ability side. We’re going to need to be smart and ultra cognitive of the adjustments that need to happen in each series and coaching wise we got to do the same.”

If the Crusaders win, they will move on to the provincial playoffs where they will take on the Champion of Conference #2, Lumsden, who haven’t lost a game all season and hold a 5-0 record.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes