Clansmen a football family
First-year team pulls together, will face Sisler in Currie final
Thu Nov 1 2007
By Allan Besson
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"I know football, eh?," he said, following his team's 10-7 Currie Division (tier 3) semifinal win over Oak Park Raiders. "I knew we'd be three-and-three at the end of this season, and we'd be happy with that. Well, that just shows me I don't know anything."
One of four first-year teams in the Winnipeg High School Football League this season, the Clansmen finished second (6-1) in their division, and now find themselves scheduled to meet Sisler in the Currie final Nov. 9. The Spartans (first at 7-0) beat Garden City Fighting Gophers (fourth at 5-2 and also new to the league) 15-7.
In the late game, Jeff McLeod kicked a single with four seconds left to give Kildonan East Reivers a 15-14 win over St. Paul's Crusaders in a Vidruk (tier 2) semifinal. McLeod also had a touchdown as did Evan Cleem for the Reivers. Nicholas Cobb and Ivasyk Chabluk scored majors for St. Paul's.
The Clansmen trailed 7-3 after two quarters, but a one-yard plunge in the third by Kirk Kantyluk plus a safety and a single and convert by Robert Scarzynski, provided the winning points. Chris Friesen caught a 23-yard pass from J.J. Mikolash for Oak Park's touchdown and Jeremy Appolloni kicked the convert.
"It (the touchdown) felt really good," said Kantyluk. "We've made really good progress from where we started. I knew we had the talent, and I expected we could go somewhere."
"What I really like about the Clan," chirped Bresch, "is that we came together as a family. These guys believe in each other and they trust each other."The Spartans struggled, and the Gophers fought well enough to hold a 7-1 lead at the half. However, a pair of touchdowns by Victor Hayda on runs of two and 34 yards in the second half enabled the Spartans to take control. Vladica Jovicin kicked both converts and Jason Vandel kicked a single. Eric Harder scored Garden City's only touchdown on a 57-yard pass from Ryan Ozunko.
"It was a barn burner," said Sisler coach Rick Hudson. "We controlled the ball in the first half but scored only one point. After halftime we came out and marched 100 yards straight into a nasty wind, scored a touchdown and never looked back."
"We were successful (this year)," said Gophers' coach Rick Henkewich, "Our goal was to win this league, and I am proud of my guys. They fought, they persevered, and they beat a lot of odds. When the season started, no one gave us a chance."
Semifinal playoff action continues today with Sturgeon Heights Huskies playing Kelvin Clippers in the other Vidruk Division game at 3 p.m. That is followed by the Potter Division (tier 1) semifinals.
Sisler takes on the Churchill Bulldogs in the 5:15 p.m. encounter and Oak Park plays St. Paul's in the 7:30 p.m. matchup.
The championship finals are scheduled for Nov. 9 at the Canad Inns Stadium.
allan.besson@freepress.mb.ca