Another quick start by the Oak Park Raiders meant another playoff disappointment for the Muskie ‘A’ football team.
The Raiders found the end zone the first three times they touched the football, and jumped out to a 24-0 lead, en route to a 35-8 victory over the Muskies in WHSFL quarter-final action Friday at East Side Stadium in Winnipeg.
Saddled with the club’s first winless season since 1987, Muskie head coach Bob Swing said it’s the effort—not the record—that should be the legacy of this year’s squad.
“Anyone who wants to brand these guys losers because of an 0-8 season hasn’t spent one bit of time with these kids,” said Swing.
“The only losers are quitters. These are proud kids who worked hard, and learned a lot about life,” he added.
The game almost was an instant replay of the teams’ regular-season match-up here Sept. 6 as the Raiders led 21-0 after the first quarter in a 42-0 victory.
After the Muskies fooled the Raiders by recovering an onside kick to start the game, quarterback Andrew George was intercepted by Kevin McNeil on the second play from scrimmage.
Four plays later, running back Astaire Cummings charged into the end zone on a four-yard jaunt that made it 7-0.
On the Raiders’ next drive, Cummings tore a hole through the Muskie defence and rambled 89 yards for the major and a 14-0 lead.
Oak Park pivot J.R. Robinson then aired a pass that Tom Miller reeled in at midfield and raced his way to a 92-yard touchdown and 21-0 bulge.
Robinson added a seven-yard touchdown strike to Miller in the second quarter, along with a 47-yard punt single in the third quarter, while kicker Jeff Schendell added first-half field goals of 31 and 30 yards.
Dan Hettinga’s one-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter, accompanied by a two-point conversion run by Chris Edwards, accounted for the Muskies’ scoring.
The victory continued the Raiders’ amazing three-year winning streak in the WHSFL, with their last loss coming in the 1999 championship game.
