Muskies finish regular season with shutout loss

The Muskie varsity (‘A’) football team ended its regular season here Friday afternoon with a 35-0 loss to the River East Kodiaks.
The loss left the black-and-gold with a 1-6 record and in seventh place in the eight-team ‘AA’ conference of the WHSFL, meaning they’ll face the number-two ranked Churchill Bulldogs in the quarter-finals this Friday in Winnipeg.
“We were going to play one of the top four teams no matter what, and all four of those teams are good teams and all four teams beat us handily this year,” said Muskie offensive co-ordinator Shane Beckett.
“So we knew we were going to be in for a tough game. It’s just a matter of preparing for a different team now,” he added.
The Bulldogs sported a 6-1 record on the season, which included a 30-0 win over the Muskies last month.
Churchill was the league’s top scoring team this year, amassing 242 points (35 pts/game) while limiting their opponents to 15 pts/game. The Muskies, meanwhile, were the lowest scoring team in the WHSFL, collecting just 45 points in seven games.
They allowed an average of 32 pts/game.
Most of the other teams will be playing their quarter-final games on Thursday.
Due to the Ontario-wide literacy testing that will be taking place Wednesday and Thursday, the WHSFL accommodated the Muskies by moving their game to Friday afternoon.
The Muskies were confident heading into their game here Friday against the Kodiaks, who were 2-4 on the season and only had scored 50 points on the year.
But a lack of execution on both offence and defence killed Fort High.
“On defence, they basically said to us, ‘Make plays’ and we just didn’t make plays,” noted head coach Bob Swing. “We didn’t do a lot of right, other than play hard, and to me, playing hard is pretty much the most important thing.
“We made a boatful of mistakes,” he added. “It’s unfortunate, because everyone believed in what was going to happen, and then we came out and pretty much played the worst game that we’ve played all year.”
“We need to make the play,” echoed defensive backs coach Greg Allan. “If it’s a pass, catch the ball. If it’s a tackle, make the tackle. Football is a simple game and we just got to make those plays.
“The guys’ hearts are certainly there, but it comes down to positioning again and coming up with those plays, and we didn’t do that,” Allan added.
“We’re not making the plays, and that’s one of the biggest things.”