Joey Payeur
One step forward and one big step back to reality.
That’s been the early-season story for the Muskie football team, which followed an opening-game victory with a drubbing 41-16 at the hands of the host College Lorette Collegiate Scorpions last Thursday.
Fort High (1-1) now sits in a six-way logjam for fifth place in the Currie Division (‘A’) of the WHSFL.
“It was simple breakdowns that cost us,” said Muskie head coach Mike Cuzzolino, whose squad’s two-point win over the Tec Voc Hornets here back on Sept. 18 came against what appears to be the worst team in the division this season (0-3).
“We weren’t executing,” Cuzzolino added.
“We weren’t picking up the blitzes along our offensive line and the defence is still having a tough time containing the outside runs,” he noted.
The Muskies currently are on their annual Touchdown Club card fundraising drive but couldn’t maintain almost any offensive drives against first-place Lorette (3-0).
Fort High tried to hang in early after giving up the opening touchdown of the game, tying the score when Brandon Whitecrow connected with Cole Kowalski on a 55-yard strike later in the first quarter.
But Lorette used the wake-up call to put the Muskies to sleep—piling up 34-straight points from there on.
Two rushing touchdowns made it 21-7 by halftime for the Scorpions, who then made three more end-zone visits in the third quarter to build a 41-7 lead.
Scorpions’ quarterback Brayden Manaigre and the Lorette offence made their way down the field almost at will against an overmatched Muskie defence.
“They ran a lot of option plays and they torched us on the quick screen play to the slot,” noted Cuzzolino, whose defence was minus linebackers Byron Stewart and Cole Trimble, along with cornerback Matthew Nowak, due to injury.
“They had a number of long runs and they even had a 50-yard gain on a halfback option pass,” he added.
Fort High finally stemmed the tide when Andrew Hanson brought down a Scorpions’ running back in the Lorette end zone for a safety.
Kowalski then reeled in his second touchdown catch of the game on a 35-yard pass from Whitecrow in the fourth quarter.
With five catches for 125 yards on Thursday, Kowalski leads all Currie Division receivers in touchdowns (three) and reception yards (196).
Whitecrow, meanwhile, finished the day 10-for-20 for 198 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
He also earned a wealth of praise from Cuzzolino for his fortitude.
“Brandon played unbelievably and showed true heart,” the coach lauded about the second-year pivot.
“He was a real warrior,” Cuzzolino added. “He got beat up and hit so much, but he kept getting up and getting up.
“He could barely walk off the field after the game,” he noted. “But you could see the fire and intensity was still there.”
Whitecrow didn’t get much help from his running backs or the offensive line, which combined to rack up 266 yards rushing against Tec Voc but ended up with only 88 versus Lorette.
Sekina Scheibler was held to 38 yards on 11 carries while Whitecrow’s team-leading 44 yards on the ground came only from scrambles after being forced out of the pocket.
“When it came to Sekina, he had a hard time seeing the holes,” Cuzzolino said of his second-year halfback.
“He hits the hole true but he runs with his head down,” he noted.
“He [Scheibler] needs to learn to run with his head up and bounce the runs outside.”
Defensively, linebacker Kenton Bowles registered a team-high 11 tackles and also had one of four fumble recoveries for the Muskies.
But those turnovers couldn’t be converted into points as the Muskies got into the “red zone” five times but came away empty each trip.
“The guys just have to work on going over their own responsibilities and techniques,” Cuzzolino stressed.
“I thought we would be past the basics by now but we still have to come back to it.”
Cuzzolino hoped the blow-out loss would serve as fuel to fire up the team.
“It was a real eye-opener for our guys and showed you’ve got to stay hungry for wins,” he remarked.
“Teams are not going to roll over and give them to you.”
Regaining success also won’t happen without a better stretch of preparation than what Cuzzolino saw out of his troops last week.
“We had guys away [from practice] and the guys that were there were a little out of it,” he admitted.
“That’s what happens,” added Cuzzolino. “We got a little satisfied with ourselves after last week and we took it on the chin.
“But it’s a good learning experience for the kids.”
The Muskies will look to end a seven-year streak of futility when it comes to their annual Homecoming game, which takes place this Friday at the special start time of 1 p.m. against the Daniel McIntyre Maroons (1-1).
Fort High hasn’t won Homecoming since 2008—coming close last year against Lorette before falling 20-14 after turning the ball over on a botched snap at Lorette’s five-yard line with 11.9 seconds to go.
The Maroons, coming off their bye week, were edged 18-17 in their regular-season opener against the Neelin Spartans and then squeezed past the Maples Marauders 15-9 in Week 2.
The Muskie secondary will be tested severely in going up against the division leader in passing yards—quarterback Kevin Ebron (478).
Kieran Buskell is his most lethal receiving threat.
