By: Mike Still (@mikestill94)
Feature photo: Clansmen pivot Carter Kutzan was on point against the Kodiaks, contributing in some capacity on all of his team’s touchdowns.
In a battle of undefeated teams in the WHSFL’s Bramwell conference (division 2), it was the Murdoch MacKay Clansmen who emerged victorious, while the Dakota Lancers and Elmwood Giants both improved to 3-1 on the year. Below is a recap of all three games of the week.
Division 1 (Potter conference): Dakota Lancers (3-1) 42 – 0 Grant Park Pirates (1-3)
The Dakota Lancers took a 20-0 lead into halftime and didn’t look back, knocking off the Grant Park Pirates 42-0 on Thursday night at Murray Field. Junior Peter Orajekwe — who was last year’s division 3 rookie of the year as a member of the Churchill Bulldogs — paced the home side’s offence, rushing for 153 yards and the games opening touchdown on just 12 carries.
“The game plan was to start hard and make [Grant Park] quit, and we just kept on going like that every five minutes,” Orajekwe said postgame. The team is pretty happy, but we need to keep working hard.”
Carson Cadieux also added a rushing touchdown, while senior defensive back/receiver Josh Yanchishyn had a hat trick, with a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in the game.
Defensively, the Lancers were able to hold the Pirates potent running attack to just 58 yards, 40 of which came from feature back Paulo Dizon. Leading the charge was junior linebacker Josh Ma, who had 5.5 tackles, as well as two bone-crunching hits on special teams. Fellow grade 11 Jordan Friesen — who is a top 100 player in Canada for the 2020 class — added 4.5 tackles and a sack, while Daniel Okedara and Paul Orajekwe also got to Pirates pivot Wyatt Barber.
Despite the score, the Pirates defence did an admirable job. Alex Minor led the way, making multiple key tackles as well as registering an interception. Defensive back Jackson McLean also tallied a pick.
Next up for the Lancers is a critical matchup against the only undefeated team left in division 1, the Vincent Massey Trojans. That game goes at 5 p.m. at Dakota this Friday. Next up for Grant Park is a home tilt with the 0-4 Dryden Eagles at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Division 2 (Bramwell conference): Murdoch MacKay Clansmen (4-0) 32 – 16 River East Kodiaks (3-1)
In a battle of best on best in terms of offence and defence respectively, it was the Clansmen who were able to out-muscle the Kodiaks, holding them without a point in the second half, while scoring 17 straight in the third quarter en route to the victory.
Junior pivot Carter Kutzan led the way once more for Murdoch, making plays with both his arm and legs. He scored three majors on quarterback keepers, while also passing for another. The versatile quarterback was quick to praise his blocking up front for Murdoch’s current success in 2018.
“I couldn’t do anything without the offensive line,” he said postgame. “Our centre and our left guard Liam [Sobering] and Dawson [Waldner], they’ve just been unbelievable, but our whole offensive line, if we don’t have them, it’s nothing for us.”
Early on, it was the vaunted Kodiaks defence that stepped up. They recovered a fumble on the first Murdoch possession, and on the ensuing drive, Manitoba Bison commit Samuel Hezekiah was able to find the end zone with his legs.
The Clansmen would answer back though, as Kutzan found receiver Christian Kull on a few big post routes, which led to QB keeper to tie the game up at seven.
The Kodiaks would continue to make plays when it counted in the first half however, as hybrid safety Ethan Topping recovered a botched kick in the Clansmen end zone to give River East back the lead. Topping finished the day with 15 tackles, as well as a forced fumble to go with his major.
A safety would make the score 16-7 for River East, as they continued to bend but not break in the first half defensively. But Kutzan and the Murdoch offence continued to push back, scoring in the final minute of the first half on a touchdown pass. Receiver Alex Grace would add a two-point convert as the home side went into the break down by just one.
The second half is where things started to fall apart for the Kodiaks, as Kutzan and company began to start rolling, keeping the River East defence guessing with read option plays by Kutzan as well as a strong showing on the ground from running back Preston Kull, who came into the contest averaging 140 yards.
A safety gave the Clansmen their first lead of the game, which spelled the beginning of the end as the Murdoch defence was able to hold Hezekiah and company in check for the remainder of the contest. Kutzan would add two more scores, while River East was held to less than 140 yards on the ground.
Kodiaks head coach Sean Oleksewycz said postgame that nothing changed scheme-wise in the second half in terms of what either team was doing, and that Murdoch was simply able to make more plays.
“Carter [Kutzan] is a hell of a quarterback, he knows what we’re seeing,” he said. “We had them scouted well, we knew their plays before they were coming, but Liam Sobering and Carter, they’re great players. Hats off to them, they whipped us today pretty well.”
Despite the outcome, Oleksewycz added that a loss at this stage of the season isn’t the end of the world.
“Going 3-0 early, a loss is good for us right now,” he said. “We’re not world beaters right now, we know we have to come pay our rent each week so we can have success. We didn’t have a great week of practice and when it comes down to it we just didn’t play well.”
Both teams head into week five with critical contests yet again. The Clansmen will do battle with the 4-0 St. Norbert Celtics, who have been the feel good story in the Vidruk conference of division 2 so far. That game goes Friday at 4:30 at Murdoch. The Kodiaks will face off with the other undefeated team in the Vidruk conference, as they head to River Heights to take on the 4-0 Kelvin Clippers at 4:30 this Thursday. Both contests will be included as games of the week for division two.
Division 3: Elmwood Giants (3-1) 39 – 28 Maples Marauders (1-2)
The Giants got another stellar performance from running back Evyn Melville, as he ran the rock for 145 yards and four scores on just 12 carries in the victory. Linebacker Jacobien O’Connor paced the defensive play for Elmwood, recording two tackles, a blocked kick and three fumble recoveries.
The Marauders got 172 yards and two scores on the ground from the trio of Riley Mckee, Aaron Gosselin and Harper Brown, as well as seven tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery from defensive back Adamo Urciuoli, but it wasn’t enough to top the Giants, who now move into a three-way tie for first place in the division with the St. John’s Tigers and Fort Frances Muskies.
Next up for the Giants is a battle with the Churchill Bulldogs this Friday at 4:30, while the Marauders will do battle with the Muskies this Thursday at 4 p.m.