Joey Payeur
Things are trending upward for the Muskie football team, though there’s still plenty of work to do.
The black-and-gold hung tough for the first half but were outscored 16-0 after halftime to fall 36-13 to the host Dryden Eagles in WHSFL action Friday night.
“We had a hard time making tackles,” noted Muskie head coach Mike Cuzzolino, whose squad fell to 0-2 in the Andy Currie Division (‘A’).
Meanwhile, Dryden (1-1) earned its first win in two years after going 0-7 last season and then starting this year off with a 35-0 loss to the Elmwood Giants.
“We had a lot of missed tackles when we had them in the backfield where they managed to break free,” Cuzzolino added.
“That definitely made a difference in the game. . . .
“But I’m still proud of all the guys,” he stressed. “They’re improving with each game.”
After Eagles’ quarterback Braydon Hansson opened the scoring with a short touchdown run, his first of five on the night, the Muskies got on the scoreboard for the first time this season after a Week 1 shutout loss to the Neelin Spartans.
Brandon Whitecrow hooked up with Cole Kowalski on a play-action pass for a 60-yard gain before Kowalski fumbled the ball into the Eagles’ end zone.
Kaden Nelson was in the right place at the right time, however, to recover the ball for the major, which went unconverted to leave the score tied 6-6.
Following two more Hansson scoring runs, Tristan Badiuk made a fantastic catch in the back of the end zone on a 20-yard pass from Whitecrow to cut the lead to 20-13.
But the Muskies couldn’t generate any offence in the second half while Hansson struck for two more majors on the ground to put the game out of reach.
Fort High will seek its first win of the campaign this Friday at 4 p.m. in its home-opener against the Maples Marauders (0-2).
