Staff
The Muskie football team was faced with an uphill challenge entering Friday’s showdown with the first-place Dakota Lancers in Winnipeg.
The Lancers hadn’t allowed more than seven points in a game, and only had given up 12 points all season.
On the flip side, Dakota’s offence hadn’t been held to fewer than 29 points in a game—putting up 157 in their first four games.
And the Lancer juggernaut just kept rolling Friday when the black-and-gold came to town as Dakota (5-0) romped to a 42-0 win over Fort High (1-4), who now have dropped three games in a row.
“We’re just going to try and forget about this one,” remarked Muskie head coach Chad Canfield.
“It was definitely a tough game.
“They’re a very strong football team,” he added.
Canfield credited his short-handed crew with not quitting in the face of adversity, but their best efforts just weren’t enough against a team as talented as Dakota.
“They usually beat teams by 40 points,” Canfield noted.
“It’s frustrating for us, and it’s probably frustrating for them because they maybe should be playing in a higher conference.
“The kids didn’t quit, which is great,” he added. “It’s definitely what you want to see in games like that.
“I’ve been involved with losses worse than that before, so I know how it feels, and I’m happy that they kept fighting all the way until the end.
“That was a positive thing to see,” Canfield reiterated.
He lauded receiver Colton Craig, in particular, for making three or four catches to get the black-and-gold out of some less-than-stellar field position.
But Fort High just wasn’t able to string together a series of successful plays to get a quality drive going.
The Muskies also were without running back Tyler Abma for the game, leaving the duties in the hands of freshman John Myers.
Also missing were linemen Cody Hunsperger and Paul Vivian, although quarterback Tobijah Gerber, who was knocked from a 14-13 loss to Stonewall here on Oct. 1, was back behind centre.
The Muskies will face a more even challenger this Friday when they return to Winnipeg to face the Sisler Spartans (1-3-1).
The black-and-gold then will wrap up the regular season next Friday (Oct. 22) when they host the St. Norbert Celtics at 3 p.m.
