Joey Payeur
Braydon Hansson hadn’t forgotten the heartbreak of a year ago.
So he decided to break the Muskies’ heart by himself.
The quarterback rushed for all five of his team’s touchdowns in leading the host Dryden Eagles to a 36-13 victory over Fort High in WHSFL action Friday night.
“We had a hard time making tackles,” noted Muskie head coach Mike Cuzzolino, who still is searching for his first win as sideline boss after an 0-2 start this season in the Andy Currie Division (‘A’).
“We had a lot of missed tackles when we had them in the backfield, where they managed to break free,” he remarked.
“That definitely made a difference in the game.
“You have to give credit to Dryden, though,” Cuzzolino added. “They’re a strong running team.
“But I’m still proud of all the guys,” he stressed. “They’re improving with each game.”
Hansson rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s game against the black-and-gold, but came out on the losing end of a 29-24 decision that was part of an 0-7 campaign for the Eagles.
But after losing their opener 35-0 to the Elmwood Giants the previous week, Dryden notched its first win since 2012 riding a ground attack that saw Hansson attempt only five passes all game.
The pivot got his team off on the right foot with a short scoring plunge on the Eagles’ first drive, with Dryden missing the point after.
Fort High, coming off a 30-0 shutout in Week 1 against the Neelin Spartans in Brandon, finally broke its offensive doughnut on a combination of a big play and good luck.
Brandon Whitecrow connected with Cole Kowalski on a well-executed play-action pass that covered 60 yards before Kowalski fumbled the ball into Dryden’s end zone.
Kaden Nelson covered his teammate’s back, however, by jumping on the loose ball for a Muskie touchdown to make it 6-6 (the convert also was missed).
Hansson then scored twice more before Tristan Badiuk responded with a leaping 20-yard grab in the back of the end zone for Whitecrow’s first career touchdown pass to draw the Muskies to within 20-13 by halftime.
But with the veteran starting trio of defensive lineman Matt Cheetham, defensive back Jacob Bolzan, and linebacker Cody Bell already serving one-game suspensions for an undisclosed incident that took place just over a week ago, another hit to the Muskie roster proved insurmountable.
Kowalski, who was doing double duty as the team’s starting safety in Dryden, sustained a charleyhorse midway through the first half that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
Without Kowalski, the Muskie offence bogged down while the defence surrendered two more Hansson touchdown runs as the Eagles outscored the visitors 16-0 in the second half.
“[Dryden] took over in the second half,” said Cuzzolino.
“We had to move guys around to fill the receiver and safety positions with Cole out, and we already had guys filling in for Jacob, Matt, and Cody who only had a couple of practices to get used to new positions,” he noted.
Despite the loss, Cuzzolino believes his team is making strides in what could be termed a rebuilding year considering the number of players who graduated this past spring or chose not to return to the team this fall.
“[Whitecrow] is progressing really well and throwing an amazing football,” lauded Cuzzolino.
“Unfortunately, it’s not translating into points right now,” he remarked.
“The special teams showed a huge improvement, even though they’re pretty young and let Dryden recover an onside kick in the second half,” Cuzzolino added.
“No one’s forgetting to go on the field and they’re a lot more sure of themselves, which is pleasing to see.”
Cuzzolino still is waiting for his youthful offensive line to find its form, although after the Muskies’ running game netted negative yards against Neelin, halfback Dougie deBernardeaux and his mates up front at least got on the positive side of the rushing ledger versus Dryden.
“The offensive line is still struggling but they were certainly more effective than last game,” noted Cuzzolino, who calls this Friday’s home-opener at 4 p.m. against the Maples Marauders a “must-win” game.
“It’s going to be a real test for us,” he said of the Marauders, who lost 29-7 to the St. John’s Tigers last Friday.
Despite sporting an identical 0-2 record, Maples has scored 11 more points (24-13) and allowed 11 less (55 compared to 66) than Fort High through the first two weeks of the season.
“But this is a winnable game,” Cuzzolino stressed.
“We’re not on the road and we don’t have to travel, so we will be getting on the field with no bus legs≤” he reasoned.
“It’s a game we have to win.
“It’s tough to make the playoffs at 0-3,” Cuzzolino conceded.
“If we lose this one, we pretty much have to run the table to get in and make it into the top eight for playoffs.”
