Lucas Punkari
For the first time since the days of the old NorWOSSA league, the Muskie football team has won a playoff game.
The black-and-gold, who finished in fifth place in the Currie Division during the regular season, upset the fourth-place St. Norbert Celtics 15-8 yesterday afternoon at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg to advance to the semi-finals next week.
It was the squad’s first-ever post-season victory since joining the WHSFL back in 2001.
“This is really exciting for everybody,” head coach Chad Canfield enthused.
“We have really come together as a team towards the end of the regular season, and we are just hoping to keep that momentum going,” he added.
After falling behind 6-0 early in the first quarter, the Muskies responded on the very next drive as Colton Craig hit Aaron Kellar for a 50-yard touchdown strike to take the lead.
The black-and-gold then conceded a safety on their very next possession to fall behind 8-7—a score which stood as the whistle blew for halftime.
“We made that decision because if we would have punted, we would have been deep in our end with the wing blowing right at us and we would have gave them really good field position,” Canfield explained.
In the second half, the Muskies were moved the ball more effectively on the ground thanks to plays by Craig and Harley Mainville before quarterback Ben Whitburn snuck across the goal line to put his team back in front 13-8.
“We were up by five at that point so we decided to go for two points there,” Canfield noted.
“We called a running play there and Colton ran it in to give us the seven-point lead, and from there our defence just shut them [St. Norbert] down,” he added.
The Muskies improved their overall record to 4-4 for the season, and now are set to take on top-ranked Sisler ‘A’ next week after the Spartans (8-0) withstood an upset bid by the winless Tec Voc Hornets en route to a 31-21 victory on Wednesday.
“They are not a team where you can just key on one guy, and they finished in first in the league for a reason,” Canfield said of the Spartans, who beat the Muskies 23-7 here Sept. 23 in the annual Homecoming game.
“In Homecoming, we played them a lot tighter than most teams had played them this year, but in the second half we were kind of gassed and they pulled away,” Canfield recalled.
“Again, though, we’re not that same team we were at Homecoming . . . and I think we can win again,” he stressed.
The date and location for the semi-final still wasn’t finalized as of press time, but it is expected to take place either Thursday or Friday at 3 p.m. in Winnipeg.
The other Currie Division semi-final game next week will feature the second-seeded Elmwood Giants (7-1) against the third-ranked Daniel McIntyre Maroons (6-2).
