Crusaders hand Muskies playoff exit

The Muskies varsity football squad suffered a fuel crisis in Winnipeg last night.
Their offence was operating on fumes all night, their defence’s gas tank went dry, and the combination left the black-and-gold’s playoff hopes running on empty.
The St. Paul’s Crusaders ball possession offence wore down Fort Frances in the first half, and two quick touchdowns in the third quarter sealed the deal as the WHSFL’s top-ranked team blanked the Muskies 38-0 in their quarterfinal playoff match-up at Canad Inns Stadium.
The defeat marked the Muskies’ 19th loss in a row, and the end of a second straight winless season for Fort Frances (0-8).
Meanwhile, the undefeated Crusaders (8-0) will advance to the WHSFL semifinals against the two-time defending champion Oak Park Raiders.
“They’re a great team,” said Muskie receiver Kevin Gemmell, who was one of six seniors who saw their high school football careers come to a disappointing end. “I don’t think we gave up the whole night. They just outmanned us.”^The game was delayed an hour because of the double-overtime thriller between the Churchill Bulldogs and the River East Kodiaks played at the stadium beforehand.
But St. Paul’s made it worth their wait by barging out of the gate with a six play, 76-yard drive on their first possession, capped by Chaanse Fennell’s 48-yard touchdown scamper to make it 7-0.
Fennell, whose three touchdowns in last Friday’s 45-4 win here against the Muskies earned him WHSFL offensive player of the week honours , captured the league’s rushing title with 1,279 yards and also led in touchdowns with 17.
After Brendon Corbett’s six-yard touchdown run and Antonio Hajzler’s 19-yard field goal in the second quarter, Fennell caused more damage to the Muskie effort with his 19-yard jaunt into the end zone with only 14 seconds before half-time to place the Crusaders firmly in control with a 24-0 cushion.
The Muskie defence did provide the squad with several opportunities to regain the momentum throughout the half.
Defensive lineman Scott Galusha’s fumble recovery and Kris Esselink’s punt block had the Fort Frances sideline charged up in the first quarter, while Jordy Botsford’s interception at the Muskie seven stopped a Crusaders’ drive dead in its tracks.
But each time, the Muskie offence failed to manufacture anything substantial as they were held to one first down and minus-eight yards in the first half, and 63 yards of total offence for the game.
The Crusaders salted the game away in the third quarter, when Corbett took a handoff on a second- and-five at his own 48 and burst through the middle to race 62 yards to paydirt and a 31-0 advantage, which caused the rest of the game to be played without stop time due to one team owning a lead of 30 or more points.
St. Paul’s recovered the subsequent kickoff, and on the next play, Ralph delivered a perfect 44- yard strike to Brad House for the major to cap the scoring.
The Muskies put their only meaningful drive together to open the fourth, but turned the ball over on downs when Fort Frances pivot Andrew George, who completed five of 12 passes for 35 yards in the contest, overthrew Gemmell deep down the right sideline on a third-and-five play.
Botsford, in his high school finale, added another sweet note to his swan song by jumping on a Crusaders’ fumble at the Muskie 15 to halt a nine-play St. Paul’s drive.
But Blower tacked on the exclamation point when he intercepted George’s Hail Mary pass to Gemmell on the final play of the game.