Mitch Calvert
The Muskie football team has its bite back.
The black-and-gold dealt a first-half knockout blow to the visiting Maples Marauders in Winnipeg High School Football League action yesterday afternoon at Muskie Field, taking a 15-0 lead into the break before holding on for a 22-14 win to improve to 2-2 on the season.
But the biggest play came late in the fourth quarter when, with the Muskies clinging to a 15-12 lead and the Marauders threatening in the red zone, Mike Sonnasinh recovered a fumble on the fly and ran it back the length of the field to make it a two-score game and swing the momentum back in the home team’s favour.
“That was quite the turning point,” the Grade 12 student said of his game-winning play.
But this sort of late-game heroics should be expected from Sonnasinh, who ran back a late interception for a game-winning touchdown against the Kenora Broncos here in Week 2.
“I was just thinking here we go again, and just tried to get to the end zone as fast as I could,” he added.
That touchdown seemed to deflate the Marauders, who had been raiding the Muskies relentlessly in the second half, hooking up on a number of long passing plays.
But on the ensuing kick-off after Sonnasinh’s big run, the visitors fumbled again to set the Muskies up in good field position and put the game officially on ice.
From that point on, it was just a matter of running out the clock—sending the Homecoming crowd home happy.
The Muskies actually had more opportunities to seal the deal earlier, but costly turnovers kept Maples in the game.
The home team opted to open the first quarter against the wind and did well in establishing their running game—eventually setting up a chance within the five-yard line. But the offence couldn’t push the ball into the end zone, eventually settling for a single point on a missed field goal.
Unfazed, however, they went to the air with the wind in the second quarter, including a strike from quarterback Dan Brunetta that ended with a diving catch in the end zone by Blake Wepruk.
“Just catch the ball,” Wepruk, who was the team’s quarterback last year, said of his diving catch. “I like [receiving] a lot more, and Dan is doing a pretty good job at quarterback.
“We’re looking pretty good right now.”
Wepruk started to see extra attention put on him by the Maples’ defence as the game wore on—but still made some big plays on defence to snuff out drives.
“We have other receivers that can catch the ball, too,” he added.
Wepruk added a running touchdown on a short yardage play from the goal line to close out the first half, but a botched hand-off on a running play and a later interception both led to Maples’ touchdowns in the second half.
The Marauders added a late safety, but that would be as close as they’d get.
The Muskies next travel to Winnipeg on Oct. 3 for a meeting with the 2-2 Tec Voc Hornets, who beat Dryden 32-10 yesterday.
