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| Mason Nyhus and the Huskies are set for the Bisons. |
The Huskies, who are rated seventh in the U Sport Top 10
rankings, came into the current campaign with a tonne of excitement and
optimism after winning the Canada West Conference title last season. The high
hopes were put on ice during Week 1 of the regular season.
The Huskies traveled to Winnipeg, Man., on Aug. 30 to face
the University of Manitoba Bisons in the regular season opener for both sides.
The Bison exited IG Field with a convincing 43-19 victory.
What hurt the Huskies most in that clash was their
self-inflicted wounds. They lost the turnover battle 7-0 giving the ball away
on three fumbles, two interceptions and twice on downs.
The Huskies outgained the Bisons in total offensive yards
487 to 359, but the turnovers more than nullified the advantage in offensive yard
gained.
On Friday, the Huskies (3-2) will have a chance to bury that
Week 1 encounter in their collective memories, when they host the Bisons (3-2) in
another U Sports regular season contest at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
“Honestly,
we got kind of punched in the mouth the last time we played them,” said Huskies
quarterback Mason Nyhus. “I wish it didn’t happen.”
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| The Huskies defence aims to pounce on the Bisons. |
The Bisons have won two straight having slipped past the University of Regina Rams 27-26 last Saturday at IG Field.
Star running back Adam Machart enters the clash with the
Bisons lead all of U Sports in rushing with 712 yards coming on 86 carries and
scoring five touchdowns. He expects his squad to have some extra jump for the battle
with the Bisons after having beaten the Dinos.
“It is a
super big confidence booster,” said Machart. “Obviously, we kind of know what
we are capable of, and I think we showed a little bit of that tonight.
“We just have
to keep on carrying that on.”
 |
| Adam Machart rumbles home for a touchdown. |
Tom Whiting, who is a third-year linebacker, said he hasn’t forgotten what happened in the regular season opener.
“You always
have to keep it in the back of your mind just to dig into later,” said Whiting.
Friday’s clash potentially has big ramifications in
determining how the final Canada West standings could look. The winner of the
battle between the Huskies and Bisons will still be in the thick of the race
for first or second place and the chance to at least host one of the conference’s
two semifinal playoff games.
The Dinos and the University of Alberta Golden Bears are
tied for first and second in the conference with identical 4-1 records.
They face each other on Saturday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
They face each other on Saturday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
The Huskies dropped a heartbreaking 19-17 decision to the
Golden Bears in Edmonton, Alta., on Sept. 21.
 |
| The Huskies want to keep hitting higher gears as the season goes on. |
“I just told the players that we just need to bottle what we are doing at home and take it with us on the road,” said Flory. “The concerning part for me is two of those road games where we showed up like that.
“We’ll find
a way to correct that.”
For now,
the goal for the Huskies is to have a better performance against the Bisons
than what happened in Week 1. Nyhus said how that contest played out due to the
errors the Huskies made should be enough to get his team going.
“I guess
I’ll use it for a bit of motivation just watching film and see what they did to
us,” said Nyhus. “They are probably going to repeat it, so we’re going to have
to beat it.”
Machart gets second player of the week nod
 |
| Huskies RB Adam Machart had a huge game against the Dinos. |
The star
running back for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team was named the
offensive player of the week for the Canada West Conference for the second time
this season.
Last
Friday, Machart, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 185 pounds, had a huge game as
the Huskies downed the previously undefeated U of Calgary Dinos 29-15 at
Griffiths Stadium.
In that
contest, Machart carried the ball 23 times for 171 yards and one touchdown. On
top of that, he hauled in three passes for 35 yards and one major score.
The
defensive player of the week for Canada West was U of Manitoba Bisons
linebacker Reilly Gordon, and the special teams player of the week was U of
Alberta Golden Bears kicker Jonathan Giustini.
Machart’s
previous offensive player of the week nod came after the Huskies downed the
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 40-7 on Sept. 6 at Griffiths
Stadium.
So far this
season, Machart has carried the ball 86 times for 712 yards and five
touchdowns. He needs to gain one more yard to sit alone with the eighth best
single season rushing yardage total in the history of the Huskies program. He has
caught 14 passes for 137 yards and two major scores this season as well.
Machart has
equalled Doug Rozon’s performance in rushing yards from the 1997 campaign, when Rozon piled up 712
yards on 131 carries and scored three touchdowns.
Smith moves on from Huskies women’s hockey
 |
| Chloe Smith, centre, celebrates a significant goal at Rutherford in 2018. |
After two
seasons, power forward Chloe Smith has decided to move her life in a different direction.
The 20-year-old has elected to not rejoin the Huskies for a third season.
On her
Instagram account, Smith has tabbed herself as a Huskies alum and member of her
hometown Swift Current Fire Auxiliary.
Smith was
an education major during her two seasons with the Huskies, but she always longed
to pursue a career in firefighting. It really came off that a career in
firefighting was something Smith really wanted in a deep way.
While I don’t
have any confirmation on this front, it would be a strong educated guess that
Smith is likely following the firefighter path.
Smith, who
stands 5-foot-7, came to the Huskies after playing four seasons with her
hometown Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats from 2013 to 2017 in the
Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.
She
appeared in 110 career regular season games piling up 42 goals and 62 assists
for 104 points. Smith is the 19th all-time leading scorer in the
history of the SFMAAAHL.
During her rookie campaign with the Huskies in 2017-18, Smith forever cemented her spot in the team’s history.
On Feb. 24, 2018, she scored the winning goal that broke a
1-1 tie and gave the Huskies a 2-1 victory over the University of British
Columbia Thunderbirds in Game 2 of Canada West semifinal series.
During her rookie campaign with the Huskies in 2017-18, Smith forever cemented her spot in the team’s history.
 |
| Chloe Smith in action for the Huskies last season. |
Smith’s
second period goal in that contest allowed the Huskies to sweep the
best-of-three series 2-0.
That was the final game the Huskies women’s team ever
play at the Rutherford Rink, and Smith holds the distinction of being the last
member of the Huskies women’s team to score a goal in that facility and score
the last women’s playoff series winner in that building.
It seemed
Smith might be Kaitlin Willoughby’s successor in becoming the Huskies next high
profile star forward. Willoughby played out her final season of eligibility as
Huskies captain in Smith’s rookie campaign.
Willoughby
had the Huskies first goal in the 2-1 victory over the Thunderbirds in that
final game for the women’s program at Rutherford.
A feature I
put together on Smith that was posted on Sept. 23, 2017 is still my sixth
all-time most viewed post surpassing 5,750 page views.
Smith
appeared in 26 regular season games in 2017-18 collecting three goals and three
assists. She skated in 26 regular season game last season collecting three
goals and five assists.
While she
was still looking for a breakout season offensively, Smith still had the
potential to hit another gear in that department. If she has a change of heart,
she still has three seasons of eligibility to use.
 |
| Chloe Smith will succeed in any path she takes in life. |
When Canada’s
media industry was larger, U Sports athletes received more recognition.
If a U
Sports athletes’ career goals do not match up with their path of study, the
time comes to make a hard decision to move on, because it is hard to just take
classes in or to play a sport.
Smith is
one of those who will be a great success in any path she takes in life.
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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