A thrilling 9-man football game under the lights in Shaunavon last night, as the hometown Shadows hosted the Maple Creek Redmen to open the season.

Maple Creek walked away victorious in the contest, winning 28-19 after a dominant running game carried the team through a large stretch of all four quarters.

Four rushing touchdowns in the game proved the value of the ground game for Maple Creek, with grade 11 running back Blake Link accounting for the majority of the carries, along with a fourth quarter touchdown.

The big stat line of the night was owned by fellow Redmen running back Reed Reisdorf, who had the remaining three rushing touchdowns for Maple Creek - two of which were for over 45 yards apiece.

"We had some great blocks up the middle, and I was able to bounce it outside well," Reisdorf said. "The first touchdown, the gap was wide open and I was pretty sure I was going to score. The second one, I didn't know if the defensive back was going to chase me down there so I just tried to angle it to the corner and managed to get there."

A solid start to September, and the season, for head coach Dale Udal and his Redmen squad, as they look to carry the momentum into a tough test in Week 2 against their 2016 provincial final foe, the Lumsden Devils. In the gold medal game last fall, Lumsden topped the southwest side 22-9.

Meanwhile for the Shaunavon Shadows and head coach Garett Glasrud, an opportunity to regroup after the tight loss to a rival - Shaunavon has a bye-week after the Labour Day long weekend, where in Week 3, revenge will be on the mind.

The Shadows head to Maple Creek for a rematch in the second and final meeting between the two teams. That game is slated to be under the lights as well.