Joey Payeur
Mike Cuzzolino berated his team for trying to give him a Gatorade bucket shower on the sidelines and also told them to ease up on their extended post-game photo sessions.
It may have seemed to be a curious reaction from the Muskie football head coach after watching his team rally for a 27-25 win Friday afternoon over the Daniel McIntyre Maroons to snap a six-game losing streak in Fort High’s annual Homecoming game.
But Cuzzolino’s mood that was a potpourri of delight and discontent was rooted in his desire to make winning the rule rather than the exception for the black-and-gold.
“It’s great to end the streak but I’m still frustrated,” said Cuzzolino, whose team improved to 2-1 and sits in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Currie Division (‘A’) with the St. John’s Tigers (2-1), Portage Collegiate Institute Trojans (2-2) and Neelin Spartans (2-2).
“We let [the Maroons] back in the game in the second half,” he noted.
“We didn’t execute on offence, we had some bad drops, and we weren’t executing our assignments on the offensive line.”
That aside, though, Cuzzolino credited his team for its determination, which led to the Muskies taking the lead for good with 58 seconds left on Brandon Whitecrow’s 23-yard pass to Cole Kowalski.
“They showed a lot of heart when it mattered and some true character that I haven’t seen in previous Muskie teams,” he lauded.
“It was a sideline roll right and it’s a bread-and-butter play for us,” Cuzzolino said about the decisive score that gave the Muskies their first Homecoming triumph since 2008.
“Cole is great at getting open and has great hands,” he added.
Cuzzolino also had plenty of compliments for his defence—despite its troubles defending the Maroons’ passing attack all game.
“The defence had a hell of a game,” he remarked. “We were much better stopping the run today.”
Fort High began the game defensively in booming fashion as Matt Booth rocked Maroons’ running back Kieran Buskell on the visitors’ first play from scrimmage.
That forced a fumble that was recovered by Kenton Bowles on the Maroons’ 15-yard line—the start of a terrific day that led to him being named the division’s defensive player-of-the-week.
“Kenton played a really solid game and he’s hurting so bad, but he sacrificed to be out there for the team so it’s nice to see his effort recognized,” said Cuzzolino.
Whitecrow found Kowalski two plays later for a 14-yard scoring strike, with Cam Lidkea adding the convert to make it 7-0.
Kowalski, taking over punting duties from Lidkea, made a superb special teams play later in the quarter when he hustled downfield to recover his own kick at the Maroons’ 51.
After a 25-yard field goal by Nicki Amorim in the second quarter trimmed the deficit to 7-3, Maroons’ quarterback Kevin Ebron was picked off on what looked like a shared interception between Baeley Fulford and Dylan Ossachuk, who both had their hands on the ball.
Fulford wound up rumbling back up field with the pick. Then after Sekina Scheibler’s long run on first down, the Muskies eventually worked their way down to the Maroons’ one-yard line.
Whitecrow faked the hand-off and scrambled right to find a wide-open Kowalski standing just inside the end zone to make it 14-3 with Lidkea’s convert.
Ebron, whose 359-yard passing day made him the division’s offensive player-of-the-week, hooked up with Justice McInnis on a 40-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown to close to within 14-10.
But on the ensuing kick-off, yet another eventual award-winner announced his presence loud and clear.
Doug deBernardeaux weaved his way through several tacklers, then turned on the after-burners in the open field for an 82-yard touchdown, with Lidkea’s kick boosting the lead to 21-10.
That play was the centrepiece of a 180-yard return day by deBernardeaux that earned him recognition as the division’s special teams player-of-the-week.
“Dougie is so elusive, it was only a matter of time before he broke it wide open,” noted Cuzzolino.
“Right before his touchdown return, I looked at him and said, ‘Dougie, when you catch it, be patient, wait two seconds, let the wall develop, and then take it to the house.’
“I then turned to my coaches and said, ‘This is a touchdown.’ And Dougie did it,” recounted Cuzzolino, whose team held the lead at halftime despite racking up double-digit penalty totals in the first half alone.
The Maroons found their groove on offence in the third quarter, with Ebron connecting with Buskell on a 43-yard major to make it 21-17.
Ossachuk intercepted Ebron early in the fourth quarter on one of his many overthrows in the game, but the Maroons held firm on defence.
That gave Ebron the chance to push his team into the lead when he gunned a pass to McInnis, who then galloped free for a 58-yard touchdown.
Ebron then scored a two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper to put his team up 25-21 with 7:53 to go.
The Muskies appeared doomed, especially after turning the ball over on downs with 2:54 left.
But the Maroons failed to pick up a first down and punted to the Muskies, who got the ball on their own 48 with 2:06 remaining.
Whitecrow completed passes for first downs to deBernardeaux of six and 30 yards before Whitecrow hit a leaping Kowalski for the go-ahead score.
The Maroons turned the ball over on downs with 35 seconds left, but got one more chance with two seconds left when the Muskies opted to run the ball three times and not get the first down instead of taking a knee to kill the clock.
But Ebron’s rainbow prayer went unanswered—hitting the turf and sending the Muskies and their fans into a state of delirium.
The only down note was Fulford’s second-half knee injury that had him on crutches for the post-game celebration, although Cuzzolino said the linebacker’s availability for the next contest would be a “game-time decision.”
That game will bring the Kenora Broncos to town this Friday for a 3 p.m. showdown.
The Muskies have a shot at first place should they beat the Broncos (3-1), who are tied for top spot with the College Lorette Collegiate Scorpions and Dryden Eagles.
