Joey Payeur
After feasting on the Junior Varsity Sault Sabercats during his time at the linebacker and running back spots, Brady Meeks decided to deliver the main course from the quarterback position.
The Fort Frances resident took over behind centre to start the fourth quarter after an injury to starting pivot Colin Wiseman and not only preserved but added to his team’s lead with his first-ever touchdown as the Thunder Bay Knights U16 beat the Sabercats 36-22 on Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie in the last of the team’s three exhibition games.
Thunder Bay had never won any games in recent seasons, but went a flawless 3-0 this time with wins over two Winnipeg-based squads prior to the one against the host Sabercats.
“When I heard we were only playing three games and I looked into how they had done before, I told myself, ‘OK, it will be a good learning experience,'” recalled Meeks, who is in Grade 9 at Fort High.
“But everyone on the team stepped up and we came through to win all three.”
Meeks had a big first half defensively as he forced a fumble, and then recovered it, in the first quarter with the Sabercats knocking on the door at the Thunder Bay two-yard line.
“They sent me on a blitz around the end and nobody blocked me,” recalled Meeks, who also had six tackles in the game to go along with a sack and one pass defenced.
“The quarterback went to make the hand-off and I put my hand in there, slapped the ball down, and jumped on it.”
Later in the half, teammate Matthew Sacino went down with an injury, leading to Meeks moving up from his third-string position on the running back depth chart to rush five times for 25 yards.
“I almost got in for a touchdown but they stopped me just short of the end zone,” he noted.
The Soo led 22-15 at halftime, but Thunder Bay’s more youthful team maintained its composure and kept the Sabercats off the scoreboard in the second half.
“In the first half, we were making adjustments as we were getting used to the game,” said Meeks.
“They were all older, with most of us being in Grades 8 and 9 and their starters all being in Grade 10,” he added.
“They were stronger and faster but we made a couple of fixes at halftime.”
One of those was to take away the Sabercats’ passing game and force them to try and move the ball along the ground, with the Knights ready and waiting when they tried.
“All they had left was the run and then we shut that down, too,” Meeks said.
Thunder Bay scored two long rushing touchdowns in the third quarter by Payton Littleford (79 yards) and the returning Sacino (57 yards) to jump ahead 29-22.
Wiseman was hurt on the last play of the third, though, with Knights’ coach Rob Thompson turning to Meeks to take over the reins.
The veteran Muskie attempted only two passes, with one being complete, as he stuck to the Knights’ strong point of rushing the ball.
Two of those rushes came in the last two minutes and led to a memory for Meeks to cherish.
“We got the ball down to the 10-yard line and [Thompson] called me over and said we were going to try a quarterback draw,” recounted Meeks, who took the ball down to the Soo’s one-yard line.
On the next play, Meeks got the go-ahead to try a quarterback sneak and followed his left guard and centre into the end zone for his first career major.
“I was so happy. I didn’t think [getting the touchdown] was going to happen,” he admitted.
“I got up and gently put the ball on the ground with a big smile on my face, then went to the bench and got some high-fives and fist bumps.”
With Muskie football spring camp beginning this Monday, Meeks wants to bring what he learned with the Knights to share with the rest of the black-and-gold.
He enters his second year with the squad with an inside track on the starting quarterback job after backing up Brandon Whitecrow last season.
“It helped me tremendously,” he remarked. “I think I know the quarterback position a lot better than I did at the end of last season.
“I’ll have to show ‘Cuzz’ [head coach Mike Cuzzolino] a few new moves I learned from their quarterback coach,” Meeks chuckled.
“I’m happy to be playing Muskies again,” he added. “It’s been a while.”
