Joey Payeur
With no wins to his team’s credit, Sekina Scheibler could be forgiven if he came home from Winnipeg in a less-than-cheerful mood.
Instead, however, the Muskie running back can’t wait to return to the national gridiron stage next summer
Scheibler, along with Muskie defensive lineman/linebacker Kenton Bowles and quarterback Brandon Whitecrow, were part of the Manitoba Silver team that went 0-3 to finish last at the eight-team 2016 Football Canada Cup at Investors Group Field.
“I’m only 15 and it’s mainly a 17-year-old tournament,” noted Scheibler, who displayed great versatility during the week by playing at running back, fullback, wingback, and slotback.
He also spent time on the kick-off coverage team.
“For me to get a chance to play in this is crazy,” he enthused.
“Next year, I’m going to try out for Team Manitoba,” Scheibler said, referring to the province entering only one team at next year’s event in Halifax, as opposed to having a second team this year due to being the host.
“That’s because Ontario has such a huge population base to draw from, they don’t even know your name most times,” he reasoned.
A 52-0 loss to top-ranked and eventual champion Quebec in their opening game was followed by a 22-15 defeat at the hands of fifth-seeded Nova Scotia in the consolation semi-finals last Tuesday.
Manitoba Silver then closed the tournament with a 25-12 loss Friday to seventh-seeded New Brunswick in the seventh-place game.
“Look at what we had to draw from and compare that to other provinces,” Scheibler said about the Manitoba Silver squad, which included players mostly from Northwestern Ontario, which falls under the jurisdiction of Football Manitoba.
“We far outplayed our expectations,” he added.
“Other coaches didn’t expect the level of football that we brought into each game.”
Scheibler was in for just one play in the first half and then a few plays in the fourth quarter against Quebec, which got a wake-up call after Manitoba Silver trailed only 11-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“That was like a slap in the face to them,” the 15-year-old said.
“We gave up the big second quarter [27 points] just because the offence wasn’t firing and our defence was tired out there,” he added.
“But we shut them out in the third quarter, and only gave up the two touchdowns in the fourth.
“[So] that game was not as bad as the score showed.”
Scheibler said Manitoba Silver’s effort made an impact among the university scouts on hand for the tournament, who made sure to show up in significantly larger numbers for his team’s second game against Nova Scotia.
That game was there for the taking but in the end, Nova Scotia running back Adam Bennett proved to be too much for Manitoba Silver—rambling for 161 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns.
“Nova Scotia has a million people to choose from and we had less than 100,000, and we still could have won that game,” said Scheibler.
Wanting to finish strong against New Brunswick, Manitoba Silver again was lit up along the ground as Dylan Waugh ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns to give that province its first win at the tournament in almost 15 years.
“It was a winnable game,” noted Scheibler. “We just couldn’t find a way to win.”
Scheibler gave pats on the back to his Muskie brethren on the team for their showing.
“Kenton played really well on defence and Brandon got a chance to be in most of the New Brunswick game after not seeing the field against Quebec or Nova Scotia,” said Scheibler, who aims at bringing back all he learned to the Muskies’ training camp in September.
“The level of coaching I’ve had the last few months has been crazy,” he remarked.
“I’ve learned so much and I hope what I bring back will help us have a good season with way more victories.”
Quebec rallied in the fourth quarter to down Saskatchewan 25-8 in the final to defend its title from last year.
