Heart and soul player would want team to
march on
 |
| Colton Klassen (#7) on the field during pre-game last Saturday. |
Last Saturday during a U Sports regular season football game between the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Alberta Golden Bears, Huskies star utility player Colton Klassen was lying down on the turf injured late in the first quarter. A hush came over the 1,105 spectators in attendance as the foot on Klassen’s right leg was bending at the ankle in a direction it shouldn’t.
The Huskies players on the field were immediate calling for
the cart and trainers when Klassen went down.
The visiting Golden Bears looked horrified.
The visiting Golden Bears looked horrified.
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| An injured Colton Klassen about to be taken off the field on a cart. |
The Huskies were down 8-0 at the time of Klassen’s injury,
and they roared back to post a 22-9 victory.
With the win, the Huskies finished second in the Canada West
Conference with a 5-3 record.
They will host a Canada West semifinal playoff
game this coming Saturday against the Golden Bears (4-4) at 3 p.m. at Griffiths
Stadium.
 |
| Colton Klassen, left, pulls away from a U of Manitoba Bisons defender. |
In the aftermath of the Huskies win last Saturday, thoughts
drifted off to hoping the best for Klassen. He led the Huskies in receiving
yards last season and this season. He played an instrumental role in helping
the Huskies win the Canada West title a year ago, which was a first for the
team since 2006.
Huskies head coach Scott Flory said after last Saturday’s
game it wasn’t right that Klassen wouldn’t be on the field for the team for the
post-season.
“My heart
breaks for that young man,” said Flory. “We don’t know the extent of it right
now, but it doesn’t look good.
 |
| Colton Klassen led the Huskies in receiving this season and last season. |
Klassen is the emotional leader that makes the Huskies go.
The 23-year-old is noted around the Canada West Conference for verbally engaging
members of the opposition. The talk often gets under the skin of the opponents.
Klassen, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 205 pounds, backs
the talk up by making plays. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross Crusaders High
School football program has made numerous big plays for the Huskies since
joining the team in 2016 after spending two campaigns starring for the Regina
Thunder in the CJFL.
For myself, Klassen reminds me a lot of a former right-winger
for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers in Derek Dorsett.
Dorsett played for the
Tigers for three seasons from 2004 to 2007 and was known for getting under the
skin of the opposing teams and their fans.
 |
| Colton Klassen comes up smiling after a TD catch last season. |
In Medicine Hat, Dorsett was always given a rousing ovation
befitting a hero. He put up penalty minutes, and he also put up points.
During his final season as an assistant captain with the
Tigers in their 2006-07 WHL title winning campaign, Dorsett appeared in 61
regular season games collecting 19 goals, 45 assists a plus-17 rating in the
plus-minus department and 206 minutes in penalties.
When the chips were down, Dorsett always played big for the
Tigers. Actually, he gave a top effort every night.
He would do anything on the ice to help his team whether
that meant blocking wicked hard shots or taking on guys that were much bigger
than him, and he was the leader in the dressing. Dorsett wouldn’t ask anything of
his teammates he wasn’t willing to do himself.
 |
| Colton Klassen is an emotional leader for the Huskies. |
These days, fans from WHL centres that supported the Tigers
biggest rivals still view Dorsett as the ultimate competitor – the guy you
wanted on your team.
That will likely be how Klassen is remember years after his
Huskies days wrap up by fans that support the Dogs biggest rivals. Klassen will
be remembered as the ultimate competitor and the guy you want on your team.
Before joining the Huskies, Klassen had an outstanding 2015
campaign playing running back for the Thunder.
He was named the offensive
player of the year for the Prairie Football Conference leading the conference
with 911 yards rushing coming on 117 carries and scoring five touchdowns.
 |
| Colton Klassen will return kicks and do anything that is asked of him |
Most running backs who have that type of season in the CJFL
would insist they remain in that role in the university ranks.
When Flory approached Klassen about moving into the slot
receiver position, Klassen jumped at that chance. He put up stellar number last
season hauling 38 passes for 676 yards and eight touchdowns earning accolades
as a Canada West all-star.
He had 37 catches this season for 456 yards and two
touchdowns before going down.
Klassen also blocks on running plays and returns kick offs
and punts too.
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| Colton Klassen is a great representative for the Huskies in the community. |
“We love
him to death. We feel for him. That is a tough one out there, but I think we
are going to rally around him.
“We’re
going to go play for number seven out there, play for those fifth-year guys,
and I think all the best of him.”
In practice and in games, Klassen is the one who can get the
Huskies competitive fire going. When he leads the Ric Flair cheer of late
former Huskies linebacker Justin Filteau, Klassen is able give it that right
emphasis it gives you chills.
Before Filteau passed tragically in a plane crash in June at
age 26, he and Klassen coached inner city six-man youth football in Saskatoon
together. One can only imagine how wired those young players were for game day
with Filteau and Klassen showing the way.
 |
| Huskies fans want to see Colton Klassen (#7) return to the field. |
Huskies fifth-year star defensive tackle Evan Machibroda said
Klassen always influences the team in the right way.
“He
(Klassen) is one of the hardest working guys out here,” said Machibroda. “When
we see a guy like that go down, we know he wants to be here, and he wants to be
playing with us.
“We just
have to do it for him. We play as a team, and we just all bind together here.”
Klassen might not be able to dress to help the Huskies on
the field, but you can bet he will still be able to give them an emotional push
on their upcoming post-season run.
Machart claims Canada West player of the
week honours
 |
| Adam Machart ran for 226 yards on Saturday. |
Machart was named the offensive player of the week for the Canada
West Conference due to having an outstanding outing in the Huskies 22-9 victory
over the University of Alberta Golden Bears last Saturday. He ran the ball 29 times for 226 yards, and he
caught three passes for 46 yards to power the Huskies to victory.
Machart’s rushing yardage total was the third highest put up by a member of the Huskies in one game in team history.
Machart’s rushing yardage total was the third highest put up by a member of the Huskies in one game in team history.
Thanks to that performance, Machart set a new Huskies record
for most rushing yards in one season. Over the Huskies eight regular season
games, Machart carried the ball 156
times for 1,334 yards and scored eight touchdowns.
The old
record was held by Doug Rozon, who ran for 1,267 yards on 151 carries and
scored five touchdowns in the 1999 campaign.
 |
| Adam Machart ran for 1,334 yards in the regular season. |
The Huskies
will open the U Sports post-season hosting a Canada West semifinal game on
Saturday at 3 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium against the University of Alberta
Golden Bears (4-4).
Golden
Bears defensive back and kick returner Wesley Bookland was the special teams
player of the week for Canada West, and defensive back Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown was
the defensive player of the week for the conference.
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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