Huskies back in the playoff dance after Saturday’s waltz on offence
Vets looking forward to one last kick at the can after missing out in 2017 season
Football season got longer, by just a little bit, Saturday afternoon at Griffiths Stadium.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies — who failed to make the playoffs last season for the first time since 2000 — stuffed that memory deep into a closet when they beat the Manitoba Bisons 27-4 at Griffiths Stadium.
With that victory, they’re playoff bound for the 17th time in 18 seasons.
“It’s my last kick at the can,” said fifth-year Huskies defensive end Tristian Koronkiewicz. “I want to be able to prolong my career as much as I can. We seized that opportunity today, so now I’ve got, for sure, two more weeks of football. And we’ve just got to keep ’er riding.”
The Huskies will conclude their regular season Friday with a road game against the reeling Regina Rams, who recently forfeited three games for using an ineligible player and lost 58-6 to Calgary Friday night.
The conference playoff picture is settled as far as who’s in and who’s out. Calgary (7-0) has a free pass, as do 4-3 British Columbia, 4-3 Saskatchewan and 3-4 Manitoba. Alberta (2-5) and Regina (1-6) are out. The only thing left to settle is who hosts and who travels during the opening round.
“You only get so many opportunities to play this game,” said Huskies head coach Scott Flory, who professed himself pleased with the Saturday afternoon play of his fifth-year vets. “There’s no old-man tackle football leagues out there. You’ve got to take and seize every moment you get to play this game.”
Saskatchewan hit its milestone in style and stiff-armed heaps of offensive frustration in the process. The Huskies — who managed just 13 and 10 points during their previous two games, both losses — entered Saturday’s second half locked in a scanty 4-4 tie.
But they kicked the door down over the final two quarters. Quarterback Kyle Siemens spearheaded drives of 107, 84 and 97 yards and they got two touchdowns from running back Tyler Chow. Koronkiewicz finished the outburst with his first career touchdown on a 39-yard fumble recovery.
“I was losing my mind — I ran out to the field, grabbed the game ball for him,” Chow said and Koronkiewicz was positively glowing.
“Oh my goodness,” Koronkiewicz said. “During an interview earlier in the week, (I said there’s) no words to describe a sack. There’s no words to describe that feeling (of scoring a touchdown), you know? I saw the ball on the ground, picked it up and gave it all I’ve got to get to that end zone. There’s no better way to cap off a career here at Griffiths Stadium. There’s potentially another game here in playoffs, we need some help with that, but no better way to end it than with a touchdown and another win.”
That major brought up memories of another touchdown he scored, but didn’t get credit for during his first U Sports game in 2014. The opposing quarterback was his brother Jordan Yantz, who played for Manitoba.
“I strip-sacked him, but I was called down,” Koronkiewicz said. “I didn’t hear the whistle, so I ran all the way to the end zone. It looked a little goofy, just because I was called down, but in my heart it was a touchdown and I let him know that every day.”
But now he has a real one and the Huskies have two weeks left in their season instead of one with the option to extend that even further.
“This is one part of the step, part of the process of getting there (to the Vanier Cup),” Siemens said. “It’s nice to know we’re doing our job and we’re heading in the right direction, but it’s just part of the process.”
Siemens finished 22 of 26 for 262 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions before a crowd announced at 2,440. He also ran for a career-high 84 yards on six carries, including a 42-yarder that set up Chow’s first of two touchdowns.
Jesse Kuntz was Siemens’ primary target with eight catches for 89 yards. Defensively, Saskatchewan collected five sacks.
Manitoba quarterback Des Catellier connected on 12 of 18 passes for 142 yards before leaving late in the game with what looked to be a serious leg injury.
“Flory,” said Chow, “sat us down after the loss to UBC and said, ‘You know what? At this point in time, it’s a playoff mentality.’ We’ve got to refuse to lose and I think we played that way today.”