Lucas Punkari
While the coaches and players on the Muskie football team are over the moon over their first-ever playoff win in the WHSFL last week, the black-and-gold aren’t basking in the glow of that achievement.
Instead, they’re focused on their Currie Division semi-final showdown against the unbeaten Sisler ‘A’ Spartans this Friday in Winnipeg.
Kick-off is set for 5 p.m. at Eastside Field.
“I don’t think that we are at a disadvantage going into this game with Sisler at all,” Muskie head coach Chad Canfield stressed.
“I think we match up well with them and I think that we can win again,” he added.
The Muskies, who entered the playoffs as the fifth-seeded team after finishing the regular season with a 3-4 record, upset the fourth-place St. Norbert Celtics 15-8 in quarter-final action last Thursday afternoon at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg.
The victory not only advanced the Muskies into the semi-finals, it also was the first playoff win for the black-and-gold since the team joined the WHSFL back in 2001.
“This is really exciting for everybody,” Canfield enthused.
“We have really come together as a team towards the end of the regular season, and we are just hoping to keep that momentum going.”
Even though the Muskies were blanked 36-0 by the Celtics in the season-opener here back on Sept. 9, Canfield was very confident the rematch would be vastly different.
“We knew that this was going to be a winnable game for us and we knew that it wasn’t going to be a blowout like we saw in that first week,” he noted.
“Going into that first game of the season, we were behind [schedule] and there was talk about whether or not we were going to even have a program as we didn’t have the kids coming out,” Canfield recalled.
“We got those kids out before that first game, and most of them had never even played football before, so it took about three or four weeks before they were comfortable out there.
“Now, I think you’re starting to see that and the techniques we are teaching them come through,” he added.
The Celtics jumped into the lead last Thursday with an early touchdown, but the extra point attempt was blocked to make the score 6-0.
The black-and-gold promptly responded as Colton Craig, who normally plays as a running back but is put into a variety of positions on offence during the course of a game, threw a 50-yard touchdown strike to Aaron Kellar.
A successful convert put the Muskies up 7-6.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as the black-and-gold conceded a safety on their very next possession to trail 8-7—a score that stood until halftime.
“We made that decision because if we would have punted, we would have been deep in our end with the wing blowing right at us, and we would have gave them really good field position,” Canfield explained.
During the first two quarters, Fort High’s ground game had been pretty stagnant. But as the second half began, the Muskies moved the ball more effectively thanks to plays by Craig and Harley Mainville.
The rushing attack allowed quarterback Ben Whitburn to sneak across the goal line to put his team in front 13-8 in the third quarter, with the black-and-gold opting to go for a two-point convert in hopes of extending the lead to seven.
“When Ben scored his touchdown, we were up by only five points so we decided to go for two points there to extend our lead further,” Canfield reasoned.
“We called a running play there and Colton ran it in to give us the seven-point lead.”
From that point on, the Muskie defence shut down the Celtics, with the only amount of substantial yardage gained taking place on one of the last drives of the game.
“[Coach] Bob Whitburn has done a great job with the guys all year and he has them playing tough,” Canfield noted.
“Dallas Gervais, who plays all over the field for us, played great and came up with an interception in the first half.
“And Braden Webb, who has been a superstar on defence for us all year, came up with a pick, as well, and I don’t think there’s been a game this season where he hasn’t come up with an interception,” he added.
“As well, Joe Ball made a lot of great tackles and Jordan McTavish, who is probably our fastest guy on the team, did really well out there.
“All of those guys are very valuable to us,” Canfield stressed.
When the final buzzer went off to give the Muskies their historic victory, there was an energy for not only the players but members of the coaching staff, too.
“This is the kind of success that those senior guys who have been around for a long time have been waiting for and working for, and now they are getting it,” Canfield remarked.
“It is satisfying as a coach to see those guys experience a little success in their last year, and the excitement coming off of the field was just huge.”
For now, though, the Muskies are putting the finishing touches on their game plan for Friday’s semi-final clash with the Spartans (8-0) in what will be a rematch of a 23-7 victory for Sisler during Fort High’s annual Homecoming game here Sept. 23.
“They are not a team where you can just key on one guy, and they finished in first in the league for a reason,” Canfield stressed.
“In Homecoming, we played them a lot tighter than most teams had played them this year, but in the second half we were kind of gassed and they pulled away.
“Again, though, we’re not that same team we were at Homecoming . . . and I think we can win again,” he reiterated.
One factor Canfield and his coaching staff will be sure to take advantage of during practice this week will be watching of the game tape of the Spartans’ quarter-final contest last week, where they edged out the winless eighth-ranked Tec Voc Hornets 31-21.
“When we looked at that score, we all went, ‘Wow, they put up 21 on them?’” Canfield said.
“Everyone is really evenly matched in this conference, though, and that is what you want to see,” he added.
“Anybody can beat anybody on any day, and that is why we think we can do it this week.”
The other division semi-final, slated for Friday at 7:30 p.m., pits the second-seeded Elmwood Giants (7-1) taking on the third-ranked Daniel McIntyre Maroons (6-2).
