Muskies shut down Eagles

The Muskies got back on the winning track yesterday afternoon in Dryden, grounding the host Eagles 49-28 in NorWOSSA action.
“They did really well. It wasn’t that close,” coach Greg Allan noted last night after the team returned home to Fort Frances.
Scott Witherspoon led the black-and-gold with three touchdowns while Jamie Booth scored a pair. Quarterback Gary Wager and Adam McTavish each chipped in one.
“All the players played their positions, everything worked well,” Allan enthused. “The running and passing plays were there for us.
“Our offense was strong. Gary had a strong game with pass plays,” he added.
“We played a lot of our grade nine players from the ‘B’ team in the fourth quarter. We could’ve scored at the end but ran the clock out,” Allan continued.
Coming off their first loss in NorWOSSA play last Thursday in Kenora, the Muskies were happy to bring home a win from Dryden.
“All in all, we are pleased with how they played,” Allan said.
As mentioned, the Muskies were beaten 28-25 by the Kenora Broncos up there last Thursday–their lone blemish in NorWOSSA play in several seasons.
“It is the first game we have lost in our regular season for about four or five years,” noted Allan. “I don’t mind losing but there was a lot of disappointment on the bus.”
“Kenora played a good game but our guys played well. We just had too many mistakes,” he remarked. “There were too many fundamental breakdowns.”
Allan said Scott Witherspoon ran in a 75-yard touchdown play early on in the game and stressed may have given the players the impression they already had the game in the bag.
Although Wager did fumble the ball on the goal line in the final minutes of the game, resulting in Kenora’s winning touchdown, Allan stressed that wasn’t the sole reason they lost.
“That is a part of the game–people fumble. It was one of many mistakes made during the game,” he reasoned.
But Dan Shankowsky, athletic director at Beaver Brae, said it was a poor hand-off by Wager that cost the black-and-gold the game.
“The running back couldn’t hold onto the ball,” he remarked. “The Broncos recovered the fumble and then basically ran the clock out.”
“It was a good learning loss for us but we did have a really good practice on Friday,” Allan enthused.
The Muskies can avenge their loss to Kenora here Friday afternoon when they host the Broncos in their regular-season finale.
The black-and-gold then will be in the NorWOSSA final slated Saturday, Nov. 4 against either Kenora or Dryden.