Muskie football kicks off Friday

The Fort Frances High School Muskies football team will get their first taste of regular season action this Friday—whether they are prepared for it or not.
The team has been practicing for the past few weeks, but only a dozen players suited up for Monday’s practice just days before they take the field for real in Winnipeg against Garden City Collegiate to open their Winnipeg High School Football League season.
But if coach Vince Gouin, in his second year at the helm, is feeling the heat—he’s certainly not showing it.
“Dan [Brunetta] is doing really well at quarterback; this will be his first year but he’s stepped in and did a good job,” Gouin noted.
“Matt DePiero is our tailback and he’s been doing well so far, but with the numbers being where they are, kids showing up here and there, all the other positions are still open and we’re assessing players as we go along.”
Gouin said he and his fellow coaches, Lou Gauthier and Andrew George, have simplified things in hopes of helping the kids succeed on the gridiron in a competitive WHSFL second-tiered Kas Vidruk division.
“We’re trying to simplify the offence for blocking assignments for all the players, for route assignments for the receivers, and just to make it easier for the players to achieve what we want them to achieve when they go into a game,” Gouin explained.
Gouin has already eyed up the team’s competition for Friday’s tilt, and expects it to be a good battle.
“They were in the lower division and ended up losing in the championship game and moved up to our division for this season,” Gouin noted.
“They play a spread offence and a defence very similar to ours, so it’ll be a good game.”
After Friday’s game, the black-and-gold return to Muskie Field for their opening game the following Friday (Sept. 12) when they host the Kenora Broncos at 2 p.m. They then go to Dryden for a tilt with the Eagles on Sept. 19.
The regular season only runs for seven games, so getting behind the eight ball early is not really an option for the Muskies. Gouin thinks it’s important to get some solid practices in the remainder of this week to be prepared as possible for Friday’s opener.
“We’re expecting a bigger number of players with school back in this week, so we’ll know more later [this week],” Gouin added.