Muskies thumped by Broncos

The Muskie football team headed for Kenora on Friday morning hopeful but came back with the same old, same old after a 33-7 loss to the host Broncos.
“We played three quarters of a game, so we are improving,” Muskie head coach Vince Gouin noted wryly.
It was all Kenora in the first quarter as the Broncos jumped out to a commanding 25-0 lead.
The reasons for the quick collapse were varied:
•a penalty stopped a Muskie drive, giving up a possession and turning a chance to score into a fight to not be scored on;
•a few good plays by the Broncos were responded to by some poor tackling; and
•Kenora found the right receivers and capitalized on some tough plays.
The bright side was that Fort High settled down and played good, defensive 8-7 football “after our first-quarter debacle—you wanna use that word, ’cause it was the worst quarter I’ve seen our team play, defensively,” Gouin said.
With the defence clicking, the offence was able to get on the board, courtesy of a 39-yard romp by running back Matt DePiero.
Two passes later, quarterback Blake Wepruk found Jeremy Whitehead to put six on the board and give the black-and-gold something to hang their helmets on.
DePiero racked up an impressive 101 rushing yards in the effort, which he called “another tough game.”
“It’s hard to fight back being down 25-0 after the first quarter,” he noted. “It’s demoralizing for the team. It’s hard to fight back.”
Dan Brunetta, a Grade 10 strong safety and one of the young physical players Gouin said managed to shine through in the losing cause, said the team “played pretty good . . . but we just screwed up in the first quarter, and that’s what killed us.”
“We weren’t making our tackles, and they were just making their passes and making good plays,” he added.
The game was one of the Muskies’ last this season against an opponent with a losing record. And as a regional rival, the game was one players wanted to excel in.
“They were disappointed in their performance,” Gouin said of his players.
This Friday, the Muskies (0-5) will host the Kelvin Clippers in their final home game of the season—a team that had been undefeated before losing 23-22 in a match-up last week with the also undefeated Sturgeon Heights Huskies.
The Clippers have what is, by far, the division’s highest-scoring offence. And even though next week’s match-up—the last of the season—is against the winless Kildonan East Reivers, the Muskies aren’t about to look past Kelvin.
“We have a tough task this week,” Gouin admitted. “I’m not going to look ahead at all. We have a game against Kelvin, they have some good football players. . . .
“I still say the potential’s there, just mistakes seem to be part of our demise this year.”
DePiero said he hears rumblings about their next game being more winnable, but he’s aiming to head into the playoffs with a 2-5 record.
“I think a lot of guys are kind of thinking, ‘Oh, well, we’re playing Kelvin and we don’t stand a chance.’ If we get our mind right, we can surprise ’em. You see it in all kinds of sports.”
He’s subscribing to a mentality that the Muskies, as 0-5 underdogs, could upset a cocky and seemingly unbreakable 4-1 team. And he’s hoping others get on board with him.
“That’s what you gotta think,” DePiero stressed. “You can’t have that attitude that we’re going against Kelvin and we can’t do nothin’.”
This Friday’s game, which will be the last chance to see the Muskies at home this year, starts at 3 p.m.