Bisons & Huskies size each other up
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Scott Flory may have just been named the Canada West coach of the year, and his team may have home field advantage in Saturday’s Hardy Cup, but the Huskies’ head coach is taking nothing for granted in the lead up to Saturday’s Canada West title game against the Manitoba Bisons. “It’s nice to be here at home, but it guarantees you nothing.” The Huskies ended the regular season with a five game win streak, and are coming off of a 39-17 win over UBC in the Canada West semi-finals, but Flory is of the mind momentum can end in a hurry. “I have the scars. I lost the 08 Grey Cup at home. I think our team recognizes and understands that you can’t just show up!”
Huskies’ receiver Sam Baker had 8 catches for 148 yards and one touchdown against the Thunderbirds last weekend. The 4th year pass catcher is aware of the Manitoba play makers he’ll be up against. “They have a simple defense, but they play it well. The run fast and move well. Stefan Conway is the best DB I’ve faced all season.” Conway is a 4th year defensive back for the Bisons who had one interception, and averaged four tackles per game in six regular season contests.
Saskatchewan defeated the Bisons 41-12 in the teams’ October 30th meeting at IG Field in Winnipeg. Huskies’ defensive lineman Nathan Cherry, who led the conference with 5.5 sacks in the regular season, had this take on Manitoba’s offense. “A lot of zone runs, a lot of drop back passes. We know what we are going to see, we just have to have our mind right to fly around and get after them.” Bisons’ first year quarterback Jackson Tachinski will make his first ever Hardy Cup start on Saturday against the Huskies’ while Saskatchewan’s Mason Nyhus, who is a 4th year quarterback, is preparing for his second Hardy Cup start.
The Bisons have had their character tested both on and off the field this season. The biggest set back was the passing of 29 year old receivers coach Scott Naujoks in September. On the field the team lost starting quarterback Des Catelier in week one to a season ending injury. Manitoba also has a very inexperienced offensive line. Yet the Bisons were still able to finish with a 4 and 2 record and enter Saturday’s Hardy Cup game with confidence after hammering Alberta 43-17 in the semi-finals. “We’ve had to fight through a lot of things” said Bisons head coach Brian Dobie. We are a confident team, and pretty fearless. That’s not to be meant in an arrogant way. I just think that you can’t believe in yourself or your team until you prove it to yourselves. That’s what we’ve done.”
