Lancers, Raiders rivalry runs deep

One year later, the sting is still fresh for Treyson Burnett-Joseph.

The standout defensive lineman and team captain doesn’t need to be reminded that the Oak Park Raiders ended the Dakota Lancers’ two-year reign over Manitoba high school football last fall. He’s also aware that the Lancers have an opportunity to reclaim the torch this week.

“Every day. As soon as the semifinals were over, it was every day thinking about how we lost and just the grind to get back to this game,” Burnett-Joseph told the Free Press on Monday.

Come Friday, a three-month season sprint will culminate with the Raiders and Lancers meeting for the third year in a row in the AAAA varsity provincial championship at Princess Auto Stadium (8 p.m.).

“We’ve been talking about it since we started camp how it’s our goal,” said Burnett-Joseph. “We’re gonna end up seeing the same team in the championship, and how we need to get back.”

There will be a great deal of familiarity between the sides, which duelled in the 2023 semifinals and each of the ensuing finals.

While players have come and gone from each program, their concurrent rise to the top of Manitoba’s gridiron food chain has kept the Lancers and Raiders tied at the hip. The two schools have also played in the last four junior varsity championships — Dakota won in 2023 and 2024 before Oak Park won in 2025 — so needless to say, this rivalry runs deep.

“It’s kind of a tradition at this point,” said Raiders linebacker Carter Gillam, who will face the Lancers in the championship for a fourth time in high school. “I would love to play a different team, but it’s also good because we get there and both these teams just want it so bad. And it’s just — that’s the kind of football that you want to be playing.

“I know that they have the players, and we do too. And now it’s just see who wants it more.”

The Raiders have held the edge recently, winning each of the last three meetings dating back to the 2025 regular season. Their lone meeting this season came all the way back in September, when Oak Park ran away with a 47-21 victory.

With those results in mind, Lancers defensive co-ordinator Nick Geldart said his group is hungry to avenge their recent string of misfortunes.

“You would think after how many times we’ve played each other that there would be that, ‘We hate them and they hate us,’ (but) they hang out with each other all off-season, and they all know each other all off-season,” Geldart said of players from both sides, who train with each other during the summer at various camps.

“We look at where they’ve come from and what they’ve done in the last three, four, five years, and we look at where we’ve been in the last three, four, five years, and it’s so similar that you can’t do anything but respect another program that’s able to do the same thing.”

The Lancers, who went 6-1 during the regular season, haven’t faced much resistance since that Week 3 contest. Aside from a competitive 24-21 victory over St. Paul’s in the quarterfinals, Dakota has rolled through the competition, including last week’s 41-13 decision over Vincent Massey in the semis.

“What I took away from that game was we can’t afford to take any plays off,” said Burnett-Joseph. “Everyone on the field has to be focused at all times, and everyone has to know what’s going on. Game plan has to be perfect, as well.”

The Raiders, meanwhile, are attempting to run the table for the second year in a row. They’ve won 19 straight since falling to the Lancers in the 2024 championship.

A victory would mark consecutive championships for the first time since Oak Park won three in a row from 2000-02.

“I would say it goes back to the program we’re building right now,” said Raiders head coach Chris Ollson. “There is a consistency of JV coaches and the same varsity coaching staff we’ve had for several years now, and both those staffs work very close together. So we have common goals. We kind of know where these players start and where we want them to get to by the time they’re in Grade 12.

“That consistency is a huge piece, and it’s all rooted in just being a good human. I think that’s the secret to it all. Talent will take you places, but being a good person will take you a lot further.”

While the Raiders have gotten the best of the Lancers recently, no one is guaranteeing a result when two of the most well-balanced teams in the province square off. The Raiders’ 344 points were the most during the regular season. The Lancers were second with 281.

On defence, only West Kildonan was stingier than Oak Park (58 points allowed) and Dakota (72 points conceded).

“Obviously, there’s a bit more pressure this year going back-to-back,” said Gillam. “But there’s a sense that it doesn’t change the game that we’re playing, no matter the stakes, no matter who we’re playing. And as long as we just play our game and continue with that path, it doesn’t really affect us at all.”

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