The field at MUCC will be lit up on Friday during the Under the Lights game. (Melfort Comet Football/Facebook)

By Cam Lee

Under the Lights in Melfort

Melfort Comets host Nipawin LP Miller Bears Under the Lights on Friday

Sep 27, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The Melfort Comets football team is holding their first home game of the season Under the Lights.

The 2-0 Comets will host the 1-1 Nipawin LP Miller Bears on Friday night with pre-game activities starting at 5:30, and kickoff at 7:00.

Comets head coach Dave Rogers told northeastNOW the team has been solid on both sides of the ball early this season.

“We’ve been fortunate to have great play by our players on offence and on defence,” Rogers said. “We’ve only given up one touchdown against our starting defence and our offence has turned out points in both of our previous games.”

Rogers said they’ve had a great start to the season, and they need to lean on the defence to keep up the high-quality football while the offence needs to keep putting points on the board.

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Melfort started their season with a 58-0 victory in La Ronge and followed that up with a 48-14 win in Tisdale over the Tornadoes. Nipawin started their season with a 53-20 home win over La Ronge, then the Bears dropped a 29-28 heartbreaker to Foam Lake in Nipawin the following week.

Rogers said it’s a challenge to organize a game Under the Lights, and he thanks all of the local businesses, farmers, and community groups who have sponsored and helped bring in the lights to allow them to host the game. The weather forecast is promising for Friday’s game, and Rogers said the same was true of their game under the lights in 2022, so he’s thankful for that.

Having the game Under the Lights “gets to really showcase the team and the players in the community” according to Rogers. High school football games are regularly scheduled for a 4 pm start, with many community members still at work when the game starts.

“We usually have our biggest crowd of the year for Under the Lights, usually a great 50/50, and the people at the school here that do our game day hosting, we have a great game day atmosphere.”

That exciting atmosphere can be a challenge for the players, with Rogers saying they can be a little too amped up, especially to start the game.

“Sometimes you have to make sure they’re focused on the football and not on the lights, because that can be something that can cause a distraction.”

Rogers thanks parents and the community for their support.

Also on Friday, Tisdale visits Foam Lake, with kickoff at 4 pm.

In 6-man football, the Carrot River Wildcats will also host the St. Brieux Crusaders at 7pm under the lights.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students, and preschoolers are free.

There is also a guaranteed $500 50/50, raffle items, and a snack shack.

Proceeds will go to the Canadian Cancer Society and toward the new sound booth.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK