Joey Payeur
For most of last year’s Muskie football training camp, there weren’t even enough players to have one person at every position on offence and defence.
So with more than 30 players coming out for the first week of this year’s camp, head coach Mike Cuzzolino is buoyed by how much further ahead his squad already is in preparation for the upcoming WHSFL season.
“We have had a much better turnout, considering we only had 17 or 18 most days last year,” he noted.
“Offensively alone, we’ve almost installed our entire shotgun package of plays, where last year we had maybe four plays in before the season started.”
The Muskies are coming off a 2-5 season (one other loss was not counted in the standings) in the ‘A’ Currie Division, where they missed making the playoffs on the final day of the campaign with a 46-16 loss to the West Kildonan Wolverines.
Last year’s Currie champs, the Wolverines, have moved up to the ‘AA’ Vidruk Division, along with last season’s top regular-season club in the Currie, the Elmwood Giants.
Dropping down a division this season will be the Kenora Broncos, who were pummelled last year in the Vidruk Division (0-6-1), along with the Portage Collegiate Institute Trojans (Portage la Prairie).
Cuzzolino said other changes for this season will see all teams in the division play only six regular-season games, with all teams also making the playoffs.
That gives the black-and-gold, which has a bye during Week 1, a target to shoot for.
The offence will be led by the same key performers who racked up an almost-team record total of 60 points against the St. John’s Tigers last season.
At the head of that group is second-year starting quarterback Brandon Whitecrow, who spent the first week of camp trying to rediscover his range and his accuracy.
“Brandon was a little sloppy but his mechanics are pretty good,” noted Cuzzolino.
“It’s just a matter of him shaking off the rust, but his ball placement was getting better as the week went on,” he added.
“I’d like to see him reading the defence a little more quickly.”
Whitecrow will be throwing to a veteran stable of receivers in the likes of Cole Kowalski, Doug deBernardeaux, and Jarrod Ball, along with newcomers such as Jake Clendenning, Kaden Nelson, Levi Maxton, and Cam Bowles.
“We’ve got a group of athletes on offence and it’s good we’ve got the veterans there to help the rookies along,” Cuzzolino said.
The tandem of deBernardeaux and Sekina Scheibler will provide the majority of the rushing attack, although Cuzzolino noted the slotbacks will be getting involved with running the ball, too.
For the offence to go anywhere, though, it will fall to a brand-new offensive line that lost some key graduating veterans last season in such stalwarts as Connor Pocock and Nic Dennis.
Noah Van Heyst and Garrett Cain appear to have locked down the left and right tackle spots, respectively, while Graham Anderson at centre and Bryce Gilbert at right guard also look to have starting jobs.
“The left guard spot will, at this point, probably see a few guys getting rotated in,” noted Cuzzolino, whose background as an offensive lineman himself (he played for his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Steelers senior team this past summer) should help lessen the learning curve for the greenhorns in the trenches.
On the other side of the ball, the Muskies will run a base 3-4 defence but mix it up with multiple formations in their front seven to try and confuse opposing offences.
Mackenzie Flamand will share the nose tackle spot with Hunter Calvert.
Reece Jourdain and Jaykob Ryll will split time at one end spot, with the other side still not set in stone as to who will start, although Dawson Caul will rotate back and forth between there and linebacker.
Cuzzolino said the biggest strength of the unit lies in its linebacking corps.
“We’re in good shape with guys like Cole Sandelovich, Baeley Fulford, Kenton Bowles, Caul, and Byron Stewart, who should have a solid impact as a rookie for us,” he lauded.
The secondary is still a work in progress as Matt Booth and Matthew Nowak will rotate at safety while Damon Nyberg mans one of the halfback or cornerback spots.
“We’ll be rotating in a lot of our Grade 9 players to help fill the other holes,” said Cuzzolino, who also may use deBernardeaux and Kowalski in the secondary again, as he did last season.
While special teams’ work only got underway in earnest this week, the kicking game looks to be in good hands—or the good leg—of second-year punter and place-kicker Cam Lidkea.
“Cam was hitting field goals from 40 yards with no pressure all week,” noted Cuzzolino.
“We’ll see how he does [this week] when we throw some pressure at him.
“But he comes out every day and works hard, and fetches his own kicks for pretty much the whole practice,” he added.
The Muskies will open regular-season play here Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. against the Tec Voc Hornets.
