Vikings ready for tough WHSFL schedule

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This article was published 04/09/2024 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This Vincent Massey Vikings season depends on speed and control.

How fast can the defence get the ball back, and how well can Brayden Smith and the rushing attack wear opponents down and dictate the tempo?

They’ll start answering those key questions in their Winnipeg High School Football League season opener against the Vincent Massey Trojans in Winnipeg today at 5 p.m.

It’s the first of three games against historically strong programs on a seven-game schedule that lacks any truly weak opponents.

“I prefer it. I think you can play a lot of easy games and not learn much about yourselves,” said head coach Mike Steeves. “I think the tough games are fun. You get to see what the best football in the province is and that’s where we would like this program to get.

“For us, our goal is to always be competitive … Our goal is to be a little more competitive in those high-end games and hopefully that translates in those games we feel we’re very competitive in.”

Last year, the Vikings followed an unbeaten run to the Division 2 championship with a 3-4 showing after the WHSFL flattened into one big AAAA league with four divisions. That format remains in place this year.

Massey’s home opener is Sept. 13 as their crosstown rival Crocus Plainsmen visit Doug Steeves Field at 4 p.m., then it plays another South West Conference game against Sturgeon Heights on Sept. 19. Massey visits West Kildonan Sept. 25, then hosts championship contender St. Paul’s on Oct. 4 and River East Oct. 11 before the season finale at Oak Park Oct. 18.

The Vikings played the Plainsmen in a scrimmage on Friday and Steeves liked what he saw.

“It was perfect,” he said. “We got some guys in and learned where our weakness is and some of our strengths. As coaches we got better because it’s been a while since you’re involved in a game. “Our goal was to come out of there healthy and minus one injury, we’re not too bad. We learned a lot about our offence and things we wanted to get better at. Defensively, we knew we were going to be good.”

The defensive unit starts with speed and talent in a secondary led by third-year starter Kristian Williamson in his senior season at halfback.

“If you’re making a tackle and you don’t get him to the ground quickly, you’re probably going to get hurt by Kristian. He’s hunting,” Steeves said.

“He’s got a great knowledge of the game, he can cover a lot of area and he’s very versatile. We can play him at halfback, corner or safety, and if we need him we can put him at outside linebacker or probably put him at D-end. He’s great.”

Williamson wasted no time impacting games as a sophomore in 2022. He flew to the ball all over the field and established himself as a weapon in the return game. With Zach Redekop — who Steeves considers one of the top safeties in the league — at the back, the Vikings want to make it tough to throw against them.

Williamson likes the linebacking corps ahead of him as well, with Caleb Edwards and Cole Vandenberghe on the outside and Ryder Desjardins and Gibson McNarland in the middle.

“Our strength is speed this year. We got some fast guys on our defence, turnovers, that’s what we’re looking for the most,” Williamson said.

“We’ve got a good team this year. We just have to work on communication is the biggest key from last year, not get too high from how good we think we are and take every week as a new week.”

The Vikings’ offence was slightly bizarre a season ago, as lefty junior Coleton Malyon and senior Josh Palmer took reps at quarterback. The bulk of the offence was Brayden Smith’s 786 rushing yards, but Malyon is aiming for more balance and consistency as the clear-cut QB1.

“[Smith’s] a great factor. He keeps the defences honest for sure but we’re slowly moving into more passes over time. Once we fix a few hiccups here and there we’re going to be pretty solid,” Malyon said.

“We have a powerful O-line and we have a great running back in Brayden,” Steeves added. “That’s probably where everyone thinks our identity will be but our quarterback Coleton really showed he can throw the ball and now our receivers just have to be a little more reliable.

“They look good but there were some moments when we could have extended drives. We have some areas we need to improve definitely on the offence.”

Malyon’s receiving corps features Logan Van Santen as a bigger, contested-catch threat with speedy Lucas Ewert ready to take the top off opposing secondaries down the sidelines.

Up front, centre Jack Ficek has made the jump from JV and fits in well with Grayden Clements and Cole Ericson to his right and Ashton Bissonnette and Wyatt Stie to his left.

“Last year was hard to have that consistency because we’d have to flip it back and forth a lot but now that we have more of a solid base for what we’re going to do on offence, we can scheme around everyone,” Malyon said.

“I’m feeling pretty good. A lot of our boys are getting really good chemistry with each other, getting really close as a good group so I think we have good potential.”

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