Lucas Punkari
The Muskie football team now knows what will stand in their way in their quest to finish atop the Winnipeg High School Football League’s Currie Division this fall.
The schedule for the 2012 regular season was released this past week, which sees the black-and-gold hosting four games at Fort High to go along with three road ones—a reversal from last year’s 3-4 campaign.
“We can’t make the schedule, of course, and we can only play it, but I’m pretty happy with how it looks overall,” said Muskie head coach Chad Canfield.
“Things are a little different this year as they have shuffled up the conferences, so there’s now 11 teams in the division instead of the eight we had last year, so we won’t be meeting up with every team during the course of the season,” he noted.
“They [the WHSFL] have also pushed back the start times this year, which is kind of nice as it allows us more time to get to the games in Winnipeg.
“And it allows the parents to come and see their kids play when they are at home, which is always a good thing,” Canfield added.
The Muskies’ first game will be a home affair on Friday, Sept. 7, when they’ll meet last year’s runner-ups in the Elmwood Giants, who thumped the black-and-gold 39-1 here last October.
“Their star running back [Tyree Cayer] won’t be there anymore, so they are going to be a different team than from what we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” Canfield reasoned.
“However, we are really happy to be starting the year off at home again as that always makes things a little bit easier.”
The Muskies then will head out on the road for their next two games—the first in Dryden on Sept. 14 to take on the Eagles, followed by a trip to Winnipeg on Sept. 21 against the Daniel McIntyre Maroons.
“We’re really looking forward to going up to Dryden once again for another night game,” enthused Canfield, recalling last year’s 21-17 thriller against the Eagles.
“We had a lot of fun there last year, even though it was freezing cold and the weather was absolutely terrible out,” he joked.
Following their meeting with the Maroons, Fort High won’t have long to relax prior to their next game, which is set for Tuesday, Sept. 21 versus the visiting Tec Voc Hornets.
“Technically, we are on a bye that week when it comes to the Friday games, so that’s just the way the schedule works out,” Canfield said of the short three-day break between games.
“Playing on the Tuesday at home will be kind of tough as we will be on the road on Friday,” he noted. “And since we will be getting back from Winnipeg late, Saturday will be pretty much a write-off for us.
“We will probably try to do something on Sunday, along with our regular practice on Monday, in order to get ready for Tec Voc coming to town, but I think we should be fine,” he added.
The squad then will enjoy an extended break before their next game on Friday, Oct. 5, when the black-and-gold host their annual Homecoming contest.
This year’s game is against the Neelin Spartans of Brandon—one of the three new teams to the Currie Division along with the Steinbach Sabres and Kenora Broncos.
“The Homecoming game is always a good time,” said Canfield.
“And we are really excited about this one as we didn’t have a proper Homecoming game last year as we played later in the afternoon,” he recalled.
Following a home contest against Steinbach on Oct. 12, the Muskies will wrap up their regular-season schedule on the road the following Friday against the St. Norbert Celtics.
