COLTS START SEASON WITH A ‘W’, THANKS TO SOME TENACIOUS ‘D’

EDMONTON — The offence sputtered, but the defence smothered.

The Calgary Colts and Edmonton Huskies kicked off the 34th Prairie Football Conference season on Saturday night at Edmonton’s Clarke Stadium, with the Colts building up a 26-0 halftime lead and cruising to a 33-7 win over the capital city’s canines. And after the game, all the laurels were landing at the feet of the Colts’ defensive corps.

“The guys really rose to the occasion,” said Colts defensive consultant John Stevens. “In the first half, we shut ’em down, held them to 40 yards’ total offence. And in the second half . . . we were able to hold them off on a couple of drives, and didn’t give up any big plays.”

The Huskies, back-to-back Canadian Junior Football League champions in 2004 and 2005, saw their losing streak of two-plus years extended another game — due in large part to five turnovers, including a fumble recovery and interceptions by Colts defensive backs Alex Saretsky (4th year, Cochrane, Alta., Cochrane HS) and Kevan Hafichuk (2nd year, Calgary, Notre Dame HS).

The Colts were also credited with four quarterback sacks and a first-quarter safety, and gave up just 44 yards along the ground. The Huskies didn’t hit the scoreboard until the game’s final play, a third-down passing gambit.

“The defence was strong the whole game. They got us the ball in great field position, and they were on (the Huskies’) quarterbacks all game. Those QBs they have are tough kids, because our guys really laid a licking on them,” noted Colts offensive co-ordinator Rob McNab.

“Defensively? Great job. Offensively? We’ve got to keep working.”

Despite those 33 points, the Colts’ offensive performance was a work in progress. Jeremy Long (2nd year, Calgary, Notre Dame HS), who started the game for Calgary at quarterback, scored a pair of rushing touchdowns — two yards in the second quarter, seven in the final stanza — but completed just five of 15 passing attempts for 59 yards.

All three Colts pivots got some time in the pocket without much success. Brett Serhyenko (2nd year, Cochrane, Cochrane HS) went 2-of-5 for 32 yards, while Clayton Masikewich (2nd year, Calgary, John G. Diefenbaker HS) was 0-for-3. Jake Harty (2nd year, Calgary, Henry Wise Wood HS) was the club’s top receiver, catching four balls for just 67 yards.

“There’s only room for improvement, especially on my behalf,” said Long. “I’ll take the blame for a lot of bad throws. My job isn’t to run a whole lot, even though I like to. My job is to get the ball into the receivers’ hands. I didn’t do the best job of that . . . I’ll take it with a grain of salt.”

Other Colts major scores came from receiver Doug Long (2nd year, Calgary, Bowness HS), who rambled 80 yards on a first-quarter punt return, and Cuong Thai Lieu (2nd year, Nanaimo, B.C, John Barsby HS) on an eight-yard run in the second quarter. Lieu rushed or 106 yards, compared to Jeremy Long’s 93, and Andrew Fabian booted a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter.

“We’ve just got to find our way through this. We ran the ball extremely well, but we didn’t throw the ball very well tonight. We left a lot of guys open, and we had a lot of dropped passes,” said McNab. “Our biggest problem was penalties. We had 21 for 159 yards. Ridiculous. I couldn’t tell you how many catches were called back, big plays . . . Jake Harty had a 40-yard touchdown run called back. It just went on and on.

“Still . . . a win’s a win.”

Next action for the Colts (1-0) comes Sunday, Aug. 29 in Regina during the home opener for the Thunder. The Colts make their home debut on Sept. 12 against the Edmonton Wildcats at McMahon Stadium.

Todd Kimberley – Media Consultant – Jace Communications – 8/21/2010