Joey Payeur
With the offence sputtering, the Muskies’ defence knew it had to come up big at crunch time.
The black-and-gold pitched a second-half shutout while Dougie deBernardeaux’s 65-yard touchdown run was enough to boost the Muskies to an 11-7 win over the Daniel McIntyre Maroons (Winnipeg) in WHSFL action here Friday afternoon.
Muskie safety Braden Webb spearheaded the defence—accounting for all four Maroons’ turnovers with a fumble recovery on a punt return and three interceptions, including two in the final two minutes of the game.
“[Webb’s] a ball hawk,” said Muskie head coach Chad Canfield, whose squad is 2-0 to start the season for the first time in his five-year tenure as sideline boss.
“He has great football instincts, and can see where the ball is going and cut in front,” Canfield noted.
“He’s the quarterback of our defence.”
The Maroons led 7-3 at halftime thanks to a 76-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Daniel Sousa in the second quarter in response to Cameron Lidkea’s 21-yard field goal in the first.
Although held in check for most of the day, deBernardeaux (15 carries for 103 yards) exploded through the line on the first offensive play of the third quarter and tore down the right sideline to put Fort High back in front 9-7 after Lidkea’s point-after attempt was blocked.
Ben Whitburn added punt singles of 49 yards in the third quarter and 47 yards with 1:16 left in the fourth to force the Maroons to score a touchdown to win.
But Webb, whose second interception on the previous drive set up Whitburn’s single, made it a hat trick on the first play after the single to virtually seal the deal.
The Maroons got the ball back on their own 29 with just under six seconds to go.
But the Muskies’ trio of Brett Mann, Dallas Gervais, and Aaron McDowell gang-tackled Kevin Ebron on the final play of the game for the team’s third sack of the day.
Next up for the black-and-gold is their annual Homecoming game this Friday against the St. Norbert Celtics (2-0), coached by former Muskie Adrian Huntley.
Kick-off is scheduled for one hour earlier than usual (2 p.m.)
