Three George McDougall High School football alumni are hoping to link up on the gridiron once again this summer, albeit this time while wearing the maroon and white jerseys of the Regina Thunder.
Former Mustangs standouts and recent George Mac grads Paul Condon, Dawson Jensen, and Adam Mosher are currently rooming together in Saskatchewan's capital as they attempt to crack the travel roster for the Thunder – a competitive U21 team that plays in the prairie conference of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).
“It’s definitely exciting we all get to play together at the next level and learn and grow together,” said Condon.
A member of George Mac's Class of 2023, Condon was a star running back for the Mustangs for two seasons. His touchdowns contributed greatly to the team's historic season in 2022, when the Mustangs won the Rocky View Sports Association title for the first time in eight years, and were ranked among the top three Tier II high-school teams in Alberta for much of the campaign.
Jensen was similarly crucial to the team's success in 2022, albeit as a senior member of the Mustangs' defensive corps, as a linebacker.
Though it's still early days with the Thunder, Condon said it's been thrilling to get back into a competitive football environment, and he is itching for the 2023 CJFL season to get underway later this month.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “I really like the area we’re living in and the jobs we all have. Everything is going smoothly.
“It’s a great opportunity. It’s something new that I’ve never experienced before. It’s amazing, honestly – moving away and playing football.”
A year older than his two former teammates, Mosher was a two-season starting quarterback for the Mustangs, lining up as the team's pivot in 2019 and 2021.
Mosher is the only one of the Mustangs trio who has prior U21 experience, as he played last summer for the Vancouver Island Raiders, a Nanaimo-based team in the B.C. Football Conference. The Raiders struggled in 2022, putting together a 1-9 record.
Based on the first weeks he's spent with his new team, Mosher said he's happy to have made the switch. Regina was one of the CJFL's top teams in 2022, going unbeaten in the regular season (8-0) to lead the prairies conference. The Thunder then made it all the way to the Canadian Bowl (the CJFL's championship game), but lost 21-19 in a thrilling final to the Okanagan Sun.
“I’m excited to be on the Thunder,” Mosher said. “It’s a completely different program. It’s very top-end. Everything is taken very seriously here. Practice is very important, and that shows in the success of the team. You can see the culture on this team – everyone is for the team, about winning as a team and not as an individual.”
With a year of junior experience already under his belt, Mosher said he's been able to impart a little bit of wisdom to his younger teammates. He let them know what to expect when Regina's training camp officially kicked into gear on July 20.
“You have to be way more on top of things,” the QB said. “The play books are triple the size. I think we have 60-some plays just for our scrimmages. There’s a lot more learning to do there.
“More of the players here truly have a passion for the sport [compared to high-school football]. You can see it on the field – they’re bigger, stronger, faster, smarter. You just have to keep up.”
As of writing, Mosher and Condon said they will find out after a scrimmage on Aug. 5 if the three Airdronians have cracked the Thunder's travel roster for the 2023 season. If they have, they'll be back in Alberta shorty, as Regina is scheduled to play the Calgary Colts on Aug. 13 at Shouldice Athletic Park in their regular-season opener.
For more info on the Thunder, visit reginathunder.ca. For more on the CJFL, visit cjfl.org
