Written By Naol Denko
The reigning Hardy Cup champs: Saskatchewan Huskies
Finished 3rd in the Canada West Conference…
When was the last time the Huskies finished their season with this status?
5 years ago.
Should we be surprised?
What do we know about this year’s Huskies team?
Huskies fans had high expectations and it was shown weekly on the USports rankings as well.
After the loss of Mason Nyhus at the helm to graduation, Saskatchewan had high hopes for Anton Amundrud.
A gunslinger at heart, he has thrown 14 TDs, yet a worrying 15 interceptions. It is safe to default to saying this is his first season as starting quarterback, but he needs to think twice before dropping passes in double or triple coverage. Despite that, he passed for over 2,000 yards (2,184) and achieved a completion percentage of 62.5% with his passes.
With a star duo in Rhett Vavra and Daniel Perry who both in total account 8 TD passes and 956 receiving yards for Amundrud, including other acts in the show in Caleb Morin and Daniel Wiebe who have a combined 503 receiving yards as well.
Amundrud is in safe hands passing-wise.
In the backfield, with Ted Kubongo out in the final game of the season, Ryker Frank came out with a show: 172 Rush YDS and 2 Rush TDs. A previous Offensive MVP for U18 Team Canada and Canada West All-Star, there’s a strong belief for the Huskies in Ryker Frank for this playoff season to execute and make plays for the team.
Where does their offence rank in Canada?
Their offence is ranked #11 in PPG (28.6) in Canada, which is one of their pain points: scoring. When compared to the likes of the Western, Laurier, UBC, etc. However, as previously stated, they have a strong passing attack in which they’re ranked in the Top 6 in the country in Pass YDS and TDs. In terms of rushing, they are #17 in Rush YDS and TDs.
Saskatchewan needs to develop a strong rushing identity within the playoffs, score more points on the board, and lessen turnovers to have a chance of hoisting that Hardy Cup and possibly even more.
Now that we talked about offence… where are the Saskatchewan Huskies defensively?
Defensively, there’s a lot to like about the Huskies. They’ve only allowed 18.6 PPG and rank #8 in Canada and #1 in the Canada West. In light of that, they still allow quite a bit on their Pass Defence with 205.3 Pass Y/G which puts them at #11 in the nation, whereas, their Rush Defence is ranked #15 in the country with 148.9 Rush Y/G.
So, still a lot to work on defensively, even with the low PPG they’ve allowed in a typically high-scoring conference.
While the offence turns over the ball quite a few times, their defence knows how to come back with their own. They’ve intercepted 12 balls (#3 in the nation) and recovered 5 fumbles (#9 in the nation).
Who are some key players to keep an eye out for?
Their inside linebacker, Nick Wiebe, is a clear standout on this Huskies defence.
He is everywhere.
Leading the team with a staggering 60.5 TKLs, he has also made 1 FF and SCK.
Another key player is Seth Hundeby who accounts for 43.5 TKLs, 3 SCKs, and 5.5 TFLs.
In their recent and last game of the regular season, a player that stood out was Ethan Laing who plays the SAM position for the Saskatchewan defence. He is a player we should keep an eye out for in the playoffs. Despite being 5’7 and 174, he plays with a chip on his shoulder, similar to a Tyrann Mathieu style of play back in his LSU days. The second-year has made 4.5 TFLs and 1 INT in 5 games in the regular season.
Another athlete to keep an eye out for is defensive lineman Nathan Jule. An aggressive rusher who led the Canada West in sacks (4 SCKs), made 8.5 TFLs for the season, and also raked in an interception last game as well.
Their defensive backfield is led by Nixen Voll and Finn Marcotte-Cribb. Voll intercepted a team-leading 3 balls, while Marcotte-Cribb had 2 plus 5 PBUs and 1 FF for the season as well.
With all that being said, now it’s playoff time.
They’ll be facing the Alberta Golden Bears in the Canada West Semi-Final.
Alberta swept the Huskies twice during the regular season, will they do it once more, or will the Huskies assert their dominance?
We know what the Huskies have and we’ve heard about what the Bears have done. The Bears are beatable if you ask the T-Birds.
Therefore, it’s a tale of two competitors who are in pursuit of the same desire:
The Hardy Cup & beyond.