NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Crescent Heights Vikings running back Abdul Kiawen points to the sky while Carter McLean pats him on the back after scoring one of his two touchdowns in the Vikings 39-3 win Thursday night against the McCoy Colts. The Vikings and Colts met at the Methanex Bowl in the second annual Rick Boksteyn memorial bowl to kickoff the RFC season.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Crescent Heights Vikings and McCoy Colts met Thursday to kick off their football seasons and remember a pillar of their programs.
The Vikings and Colts varsity football teams faced off at the Methanex Bowl for the second annual Rick Boksteyn memorial bowl, which Crescent Heights won by a score of 33-3.
The Vikings won the first contest in 2021 to hold onto the old firefighting trophy as winners of the bowl game in memory of Boksteyn’s 35 years with the Medicine Hat Fire Department.
Crescent Heights coach Scott Wendell said it was a great game and an honour to coach in.
“It just had a little extra meaning this week, the guys were a little excited,” Wendell said. “We brought the cup out on Wednesday at practice and talked about what it meant, talked about who Rick was and what kind of effort we were going to have to have today to make Rick proud.”
The Vikings and Colts are the two teams Boksteyn helped coach at different times over 36 years before passing away in 2020.
“I’m fortunate enough to work and spend time with him in my youth and I have a ton of respect for who he is,” Wendell said. “Any coach who puts in 35 years of work is just an incredible human being.”
McCoy head coach Jole Krassman was a God child of Boksteyn’s and was appreciative of the atmosphere.
“We had a great honour to a great man and a fantastic turnout,” Krassman said. “We had a good night of football, Crescent Heights came out flying, they were a good team.
“The excitement was there, we felt the spirit there when we felt that nice wind coming in and I just knew that was the Rick Boksteyn wind coming through, blowing into the field and just giving us that, ‘Hey, never give up,'” Krassman said. “So we played hard right till the end and that’s all I can ask from the guys.”
Abdul Kiawen scored two touchdowns for the Vikings in the win and said it was an honour to play in the Boksteyn Bowl again. The Grade 12 running back was on the Vikings team that won the inaugural bowl in 2021.
“It was really great, he did a lot for the community so it was great being out here and playing for him,” Kiawen said.
Thursday was the Vikings’ first game of their Rangeland Football Conference season and Wendell’s first as head coach. He said Thursday’s win showed all of the hard work they’ve put in to start the year.
“I think this really solidifies the hard work that we’ve done with the kids. I know it’s early in the season but it makes it a little bit easier to come back on Tuesday,” Wendell said. “We’ll regroup, reload and get ready for another hard week of work and come out firing Friday night against Taber.
The Vikings’ next contest is Friday at the Methanex bowl against the Taber Rebels. McCoy has a bye week upcoming and will spend the practice time focused on just getting reps for their young team.
“Big thing is we just have to rep repeat,” Krassman said. “We have to get guys into practice, get the new guys put into new spots. We’ve had an influx of new kids so getting the kids out is going to be the big thing and then working the systems and getting in their systems to be successful.
“Basically, the message to the team now is, we know what football is all about. The starting roles are all there. It’s basically whoever owns it, is going to start. We’re going to get those guys to play in it.”
Editors note: An earlier version of the story stated the final score as 33-3, it was 39-3.
