Engel going green with commitment to U of S

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This article was published 02/10/2019 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jayden Engel has always pictured himself in Saskatchewan green.

The Vincent Massey linebacker grew up on Roughrider football, attending University of Saskatchewan camps in the summer and dreaming of the day he would sport a Huskies’ jersey.

After the last few seasons both at the heart of the Vikings defence and carrying a large load at running back, the U of S staff figured making that dream come true could help them even more.

The six-foot-one, 220-pound Brandonite has signed his letter of intent to play for the Huskies in the 2020 Canada West season, and attend the alma mater of his parents, Barb and Roy.

“It’s pretty surreal to be honest,” Engel said.

“My family is all from Saskatchewan and have been huge Rider fans as long as I can remember. Growing up in the game, it’s a lifestyle now, it’s a part of me.

“My dad tried out for the team in his fourth year (at U of S), and it has always been a dream of mine since I was little to play university football, play pro hopefully one day, see how far it can take me. So it’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Engel isn’t hard to spot on the field. Just watch an opponent hand the ball off, give it a second or two and chances are he has the tailback in his grasp.

And you can probably tell how much fun he’s having doing it. That’s what stood out to Saskatchewan coach Scott Flory.

“I was blown away by his love of the game, number one, his knack, football just makes sense to him,” Flory said, adding that love for the game is high on his checklist when recruiting.

“This kid is going to be a player. I watched what he did over the summers with back-to-back years with Team Manitoba and watching his high school stuff. He’s a fantastic young man first and foremost, but he’s a fantastic football player.

“He has got the physicality to play linebacker … and he still has a ton of room to grow too, which is exciting from a developmental standpoint from a coach.”

When Engel is on the field, he’s special. His biggest issue lately is that injuries have plagued his high school career the past two seasons. In his Grade 11 year, he suffered a foot injury in Week 4 and didn’t return until Massey’s Winnipeg High School Football League Division 1 quarterfinal, which it lost to Garden City.

Two weeks ago, he suffered an upper-body injury while carrying the ball when an Oak Park Raiders defender upended him. He missed last week’s road loss at Murdoch MacKay, when the Vikings dropped to 1-3.

They enter a critical home game against Kelvin — their Hall of Fame game Friday at 5 p.m. — needing a win to keep pace in the playoff race.

The good news is Engel expects to be back for it. Being a two-way player who doesn’t spend much time on the sidelines, it’s tough not being out there with the boys.

Still, injuries aren’t enough to scare him away from football.

“It’s just the reality of the game. You sign up for it, and it really pushes your passion for the game to see how much you really love it to come back after you get hurt. You got to rehab and do those little things to get healthy,” Engel said. “I’ve taken a lot of life lessons (from football), it has really helped me mature. Sports in general, not even football, have really helped me grow up.

“One of the major keys is having the people around me, my coaches, my teammates. I’m in a great atmosphere to succeed with these people. That has been really helpful. Not a lot of people can say they play with their best friends on a daily basis.”

Engel will certainly spend a ton of time with his new team as training camp, and even the first regular season games, get going before classes do. For the better part of the fall semester, it’ll be much busier than balancing high school classes and football, to say the least.

The commitment required is even greater than that of the provincial team scheduled Engel worked through to represent Manitoba at the Football Canada Cup the past two summers, although those were valuable eye-openers to show what it takes to compete on a national stage.

Perhaps the biggest difference for Engel will be that he’ll be playing with fifth-year university athletes and won’t stand out quite like currently he does. That’s not his primary focus right now.

He’ll trust the process and take what he gets.

“I just want to go into an atmosphere where I can become the best football player and person I can be, so whatever that takes and whatever I can contribute to the team, that’s going to be good enough for me. My time will come, I’ll be that guy again,” Engel said, adding the U of S already feels like a solid fit after visiting the school and meeting the team.

“It’s great. It’s a brotherhood, it’s really a family. I’m really excited to go to war with those guys every day in a year and put everything on the line with them. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Flory thinks the timeline for Engel to see game action might be a little quicker than most. With his build and football IQ, Flory says he can make an impact pretty soon.

“You never really know until you get a young man on the field but knowing what I know about him and his skill set, it won’t take him long to adjust to the size, the speed and the physicality of our game,” Flory said. “He’ll be a pretty impact player pretty early in his career, and for the duration of his career, I fully anticipate.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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