Staff
It was the pigskin version of a National Geographic special.
The undefeated Dryden Eagles swooped into town and sank their talons into the winless Muskies before flying off with a 57-0 victory Friday afternoon in Fort High’s annual “Homecoming” game to close out the WHSFL regular season.
Dryden (6-0) looked every bit the ominous force it was hyped up to be before the game—scoring three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to lead 42-0 at halftime.
The Muskies (0-6) gave up three majors on punt returns, including one on the last play of the first half, while the offence turned the ball over eight times.
Grade 9 rookie Brady Meeks got his second career start and went 3-for-5 for 44 yards.
But was pulled in favour of veteran Brandon Whitecrow after being sacked and fumbling on his own 13-yard line late in the first quarter.
One play later, Dryden went up 21-0 on a trick play out of the “wildcat” formation as running back Liam Wrolstad took the direct snap and tossed it behind him to back-up quarterback Carter Armstrong.
Meanwhile, starting pivot Jarett Hicks ambled downfield under the radar and was wide open in the end zone to make the touchdown catch.
Whitecrow couldn’t get anything going in his final home game.
He was limited to just 2-for-10 passing for a meager 10 yards and one interception while leading the Muskies with 22 yards on the ground.
Fort High did force three Dryden turnovers—two on downs and one on a fumble recovery by Aaron Scheibler.
But his brother, running back and defensive back Sekina Scheibler, went down in agony while making a tackle on Eagles’ punt returner Thomas Moline in the second quarter.
The Muskies’ leading rusher this season re-injured the same right foot that kept him out of the previous three games, and also out of the offensive backfield against Dryden as he was limited by the coaches to playing on defence and special teams.
Scheibler’s availability is doubtful as the Muskies head to Winnipeg on Thursday to face the St. John’s Tigers (3-3) in the first round of the WHSFL “Bowl” playoffs, comprised of the bottom eight teams in the Currie Division (‘A’).
