Mitch Calvert
The start of the game looked promising, but the end result was anything but as the Muskie football team suffered a 28-16 loss to the host Tec Voc Hornets on Friday afternoon.
Quarterback Dan Brunetta ran in for a first-half touchdown, and running back Matt DiPiero added the Muskies’ only other score on a short run in the second half, but it was the miscues in between that led to the black-and-gold’s third loss of the WHSFL season.
The Hornets (3-2) got two special teams touchdowns on long returns by Tim Peebles, including one on a missed field goal, as the Hornets made the Muskies (2-3) pay for every mistake they made.
“Like I told the boys after the game, if we play mistake-free football, we can beat anyone in our division,” Muskie head coach Vince Gouin said. “We moved the ball, but we’re still having a hard time finishing drives off.”
Fort High opened the scoring on a lengthy drive that ended with a quarterback sneak by Brunetta. Then on the ensuing kick-off, Josh Stevens recovered a fumble to put the visitors up deep inside Hornets’ territory.
But they couldn’t muster the killer instinct to add to their lead and a missed field goal attempt was returned all the way back for a touchdown by Peebles to sway the momentum in the Hornets’ favour.
Both teams exchanged short drives before Peebles ran back another touchdown, this time on a Muskie punt, to put the home side up for good.
“He’s probably the fastest guy we’ve seen,” Gouin noted. “He had good speed to the outside, and we knew their quarterback was quick and he showed that, too.”
Hornets’ quarterback Jason Kelly added a rushing touchdown to close out the half, then engineered a drive to start the third quarter that ended with a rushing major to give Tec Voc a lopsided 28-7 lead.
After the Muskies forced Kelly to surrender a two-point safety later in the quarter, Brunetta went to the air, hooking up with Brad McDonald and Jeremy Whitehead on a number of occasions. A long pass to Whitehead then put the Muskies on the Hornets’ goal line, where DiPiero would punch the ball across to close out the scoring.
The black-and-gold got the ball back one last time late in the fourth quarter, and Brunetta moved the chains within Hornets’ territory. But an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs and signalled the end of the threat.
Despite allowing 28 points, the Muskies limited the Hornets’ passing attack, which had been their bread-and-butter in earlier games this season.
“We really tied them up. The only time they scored was on a short field and they didn’t drive down the field on us once,” Gouin lauded. “Our defensive backs all did a great job in coverage, and really limited their deep passing game.”
On the other hand, the Muskie offence sputtered a bit at key times, and they once again failed to establish a running game once with big, game-changing plays.
“Over the past few weeks, we haven’t been able to grind yards out on the ground,” offensive co-ordinator Andrew George conceded. “We don’t have the personnel to go between the tackles, so we’re going to have to make some adjustments so we can get a running game going.
“I cannot stress enough how we need to be able to run the ball. We need to take some pressure off of our young QB,” he added.
Receiver Blake Wepruk also missed the game with a knee injury, but Whitehead stepped into his role and made a few big plays despite getting his bell rung on a big hit in the first half.
“He played a great game, Brad McDonald played a good game in the slot, and Jordan Bordan returned kicks well,” Gouin said.
“Dan [Brunetta] struggled at times, still having a little trouble reading the coverages, but he’s improved in every game and our defence again played a strong game overall,” he added.
The Muskies next host the St. Paul’s Crusaders (4-1) this Friday (Oct. 10) at 3 p.m. at Muskie Field before wrapping up the regular season Oct. 17 in Winnipeg versus the Sturgeon Heights Huskies (5-0).
“It’s a good test for our team, we have a lot of seniors and this team is giving it their all and playing hard,” Gouin remarked. “The teams are all very competitive in our league and you can see it, as the team which makes more mistakes is the one that loses.”
George noted the Crusaders have a well-rounded team that will test the Muskies to their limits Friday.
“They are well-coached and known to be disciplined. They can also play a lot more complicated schemes on defence because they have the athletes to do so,” he stressed.
“The D-lineman can stand up an offensive lineman, make a read, and then make a play.”
