Vikings fall in quarterfinals

The Vincent Massey varsity football team fought until the end, but ultimately could not overcome the red-hot Murdoch MacKay offence on Friday.

Murdoch won the Winnipeg High School Football League AAAA Tier 1 quarterfinal 36-17, ending Massey’s season.

“We played great, and they played a little bit better,” said head coach Mike Steeves. “We under-executed, but other than that we were gritty; we battled.”

The formidable Vikings defence made quick work of Murdoch’s opening drive, swallowing both run attempts to force a punt on third down.

Unfortunately, Charlie Gauthier and the Vikings offence also went three-and-out on their first drive, putting the ball back in Murdoch MacKay’s hands.

It was a slow, plodding drive, but quarterback Jack Jaworski — who is committed to the University of Manitoba — consistently found answers to keep the drive alive.

With 5:23 remaining in the opening quarter, Murdoch found themselves in a third-and-two. Jaworski ran a bootleg to the left and feathered the ball to Xander Lamoureux to pick up the first down just when it looked like the Vikings would catch him.

A few plays later, Vincent Massey D-lineman Max Lepper took advantage of a bad snap to sack Jaworski. However, the very next play, the Murdoch quarterback found a nine-yard pass to set up first and goal.

From there, Mishael Onafowora ran the ball to the one-yard line and punched it in on the next play, giving Murdoch a 7-0 lead with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Haiden Samuels took the kickoff all the way into Murdoch territory, giving the Vikings offence an excellent starting position on the 40-yard line.

They were forced to settle for a field goal by Timi Fadare that put Massey on the board for the first time in the game.

On their next drive, Murdoch MacKay was threatening to score once more thanks to a 55-yard catch and run by Hayden Janzen. However, Jaworski threw a high ball to the end zone that was picked off by Vikings safety Dylan Schermann.

“I have to throw it higher and outside or earlier,” said Jaworski about that play. “That was a mistake I’d want to have back.”

Vikings fans who followed the team this season will recognize this as the moment when Vincent Massey usually takes control of the game. Their defence makes a big stop, and suddenly the offence comes to life, repaying them for the big play.

This time, it wasn’t to be. A few plays later, Vincent Massey found themselves in third-down territory with inches to gain for the first. Gauthier failed to draw Murdoch offside and wound up taking a delay-of-game penalty that forced Vincent Massey to punt.

Murdoch MacKay once again went down the field, and Jaworski threw a ball to the flat that Lamoureux carried up the left side to score with 5:49 remaining in the half, making the score 14-3.

Sensing a moment of weakness, Murdoch went for an onside kick, which Landon Huot recovered when it caught the Vikings off guard.

More devastating than the recovery was the fact that it kept a tired group of defenders on the field for Vincent Massey and gave the Murdoch offence another chance to score.

The Vikings defence fought valiantly and nearly snuffed out the drive, but Jaworski would not be denied. He threw a 12-yard pass to Janzen for a touchdown on back-to-back drives with 3:58 remaining in the quarter.

Frustration started to set in for the Vikings. Their next drive on offence quickly sputtered out after a pair of drops that would have picked up big yardage.

Leighton Lefebvre then took an unnecessary roughness penalty on the punt, giving Murdoch good field position once again.

However, the Vikings defence managed to stuff Murdoch’s run attack on third and short to give Gauthier one last shot at scoring before the end of the half.

With 1:53 remaining in the half, Gauthier found Samuels up the middle for a 37-yard pickup. On the next play, Murdoch O-lineman Femi Olalaye was flagged for a face mask, which brought the Vikings down to the seven-yard line.

As he’s done all season, Gauthier ran it himself, going up the middle to score and keep the game within reach for Vincent Massey before the end of the half.

The Vikings weren’t quite ready to give up.

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,” said Steeves. “Our whole goal is to have this family environment and that they know they are loved and supported and I think you see it on the field.”

Before the end of the half, Murdoch scored once more. Onafowora scored his second touchdown of the afternoon on a 30-yard run with 23 seconds remaining in the half to take a 27-10 lead.

The second half started with Gauthier throwing an interception that was brought down by Murdoch’s Kingston Adams. However, the Vikings defence stepped up in the third, bottling up Jaworski and the Murdoch offence and buying time in the process.

Slowly, momentum built, and with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter, Gauthier threw a beautiful ball down the right side for a 23-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Seitz.

“I was glad to go out swinging,” said Gauthier with tears in his eyes. “What an amazing job by (Thomas). He’s been a guy I can rely on all season, and he came up big in the clutch like he always does.”

The game was still within reach for Vincent Massey if the defence could continue to hold with just 10 points separating the two sides.

On the next offensive drive, it all came crumbling down.

The Vikings were pinned near their own goal line after the defence came up with a stop on third and short.

Huot came up with a huge sack on first down that pushed the Vikings into second and 20. Then, Gauthier tossed the ball to Samuels in the flat. He looked to throw, but ultimately threw the ball away under pressure, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty that forced Fadare to punt from within his own end zone.

He knelt to pick up a bad snap and surrendered a safety, making the score 29-17. All the air went out of the Vikings’ sails after that play.

“We have (a comeback) in our DNA; we know how to do it, and it just didn’t go our way,” said Steeves. “I just think we just needed to be a little bit better today.”

Before the end of the game, Jaworski threw one last touchdown to Janzen.

Murdoch moves on to the semifinals where it will meet a dominant Oak Park team that looks primed to win it all.

It was an emotional moment for the Grade 12s on Vincent Massey’s side. Almost all of them had tears in their eyes.

“Man, I’m just sad it’s over,” said linebacker Ryan Rennie. “I’ve fought with these brothers for four years. We’ve died on this field, we’ve gone through everything on this field, and that’s the last time.”

Rennie couldn’t play the second half of the game due to a hand injury he sustained in the first half. He added that he wished he could have stayed on the field but just couldn’t.

He’s one of a group of 20 seniors who will not return for another season.

“They bring us great joy,” said Steeves about the graduating group. “They sacrifice so much to be part of this team, we ask a lot of them and they get very little, but at the end of the day you get to play football.”

It’s a bittersweet moment for a group that has played their final snap of high school football, but one they won’t soon forget.

“I’m so proud of everyone on my team,” said Gauthier. “I thought we were going to be horrible at the start of the year, and we went 5-2 and finished as one of the top teams in Manitoba.”

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com