Vikings to push for WHSFL playoff spot

Charlie Gauthier has focused on this Friday longer than anyone.

He went from being the focal point of one of the best Vincent Massey Vikings junior varsity football teams ever to standing on the sideline in a walking boot last year.

Impressively, the Vikings soldiered on without their starting quarterback to win the Winnipeg High School Football League nine-man JV championship anyway, while the varsity squad defended its Vidruk Bowl title.

Now, 345 days after tearing ligaments in his ankle while being horse-collar tackled last year, Gauthier is set for his varsity debut against the host Steinbach Sabres on Friday.

“It’s very exciting, it’s great,” the Grade 11 quarterback said. “We have a young group, and it’s great to be able to lead a new offence and a new identity. Obviously with Brayden Smith we were super run-heavy; now we’re a lot more two-dimensional.

“I don’t want to reveal too much, but we have some trick plays, and it’s really exciting. I’m pretty confident in this group of guys.”

“He’s matured so much since Grade 10. He’s really taken being a leader serious,” added head coach Mike Steeves. “He’s a great motivator, he’s one of the first guys here every day, he’s here at the end putting away cones. He’s just a great role model for the program right now.”

Between Massey’s ninth-place finish in varsity last year and JV title, the team was ranked seventh heading into the varsity season, easily in the new 12-team Tier 1, along with the Crocus Plainsmen.

Much of the Vikings’ success last year was due to the ground game. Smith rushed for 1,006 yards behind a stout offensive line as they controlled games and methodically tired opponents out.

With Smith and star lineman Ashton Bissonnette moving on to the Canadian Junior Football League ranks, Gauthier will be expected to throw more than dual-threat passer Coleton Malyon did last season.

Gauthier feels the guys in front of him, centre Logan Jardine, guards Wyatt Stie and Grayden Clements, and tackles Shawn Sherb and Jack Ficek, will make that possible if they keep playing like they did during scrimmages against Crocus and Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey Trojans last week.

“As a quarterback, I love to see it. Their pass-blocking was phenomenal,” Gauthier said.

“(Sherb’s) just a mammoth of a man, stands a full helmet taller than anybody else on the field.”

Gauthier is just as high on his weapons, starting with senior slotback Logan Van Santen.

“He’s a vertical threat, put him anywhere on the field and he’ll be able to score and make big plays anywhere. He’s tall, he can jump, he’s fast, but he can move, too. He gets open, really finds space,” Gauthier said.

“We’ve got a guy like Gabe McAuley, too. He’s on the smaller side, the exact opposite of Logan, but somehow he’s always open, finding space.”

While wideout Parker Cels will start the season injured, Grade 11s Liam Osudar and Leighton Lefebvre will help spread defences out.

On defence, Steeves said the big key is replacing defensive linemen Bissonnette and University of Manitoba Bisons newcomer Newman Chikwado.

He plans to do it with speed, and there’s plenty of it in a relatively young unit.

“We’re really an athletic and fast defence, so we really hunt very well,” Steeves said.

“If you look at us in the pre-season game, we struggled just with angles. For us, that’s an easy fix. We’re eager and pursuing real hard.”

Some of those young guys should make a smooth transition to varsity, considering they spent the summer training with the under-17 provincial team. Ryan Rennie and Cash Laluk will step into a fast, physical front seven led by edge rusher Caleb Edwards.

“We feel excited, and we’re pumped. We’re definitely going to face some challenges this year with the tougher schools like Dakota, obviously, but I think we can definitely put up a fight,” Laluk said, adding Kaleb McAuley looks great beside him at middle linebacker.

“I was watching him against Crocus and could not believe how much of a leader he is on the team and how much he stands out.”

The Vikings’ home opener is Sept. 11 against the defending provincial champion Dakota Lancers.

After that, they spend two weeks on the road at River East and Sturgeon Heights before three straight weeks in Brandon.

The Vikings host the Trojans on Oct. 4 and the Oak Park Raiders on Oct. 10, then close the season at their crosstown rival Crocus Plainsmen on Oct. 16.

“It’s exciting because you get to play the best football in the province for high school,” Steeves said. “They’ll be big challenges playing Dakota and Oak Park, and it gives you a great reference point for how good your football team is. As individuals, they get to compete against the best.”

With eight of 12 teams qualifying for the playoffs, the season finale against Crocus could effectively be a play-in game.

Of course, they need to win a few first to ensure the all-Brandon matchup is for more than bragging rights.

“When we played Crocus, we found it was way easier because we were pumped up. They’re kind of our rivals, right? We want to win this so much,” Laluk said.

“We need to come into every game like that, with the same drive to win the game.”

“Don’t underestimate us,” added Gauthier. “I know we’re young, I know we’re new, but I think we’ll have a lot of success this year.”

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