Colts move into share of first place by horse-collaring the Huskies

CALGARY — Zach McNeill reflected on his Saturday-night heroics at McMahon
Stadium, and gave a little shrug and a smile. “Right place at the right time, I
guess,” said the Calgary Colts veteran linebacker. “It doesn’t happen very often.”
He can say that again. After all, he did that again.

On a wild evening of juniorfootball
carnage, McNeill (5th year, Calgary, Lord Beaverbrook High School)
topped ‘em all with a pair of interceptions for touchdowns . . . on consecutive
Edmonton Huskies offensive plays.

It was that kind of night for the Colts, and the hangdog Huskies, as Calgary
romped to a 58-0 massacre in Prairie Football Conference action.
McNeill first picked off Huskies quarterback Ben Gorniak late in the second
quarter, scampering 35 yards for a major and a 37-0 Colts lead. And after
Edmonton took the kickoff, and second-string pivot Trevor Erdmann led the
Huskies offence out on the field, McNeill promptly stepped in front of an Erdmann
pass and took it 30 yards to the house.

The Colts would ring up a ridiculous 41 points in that second quarter, posting the
fourth-largest single-quarter total in the 120-year history of the Canadian Junior
Football League. And thanks to the host Saskatoon Hilltops’ 54-7 win over the
previously unbeaten Regina Thunder on Saturday night, the Colts, Hilltops, and
Thunder are all tied atop PFC standings with 3-1 records. The Colts entertain the
Thunder on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. at McMahon with first place on the line.
“Sometimes, things go as planned. Tonight, everything went as planned,” said
Colts defensive consultant John Stevens. “It was a good effort all the way
around.”

The Huskies, who won back-to-back CJFL titles in 2004 and 2005, have now
gone 20 games without a win, dating back to the finale of their 2007 season.
Regardless of the opponent, McNeill noted a shutout still feels sublime.
“As a defensive player, it’s always sweet to see that goose-egg up there on the
scoreboard,” said McNeill, whose Colts had defeated the Huskies 33-7 in
Edmonton to open the season on Aug. 21, giving up the hosts’ lone TD on the
final play of the game. “We were holding our breath at the end, but we were
excited to get it done.”

Offensively, slotback Jake Harty (2nd year, Calgary, Henry Wise Wood HS) had
his breakout game, hauling in first-half TD passes of 74 and 30 yards from
quarterback Clayton Masikewich (2nd year, Calgary, John G. Diefenbaker HS).
The real backbreaker came early in the second quarter, after a 15-yard
touchdown scamper by Colts running back Cuong Thai Lieu (2nd year, Nanaimo,
B.C., John Barsby HS) made it 17-0. The Huskies’ Mike Goldring fumbled the
ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by Calgary’s Charles Bouchard (2nd year,
Wetaskiwin, Alta., Wetaskiwin Composite) at the Edmonton 22. Seconds later,
Masikewich hit Harty for that 30-yard pitch-and-catch, a 24-0 lead, and, to all
intents and purposes, game, set and match.

Harty finished with 107 yards on three grabs. He also rushed once for 16 yards.
After being shut down Sept. 12 in a 40-30 win over the Edmonton Wildcats, Lieu
returned to his ground-gobbling ways Saturday, chewing up 85 yards on 12
carries and a pair of major scores. “It was good to see that. Cuong got back in his
groove, and he was slashing to the holes, running well,” said Masikewich, who hit
on six of 12 tosses for 155 yards.

With the Colts holding a mammoth 51-0 lead at the break, the rest of the Calgary
quarterbacking corps, including Jeremy Long (2nd year, Calgary, Notre Dame
HS), Brett Serhyenko (2nd year, Cochrane, Alta., Cochrane HS), and Justin
Fredrich (2nd year, Cochrane, Cochrane HS) all got a turn in the pocket during
the second half.

For more information on the club, please visit [url]www.calgarycolts.com

Photo courtesy Parick Price