Lucas Punkari
After a surprising season for the Muskie football team, which saw them make a Cinderella run to the WHSFL’s Currie Division semi-final, head coach Chad Canfield feels the sky’s the limit for what the squad can accomplish next year.
“Looking ahead to next year, I feel that our team is going to be really strong,” he enthused.
“We are going to be losing some of our players on our lines that we will have to fill up, but in looking at the other positions on our team, we are not going to be losing a whole lot of people.
“If we can add [injured quarterback] Tobijah [Gerber] back to the mix on an appeal, and if we can get Colton [Craig] into his regular spot at slotback, I honestly believe we have a chance to win that conference next year,” Canfield predicted.
This year’s ride for the fifth-place Muskies came to an abrupt end Friday evening in Winnipeg as they were hammered 40-7 by the top-ranked and unbeaten Sisler ‘A’ Spartans in the semi-finals, leaving the black-and-gold with a final record of 4-5.
“We just didn’t quite match up with them physically,” Canfield sighed.
“They had their way with us on the ground, and unfortunately we didn’t do our defence any favours on offence in helping to keep them off of the field.
“We struggled on offence on every series it seemed, especially in the first half as we had a number of two-and-outs before punting, and that just didn’t give our defence much of a break,” he noted.
Another issue the Muskies had to deal with on offence was the fact starting running back Harley Mainville was out of the lineup after suffering a concussion.
“We didn’t know until the day before the game that he was going to be unable to play,” Canfield said.
“We use him in a lot of formations and with him not in the lineup, that took out about two-thirds of our formations that we can run.
“So we were scrambling to try and replace him in those formations before the game,” Canfield added. “And even though we got Braden Webb and Nick Kaun into that role, to try and replace what Harley can do for us was quite difficult.”
After falling 28-0 at halftime, the Muskies got their lone touchdown in the third quarter when Colton Craig ran into the end zone from five yards out.
“On the play before that, Colton was playing at quarterback for us and he made a really nice play,” Canfield recalled.
“It was a fake end-around where he actually had a pass option to go to, but he elected to tuck the ball in and he ran about 60 yards down the field to help to sit up that touchdown play.”
Despite the unsatisfactory finish to the campaign, Canfield was proud with how the team closed out their season, especially when things had looked really grim for the program’s very future at the start.
“At the beginning of the year, we didn’t even know if we were going to field a football team, so to get to the level that we did at the end of the year was really amazing,” he lauded.
“The kids did a really great job, and even though we struggled early on, in the second half of the year they started to work hard and we experienced some success.
“When I came on board a couple of years ago, the rest of the coaches and I felt that this was going to be a five-year project, and right now I think we are ahead of schedule,” Canfield stressed.
But in order to achieve that goal of sustained success, Canfield feels there needs to be a heavier influx of players coming out to join the team when practices begin before the start of the next school year.
“It’s not good to be getting people out once school starts as you already are a couple of weeks behind everyone else,” he explained.
“We need to have a lot of players, depth-wise, because when you don’t have the numbers that you need, you end up getting into a lot of trouble,” he warned.
“However, with the success that we have had this year, I think that should help out a lot in getting guys to come play for our team come next season.”
Looking ahead, though, a number of players will be moving on from the program after this season, with a couple in particular among those Canfield and his coaching staff are going to miss.
“Jamon Leonard is a guy that isn’t noticed an awful lot as he plays a lot as a defensive end and also plays on the offensive line for us, but he is one of the best high school players I have ever seen,” Canfield said.
“It’s amazing to watch him on film after the games as he just never gives up out there on a play and he consistently beats the guy across from him, which makes him the type of player that every coach would love to have.
“We also had Nick Kaun, who was a guy that came out in his Grade 12 year at middle linebacker, and we just wished that he came out for all four years as he did really well for us,” Canfield added.
Despite the losses of a few players due to graduation, there are a number of players who will be returning next year that Canfield is excited about.
“Colton Craig did a fantastic job for us all year, especially in being a slash player for us at wide receiver, running back, and quarterback, and we look forward to having him back for another year,” he enthused.
“Another guy who was excellent for us all year was Braden Webb, who I think had an interception in every game except for our last game.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be awarded by the conference for his play this year.
“And to think that he’s only in Grade 10, I think that he’s going to be a great player over the next couple of years,” Canfield said.
If there was one thing Canfield was disappointed in from this past season, it was the fact the Muskies were unable to win a game on their home field, which is something that’s already set in place to be a major goal for 2012.
“It’s kind of unfortunate that we didn’t have that happen this year, but it’s just how things worked out with us winning all of our four games on the road,” he remarked.
“A lot of our [home] games took place at the start of the year with how the schedule worked out, and we hadn’t come together as a team at that point in time.
“It would be great, though, to get a home win next season as that type of thing, along with stringing together a win streak and being successful in Homecoming games, really help to bring a program along,” Canfield stressed.
