SRSS Sabres honour graduating players at football banquet

December 5th was a night of celebration for the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres football program, as they held their annual banquet inside the school’s gym.

There was plenty to be happy about this season, as both the varsity and junior varsity enjoyed winning seasons, albeit with disappointing playoff losses.

The varsity team had an all-time year from running back Josiah Grenier.

Grenier led the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL) in rushing yards with 1,076. He was the only player in varsity AAAA to finish with more than 800 yards on the ground and also led the league with 13 rushing touchdowns.

Varsity head coach Stephan Fedus said while his numbers this season were eye-popping, Greiner is the embodiment of the program’s motto, “be better,” while awarding him the team’s most valuable player award.

“We ask all of our players to strive to achieve that, without question (Grenier) has achieved it and modeled it,” Fedus said.

“He’s strong, physical, fast and athletic. He has all the physical attributes you could want in a football player. He is also tough, courageous, intelligent and willing to sacrifice for the good of the team.”

Fedus praised Grenier’s ability to play and train through discomfort, noting the running back didn’t let anyone out-work him, even during conditioning drills.

While the total yards and accolades were great accomplishments, Greiner’s best performance of the year came in the waning moments of Steinbach’s win over Vincent Massey.

Despite getting bottled up on offense for most of the second half, the Sabres were able to come back and win, powered by a sequence which saw Greiner carry the ball four times for 45 yards and the winning touchdown in the final moments of the game.

“That win helped the team re-gain confidence after a tough start and led us on to a five-game winning streak,” Fedus shared.

Individual recognition for on-field performance took up most of the awards throughout the night, in addition to three program-wide awards.

Koren Letkeman was given the Koby Award, recognizing a player who’s contributions and hard work don’t show up on the stat sheet or earn much individual glory.

Letkeman wasn’t able to find the field for any playing time through five games the season, with Fedus noting despite that, he never complained and only worked to improve his game.

“(Letkeman) spent a lot of time in the gym last year, he’s one of our workout warriors, he never misses a practice,” Fedus said.

“He was accepting of his role, the ultimate team guy. When he finally got his opportunity, he took advantage of it and ended up starting the second half of the season.”

The program’s leadership award was given to Marcus Johnson. Johnson is a graduating wide receiver, and helped lead a position group full of grade 10 athletes this season.

Fedus said Johnson has earned respect from his teammates, opposition and officials for his play.

“Marcus already knows that being a leader isn’t a position or status,” Fedus said.

“It’s not about being named captain. It’s not about having the best stats or being the hype man. While all of those qualities have their place, Marcus knows that leadership is a responsibility that asks us to improve the lives of others.”

The legacy award went to Jack Leppelmann. The Grade 12 offensive lineman was set to have an outstanding year on the field, but had his season cut short after a pair of training camp and mid-season concussions.

Program coordinator Jamie Peters praised Leppelmann for his decision to stop playing.

“He recognized the bigger picture and prioritized his long-term health, showing wisdom and resilience that few his age possess,” Peters said.

Instead of letting the disappointment of a lost senior season get him down, Leppemann turned into an assistant coach for the program, attending every practice.

“Many would find it difficult to stay involved after such heartbreak, but Jack’s character shone through, reminding us all what it truly means to be part of a team,” Peters said.

The Koby award is named after long-time WHSFL coach Brian Kobylak, who spent his final years of coaching in Steinbach and passed away in 2017. He was part of the program’s first hall of fame class in 2017.

Kobylak was a part of three championship teams, and loved coaching high school players. He would take them out for wings with the coaching staff, another tradition which continues in the SRSS football program to this day.