WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The WHSFL’s newest team, the John Taylor Pipers, recorded their first ever division win last week against the St. Johns Tigers, who not too long ago won the Canada Inns Bowl and took home the Division III title.

In the Pipers’ first week of action, they went up against the Springfield Sabers, a Division II team that is also relatively new to the WHSFL, forming back in 2019. The Pipers would lose in what was their first home game 34-6, however, they did not allow that loss to discourage them. They moved on to the next game and beat the Tigers 48-15.

“We’ve been grinding, we’ve been putting that hard work in at practice, fixing the small things so that we can have a better game,” explained wide receiver and captain Liam Hutter in a post-game interview with the WHSFL.

Hutter also mentioned there are only a handful of guys that had previous football experience on the team.

“About seven or six of us played Rods (St. James Rods, a football team that’s part of the Manitoba Minor Football Association) together,” he said. “That’s the whole team that has football experience, otherwise everyone is new to the game.”

With the official roster sitting at 43 players, it makes the win even more impressive. It proves that the veteran players and coaching staff are working hard behind the scenes to make sure that all those who are new are ready to play.

“They’re killing it now I am very surprised,” Hutter said when describing his teammates. “We got a big group of kids that want to play ball and they’re here for it.”

The Pipers’ head coach Patrick Smith has done a fantastic job at getting everyone ready and is instilling a culture of accountability in his team.

“We had a problem at the beginning of the season getting everybody there for 4 p.m., and now they’re stretching at 3:58 p.m.,” Coach Smith said in an article by Mike Stills. “They’re different kids. It’s the culture and the buy-in. They’ve started to respect the sport.”

In that same article by Mike Still, Coach Smith gave high praise and highlighted a few key veteran players for helping lead the team. Players like defensive lineman Keegan Haubrich, quarterback Nate Councillor and wide receivers Liam Hutter and Dylan Tereck serve as captains on the team.

Though it is still incredibly early in the season, the Pipers are sitting at second overall in their division rankings, behind the Maples Marauders and the West Kildonan Wolverines who are tied for first.

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