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| QB Kyle Siemens calls a play for the Huskies. |
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team met a
pre-season prognostication they hoped to avoid in 2017.
In the Canada West pre-season coaches’ poll, the Huskies
were rated fifth out of the conference’s six teams, which meant they were
picked to miss the post-season for the first time since 2000. After winning
their first two regular season games in convincing fashion, it appeared the
Huskies were on their way to crushing that low expectation.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, their season concluded with
six straight losses, and they missed the Canada West playoffs with a 2-6 record.
That ended a run for the Huskies of making the U Sports post-season for 16
straight years. They finished fifth overall in Canada West taking the
head-to-head tiebreaker with the U of Manitoba Bisons holding a 76-59 total
score edge in two head-to-head meetings.
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| A lot of Huskies LBs lost time to injury like Ben Whiting. |
After posting a 5-3 regular season mark in 2016 and bowing
out in a Canada West semifinal game 47-17 to the U of Calgary Dinos, the
Huskies went through an overhaul in the coaching department.
Former Montreal Alouettes star offensive lineman Scott
Flory, who was the Huskies offensive coordinator and former player, became the new head coach.
Former CFL quarterback Marcus Crandell was brought on as the new offensive
coordinator, former CFL linebacker and Huskies player Warren Muzika rejoined
the program as the new defensive coordinator and veteran U Sports coach Jerry
Friesen assumed the role as special teams coordinator.
The Huskies staff included five new assistant coaches and
five holdovers from the 2016 campaign. A large contingent of players returned
as well.
Of course, the new staff took over in the shadow of the
resignation of the legendary Brian Towriss last December after 33 years on the
job. Towriss’s departure wasn’t handled in the smoothest of fashions.
A joint statement had to be posted on the Huskie Athletics
website from U of S president Peter Stoicheff and Towriss that saw Stoicheff
apologize for how the news of Towriss’s resignation was handled.
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| Chad Braun’s called back TD on Oct. 14 was a tough break. |
Since that time, Towriss visited the training camp of the U
of Guelph Griffins as a guest in August, was inducted to the Canadian Football
Hall of Fame on Sept. 14, and received an Alumni Achievement Award from the U
of Saskatchewan Alumni Association for his commitment to athletics, sports and
wellness on Oct. 26.
The honours were beyond well earn as Towriss piled up 196
career victories, 11 Canada West titles, nine Vanier Cup appearances and three
Vanier Cup champions during his storied career guiding the Huskies as head
coach.
While moves have been made to heal up any ill will regarding
Towriss’s departure, it still sticks in the mind with some in Saskatoon and
some of the alums of the overall Huskies program, which did create some negative vibes.
In a
spiritual sense, it felt like the Huskies football team had to ultimately take
it on the chin for one season as punishment for everything that went down last
December, which included the departures of eight other coaches from the 2016
squad.
It seemed like karma bit the Huskies in this instance.
Anyone that approaches this with an analytical mind would
say that is nonsense.
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| Head coach Scott Flory saw his Huskies endure a tough season. |
Judging on statistics, you can conclude the Huskies were
getting it done on offence averaging 30.6 points scored and 448 yards gained
per game. The defense struggled allowing 35.8 points and 544.9 yards per game.
The defensive problems mounted due to a host of injuries at the linebacker
position including fifth-year veteran Justin Filteau for the season and third-year standout Ben Whiting for a pair of contests.
With all that in mind, the difference between making and
missing the playoffs in the Canada West Conference is razor thin. The Huskies
could have easily had two more wins if the outcome of two plays were changed on
the campaign.
Had Chad Braun’s 33-yard touchdown catch with 4.8 seconds to
play in the fourth quarter not been wiped out by a penalty, the Huskies wouldn’t
have fallen at home 29-25 to the powerhouse University of British Columbia
Thunderbirds on Oct. 14.
During the Huskies final regular season game last Saturday
at Griffiths Stadium, they led 32-29 against the Bisons going into the final
minute of play. With about 16 seconds to play, a four-yard touchdown catch by U
of M receiver Kyle Patchell gave the Bisons a 36-32 win before 2,074
spectators.
The stars seemed to line up against the Huskies.
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| The Huskies defence struggled in 2017. |
The enormity of the shadow Towriss casts can’t be understated.
There will be and have already been voices that say this season would have
played out better had Towriss still been there.
In Saskatoon, the reality is the Huskies football team
traditionally has faced tighter scrutiny than any other team in the city due to
the prominent status nationally the team held after winning three Vanier Cups
under Towriss in the 1990s. If the wins don’t come, the criticism will.
Regardless if that notion is fair, it is the reality.
Still, there is too much football knowledge on Flory’s staff
that a turnaround can be envisioned, even if it is hard for some to see it
right at this moment.
It felt like the 2017 season was meant to play out like it
did to allow the Huskies to have more of a clean slate in 2018.
Hilltops will be big Canadian Bowl
favourites, other notes
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| QB Jordan Walls (#19) and his Hilltops are aiming for another CJFL title. |
It is the elephant in the room as far as the Canadian Junior
Football League is concerned, but the three-time defending league champion
Saskatoon Hilltops are huge favourites to win the upcoming Canadian Bowl
against the host AKO Fratmen in Windsor, Ont., on Nov. 11.
If there was a betting line in a casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada, the Hilltops, who are 10-1 overall, would likely be installed as
20-point favourites for the CJFL title game.
During the regular season, teams from the Prairie Football
Conference met teams from the Ontario Football Conference six times in
head-to-head games, and the PFC team was the victor on every occasion. The PFC
club won five of those games by a blowout margin.
The closest encounter came on Sept. 23, in Edmonton, when
the host Wildcats, who were 1-7 overall, of the PFC came away with a 40-37
victory over the Hamilton Hurricanes, who were 6-4 overall, of the OFC.
The Hurricanes fell last Sunday in the OFC final 34-20 to
the AKO Fratmen in Windsor. The AKO Fratmen are 9-1 overall, but their one loss
came in their only encounter with a PFC team. Way back on Aug. 12, the AKO
Fratmen took a 30-7 drubbing at home against the Edmonton Huskies, who were 7-2
overall.
The Hilltops faced one OFC foe crushing the Ottawa Sooners
49-15 on Aug. 26 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Sooners were 3-6
overall.
It can be argued that the AKO Fratmen can pull off a major
upset.
Most that follow the CJFL will expect to see the Hilltops
walk away with their 20th national championship in league history.
The Hilltops have a characteristic of always respect their
opponents. That helps the Toppers play at a high level no matter who they face.
That characteristic faces the ultimate test in the upcoming CJFL title clash.
- The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team is finding ways to win posting a 5-2-1 record in the early going of the regular season. They still have to battle to light up the scoreboard scoring 17 goals over their first eight games, but they have given up 12 goals, which equals the UBC Thunderbirds and U of Lethbridge Pronghorns for lowest total goals allowed in the Canada West Conference. The Huskies have outshot their opponents in all but one of their games and have had 20 or more shots than their opponents on four outings. U of S has to keep grinding and working hard and the goals should eventually come. The Huskies work ethic has been outstanding so far.
- Mackenna Parker appears set to have a beyond outstanding season for the Saskatoon Stars. After eight regular season games, the 17-year-old centre had 18 goals and 14 assists to lead the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League scoring race by 11 points over teammate Grace Shirley. If Parker continues at her pace, she would smash the league record for points in a season of 81 set by Alyssa Wiebe of the Notre Dame Hounds in 2007-08. Wiebe, who is a Saskatoon product, had 45 goals and 36 assists that season before going on to star with the U of North Dakota women’s hockey team, which folded last March.
- If you were in the northwest corner of Saskatoon on Halloween, you would have had a cool and scary experience checking out the Hampton Village House of Horrors on McClocklin Road. The organizers did an outstanding job with the jump scares. The axe-wielding clown at the end of the tour definitely made a memory.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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