12-29-2020, 11:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2020, 11:21 AM by Asked Madden.)
In a bid to keep fit and game sharp at the end of a tumultuous Season 26, promising prospect Wide Receiver Saleem Spence has signed and debuted for the Battlefords Bandits of the Saskatchewan Intermediate Football League, a semi-pro outfit in the northern part of the Saskatchewan prairie. The news was announced two days before the Bandits played their final game of the regular season, and Spence impressed in his debut against the Melfort Marshalls in a winning effort, 26-16.
The South African-born Wide Receiver had been playing for the University of Manitoba Bison of the CIS, in the Canada West division, where his skillful passcatching paced the team to a 5-1 record. However, a vicious falling out with Manitoba Head Coach Drake Letterman led to Saleem Spence being benched and walking out on Manitoba entirely in a shocking story. The disagreement between the two stemmed from a clash of offensive philosophies and player safety issues, with Letterman wanting tough, dangerous, old-school play and Spence wanting modernized, passing-based, new-school play. Spence walked out of the team, a decision that Manitoba may regret as the team has slipped to 5-3 following a 40-0 shutout loss to the Alberta Golden Bears.
Spence however is working hard to put his time in Manitoba behind him.
"Do I wish things could have gone differently? Absolutely." said Spence to reporter Gilbert Griffin of the battlefordsNOW radio station. "But there's no sense looking back on the past, I feel I've got a bright future, DSFL teams are still interested in me, and I'm excited to play a couple games here for the Bandits. I wish my teammates in Manitoba all the best, and I hope they can play well and win another Vanier Cup."
Indeed, Spence is putting his best foot forward and concentrating on the present and future. Spence's signing in the SIFL is a higher-profile one for the four-team league, which contains a motley collection of backup ex-university players, small town high school stars, and the occasional lost American from a Division II or III school, but Spence's representatives saw it as the closest available option to his home of Manitoba for Spence to play and keep in shape, as the wideout eyes an invite to a season end DSFL Prospect Showcase, in lieu of the typical late-season waiver claim from a DSFL team in need of backup talent from the college teams finishing up early (a practise with was abolished under mysterious circumstances by the DSFL Head Office severl days before the DSFL trade deadline).
Spence had time for all of two days practise with the team before being thrown into the season finale game against the Melfort Marshalls. The Bandits were excited to get Spence to augment their offense, as the team was 3-2 going into a key game against the 2-3 Marshalls that would determine who would face the 5-1 Prince Albert Knights (the winners of all 4 seasons of the SIFL) in the league finals, and were in dire need of a wide reciever to boost the passing attack.
While Spence had barely enough time to learn even the thin semi-pro playbook, he developed a connection with the Battlefords Quarterback Dave Alford (a former high school quarterback from North Battleford who works as a journeyman welder when not slinging the pigskin.)
"Alford actually throws a similar sort of spiral to Whittley [Brandyn Whittley, the Manitoba Bison quarterback], so it felt natural. Its hard learning the offense, and I'll actually be studying the playbook as soon as we're done here, but I think I'll catch a lot of passes in these next couple games from Alford, we're on the same wavelength."
Spence's statement proved prophetic.
---
![[Image: WOOuNnT.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/WOOuNnT.jpg)
The Battlefords Bandits knew they needed a fast start to take the pace of the game and beat the Melfort Marshalls, and they got one. Battlefords Safety Blaine Ausberry (a part-time dairy truck driver), intercepted a Melfort pass and returned it to the Melfort 33 yard line. Spence caught two short passes to set up an 8 yard touchdown run by runningback and farmhand James McDaniel and Battlefords were up 7-0.
The Bandits pushed the lead higher in the 2nd quarter, after Alford hit Spence on a crossing route, and Spence turned upfield and got into the endzone, dragging a defender behind him to cap off a 22 yard touchdown. Kicker Vandell Sharp shanked the extra point, however, giving Battleford a 13-0 cushion.
![[Image: gfXCjuF.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/gfXCjuF.jpg)
Sharp made up for his shank with a 41 yard field goal just inside the upright to make it 16-0, before Melfort sturck back on a deep pass from Quarterback Crhis Booker to receiver Brian Jensen to make it 16-7 just before halftime.
Battlefords offense began to stall as the team moved away from the pass a bit, trying to establish time of possession through the running game. Melfort pushed the deficit down to 16-10 with a field goal from Kicker Ethan Connor, but Battlefords answered back with a field goal of their own, set up by a 30 yard dash from Spence off a designed wide receiver screen.
Down 19-10, Melfort put together enough deep passes to set up a 4 yard touchdown run from American runningback Mike Lewis, but Connor missed the extra point to put the score at 19-16. In possession of the ball late in the 4th quarter, Battlefords put together a key drive, getting several tough short passes and key first down scrambles by Alford, before Alford connected with Spence on a bootleg pass to push the lead to 26-16 and put the game almost out of reach for the Melfort Marshalls.
![[Image: mq8Ngaf.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/mq8Ngaf.jpg)
Melfort tried hard to put together a drive late to close the deficit, but Battlefords Linebacker Daryl Ball sacked Booker on a 4th and 3 late in the game to seal the win for the Bandits.
Saleem Spence certainly made an impact for Battlefords, catching 12 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, being the recipient of two-thirds of the Battlefords passing targets. Spence also returned 3 kickoffs for 78 yards and 3 punts for 34 yards. Quarterback John Alford went 18-for-23 and 201 yards in a workmanlike effort. Melfort's offense showed explosiveness at times, but also a lot of erratic play, with multiple penalties and incompletions derailing drives. Melfort went 3/14 on 3rd down, a key factor in their loss. Quarterback Chris Booker was 11-for-26 for 234 yards, a TD, and a pick, while Mike Lewis's sole touchdown was the highlight of a miserable day running, with only 14 yards on 8 carries.
![[Image: 0hL0Gzd.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/0hL0Gzd.jpg)
The Bandits move to 4-2 on the season, good for 2nd in the league after a 6 game double round robin season, and now the Bandits face the 5-1 Prince Albert Knights. The powerhouse Knights have drawn players from a wider net than the other three teams in the SIFL over its 4 season existence, and have won all 4 league titles, beating the Bandits in 8 regular season games and 3 finals. In fact, the Knights have only lost one game in the history of the SIFL, a banana peel loss to Melfort 8-7 in a rain-soaked quagmire earlier in the year.
The Knights certainly look unstoppable, but Battlefords has played them progressively closer over the years, losing their two games this year 24-17 and 27-19, and the feeling is that with a better offense, Battlefords may be able to climb the hill and win the SIFL title.
Another standout performance from Saleem Spence could do his DSFL draft stock some favours, as scouts from several teams (notably Kansas City and Dallas) were in attendance for the Bandits-Marshalls showdown, a rarity in the league. Scouts from all 8 teams are expected to make the trip to see the finals, where the Prince Albert secondary of grizzled adult pros may prove a stern test for the physical young wideout from Manitoba.
"I'm ready for the challenge." said Saleem Spence after the game. "It seems we're seen as the underdogs, and I've been an underdog at a lot of points in my life. I'm comfortable with it, I'm getting comfortable with this team, and we'll be peaking at the right time to take the title and take Prince Albert down a peg. Then hopefully I can keep the momentum going into the DSFL Prospect Showcase."
![[Image: G9RqTgY.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/G9RqTgY.jpg)
The game between Battlefords and Prince Albert for all the marbles is set to take place in 3 days time.
The South African-born Wide Receiver had been playing for the University of Manitoba Bison of the CIS, in the Canada West division, where his skillful passcatching paced the team to a 5-1 record. However, a vicious falling out with Manitoba Head Coach Drake Letterman led to Saleem Spence being benched and walking out on Manitoba entirely in a shocking story. The disagreement between the two stemmed from a clash of offensive philosophies and player safety issues, with Letterman wanting tough, dangerous, old-school play and Spence wanting modernized, passing-based, new-school play. Spence walked out of the team, a decision that Manitoba may regret as the team has slipped to 5-3 following a 40-0 shutout loss to the Alberta Golden Bears.
Spence however is working hard to put his time in Manitoba behind him.
"Do I wish things could have gone differently? Absolutely." said Spence to reporter Gilbert Griffin of the battlefordsNOW radio station. "But there's no sense looking back on the past, I feel I've got a bright future, DSFL teams are still interested in me, and I'm excited to play a couple games here for the Bandits. I wish my teammates in Manitoba all the best, and I hope they can play well and win another Vanier Cup."
Indeed, Spence is putting his best foot forward and concentrating on the present and future. Spence's signing in the SIFL is a higher-profile one for the four-team league, which contains a motley collection of backup ex-university players, small town high school stars, and the occasional lost American from a Division II or III school, but Spence's representatives saw it as the closest available option to his home of Manitoba for Spence to play and keep in shape, as the wideout eyes an invite to a season end DSFL Prospect Showcase, in lieu of the typical late-season waiver claim from a DSFL team in need of backup talent from the college teams finishing up early (a practise with was abolished under mysterious circumstances by the DSFL Head Office severl days before the DSFL trade deadline).
Spence had time for all of two days practise with the team before being thrown into the season finale game against the Melfort Marshalls. The Bandits were excited to get Spence to augment their offense, as the team was 3-2 going into a key game against the 2-3 Marshalls that would determine who would face the 5-1 Prince Albert Knights (the winners of all 4 seasons of the SIFL) in the league finals, and were in dire need of a wide reciever to boost the passing attack.
While Spence had barely enough time to learn even the thin semi-pro playbook, he developed a connection with the Battlefords Quarterback Dave Alford (a former high school quarterback from North Battleford who works as a journeyman welder when not slinging the pigskin.)
"Alford actually throws a similar sort of spiral to Whittley [Brandyn Whittley, the Manitoba Bison quarterback], so it felt natural. Its hard learning the offense, and I'll actually be studying the playbook as soon as we're done here, but I think I'll catch a lot of passes in these next couple games from Alford, we're on the same wavelength."
Spence's statement proved prophetic.
---
(Saleem Spence adjusts his body to make a catch, as Melfort Safety Josh Engram dives and misses a pass deflection.)
The Battlefords Bandits knew they needed a fast start to take the pace of the game and beat the Melfort Marshalls, and they got one. Battlefords Safety Blaine Ausberry (a part-time dairy truck driver), intercepted a Melfort pass and returned it to the Melfort 33 yard line. Spence caught two short passes to set up an 8 yard touchdown run by runningback and farmhand James McDaniel and Battlefords were up 7-0.
The Bandits pushed the lead higher in the 2nd quarter, after Alford hit Spence on a crossing route, and Spence turned upfield and got into the endzone, dragging a defender behind him to cap off a 22 yard touchdown. Kicker Vandell Sharp shanked the extra point, however, giving Battleford a 13-0 cushion.
(Spence drags Melfort DB Jordan Schultz into the endzone with him to widen the lead.)
Sharp made up for his shank with a 41 yard field goal just inside the upright to make it 16-0, before Melfort sturck back on a deep pass from Quarterback Crhis Booker to receiver Brian Jensen to make it 16-7 just before halftime.
Battlefords offense began to stall as the team moved away from the pass a bit, trying to establish time of possession through the running game. Melfort pushed the deficit down to 16-10 with a field goal from Kicker Ethan Connor, but Battlefords answered back with a field goal of their own, set up by a 30 yard dash from Spence off a designed wide receiver screen.
Down 19-10, Melfort put together enough deep passes to set up a 4 yard touchdown run from American runningback Mike Lewis, but Connor missed the extra point to put the score at 19-16. In possession of the ball late in the 4th quarter, Battlefords put together a key drive, getting several tough short passes and key first down scrambles by Alford, before Alford connected with Spence on a bootleg pass to push the lead to 26-16 and put the game almost out of reach for the Melfort Marshalls.
(Saleem Spence in the endzone again, as an orange laser beam from a scout marks him as a main character.)
Melfort tried hard to put together a drive late to close the deficit, but Battlefords Linebacker Daryl Ball sacked Booker on a 4th and 3 late in the game to seal the win for the Bandits.
Saleem Spence certainly made an impact for Battlefords, catching 12 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, being the recipient of two-thirds of the Battlefords passing targets. Spence also returned 3 kickoffs for 78 yards and 3 punts for 34 yards. Quarterback John Alford went 18-for-23 and 201 yards in a workmanlike effort. Melfort's offense showed explosiveness at times, but also a lot of erratic play, with multiple penalties and incompletions derailing drives. Melfort went 3/14 on 3rd down, a key factor in their loss. Quarterback Chris Booker was 11-for-26 for 234 yards, a TD, and a pick, while Mike Lewis's sole touchdown was the highlight of a miserable day running, with only 14 yards on 8 carries.
(Apparently a small town in Saskatchewan has a Cadillac dealership that sponsors MVP awards in semi-pro football leagues. Who knew.)
The Bandits move to 4-2 on the season, good for 2nd in the league after a 6 game double round robin season, and now the Bandits face the 5-1 Prince Albert Knights. The powerhouse Knights have drawn players from a wider net than the other three teams in the SIFL over its 4 season existence, and have won all 4 league titles, beating the Bandits in 8 regular season games and 3 finals. In fact, the Knights have only lost one game in the history of the SIFL, a banana peel loss to Melfort 8-7 in a rain-soaked quagmire earlier in the year.
The Knights certainly look unstoppable, but Battlefords has played them progressively closer over the years, losing their two games this year 24-17 and 27-19, and the feeling is that with a better offense, Battlefords may be able to climb the hill and win the SIFL title.
Another standout performance from Saleem Spence could do his DSFL draft stock some favours, as scouts from several teams (notably Kansas City and Dallas) were in attendance for the Bandits-Marshalls showdown, a rarity in the league. Scouts from all 8 teams are expected to make the trip to see the finals, where the Prince Albert secondary of grizzled adult pros may prove a stern test for the physical young wideout from Manitoba.
"I'm ready for the challenge." said Saleem Spence after the game. "It seems we're seen as the underdogs, and I've been an underdog at a lot of points in my life. I'm comfortable with it, I'm getting comfortable with this team, and we'll be peaking at the right time to take the title and take Prince Albert down a peg. Then hopefully I can keep the momentum going into the DSFL Prospect Showcase."
(Risking hypothermia and disintegration due to lack of polygon resolution, the Battlefords Bandits fans cheer on their team to the championship game.)
The game between Battlefords and Prince Albert for all the marbles is set to take place in 3 days time.
