WHSFL Bowl Game Previews

November 4, 2008 - Winnipeg Free Press
Ashley Prest

FOUR of the six Winnipeg High School Football League final-ists will
bring undefeated records into the 2008 championship bowl games on Nov.
10 in Canad Inns Stadium.

The Murdoch MacKay Clansmen, Portage Trojans, Sturgeon Heights Huskies
and St. Paul's Crusaders all sport 9-0 records after undefeated regular
seasons and a pair of play-off games, but the Clansmen are the only
returning finalist.

Quarterback Pedja Hamzic, 17, said he and his Clansmen teammates have
something to prove when they square off with the Trojans in the Canad
Inns Bowl for the Currie A division championship at 2:30 p.m.

"We've got to get some redemption and win it this year," said Hamzic, a
grade 12 player who was the quarterback in last year's Currie division
final when his team lost 23-7 to Sisler Spartans 2. "That last
championship game wasn't my best game so I want to change that
drastically this year. We're going to have to keep our cool, keep our
confidence."

In the Vidruk AA division, the Garden City Fighting Gophers will be in
the final in just their second year in the league when they face
Sturgeon Heights at 5 p.m. Garden City, Portage and Murdoch are all
second-year teams.

"We have a young team, our quarterback is in grade 10, and we are very
happy to be here," said Brent Wurmnest, 16, the Gophers' grade 11 centre
who transferred this year from Maples Collegiate. "I went to Maples to
play football but then Garden City got a team. Garden City is my area
school so it's pretty special to be in the final with this team."

The Churchill Bulldogs will face the Crusaders, the only team to defeat
them this season, in the Potter AAA division final for the ANAVETS Bowl
at 7:30 p.m. In the regular season, St. Paul's beat the Bulldogs with a
last-second field goal. The Bulldogs last won the Potter division title
in 2004 and the Crusaders last won it in 2006.

The Crusaders will be led by WHSFL top passer Nicholas Cobb while the
Bulldogs will counter with the top rusher and scorer in Sean Clark.

"We're going to use every one of our athletes to the fullest potential
and spread the ball around to try to confuse them," said Churchill
running back Riley Coates, who had five touchdowns in his team's
semifinal win over the Grant Park Pirates, who concentrated their
defence on Clark.

"We have a lot of great players on our team who can become explosive."

The ANAVETS Bowl game will be televised live on Shaw TV.