Muskies fall to visiting Spartans

The Sisler Spartans found out beating the winless Muskie ‘A’ football squad was no breeze.
It took four hard-fought quarters, played in sunny but blustery conditions here Friday afternoon, before the Spartans (2-3-1) finally put away the Muskies (0-6) by a score of 14-2 in Winnipeg High School Football League action.
Fort High’s defence kept the Spartans out of the end zone all day, but were saddled with their 17th-straight WHSFL defeat mainly due to their inability to score with the wind at their backs—save for a pair of singles by punter Rick Ricard.
His 52-yard effort in the first quarter was the only point scored by either team in the opening half—and marked the only time all season that the Muskies hit the scoreboard first.
The second quarter featured the Muskies battling poor field position the entire 12 minutes, leading to them surrendering three safeties to avoid punting into the stiff south wind from deep in their own territory.
A 51-yard punt single by Khaleal Williams and a missed 23-yard field goal by Andrew Urso that went for a single gave the Spartans an 8-1 lead at halftime.
Ricard then nailed a 48-yard single in the third quarter to make it 8-2, but Sisler took control of the game by putting together two drives over a combined 6:45 that took valuable time off the clock when the Muskies desperately needed to make something happen with the wind advantage.
One of those drives yielded a 32-yard field goal by Urso that put the Spartans up 11-2 entering the fourth quarter.
Urso added his third field goal of the day with a 29-yard attempt to close the scoring while the Muskies were unable to mount any comeback in the face of the gusting wind and a staunch Spartans defence that refused to give ground—forcing Fort High to turn the ball over on downs three times.
The final time was with 1:49 to play, when on third and five at the Spartans’ 43, Kevin Gemmell was stopped two yards short of the firstdown marker after catching a swing pass from quarterback Andrew George.
The Muskies now will get a heaping helping of the best the WHSFL has to offer in the next two weeks.
The first-place St. Paul’s Crusaders (6-0) will visit this Friday in the regular-season finale for both teams at a special 3 p.m.
start time.
The game also will be a playoff preview as St. Paul’s, already having clinched top spot, will face the eighth-place Muskies in a WHSFL quarter-final match-up either Oct.
23 at CanadInns Stadium or Oct.
24 at Eastside Field.