Dornez punts Sabres into football playoffs

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This article was published 26/10/2023 (598 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It may not have been officially a playoff game, but the football showdown between the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres and Vincent Massey Trojans Oct. 20 might as well have been.

Both teams were looking to lock up a wild-card spot in the Winnipeg High School Football League’s top division playoffs, and both needed a win to clinch that spot.

Powered by a dominant night punting the ball from Bradey Dornez, the Sabres were able to come out on top, defeating the Trojans 16-6. Dornez accounted for all of Steinbach’s points, throwing two touchdown passes as quarterback, knocking home two extra points, and picking up two rouges.

Steinbach head coach Stephen Fedus said he doesn’t like asking quarterbacks to also be the team’s primary kicker, but Dornez is able to thrive in both roles.

Dornez was particularly effective punting the ball against Vincent Massey, as his kicks were often the difference as Steinbach enjoyed a field position advantage all game.

“It’s tough as a quarterback to go from being the quarterback to now all of a sudden punting or asking you to kick a field goal,” Fedus said while praising his dual-threat player.

“Usually that means there was some kind of failure the rep before. Now all of a sudden you have to block that out and do well at the job we’re asking you to do.”

Steinbach took control of the game early, as Dornez connected with Jackson Penner to cap off a 11-play, 65-yard drive on their first possession of the game.

“That was definitely our best offensive start this year,” Fedus said.

Most of the damage done through the air was done by Zane Friesen, who was a match-up nightmare for Vincent Massey’s secondary. He finished with eight catches, a touchdown, and 123 of Dorenz’s 181 total passing yards.

The 7-0 score after the opening drive was all the margin a dominant Sabres defense needed, as they suffocated the Trojans, only allowing 38 yards of offense in the first half.

Fedus credited that stout play to the Sabres having their toughest week of practice this season, which paid off during the game.

“One of the things we challenged the entire team with going into that game was to play physically,”

“Vincent Massey for years has been known as a physical football team… (Practice) sounded like football.”

Steinbach’s situational football was solid, with the team picking up singles at key spots in the game, along with a defense that took on the role of hindrance rather than stopper during the final moments.

Up 16-0 at the three minute warning, defensive coordinator Jamie Peters could be heard yelling from the sideline, encouraging his team to not give up a big play.

The defense allowed the Trojans to slowly march up the field, and then when they punched in a touchdown, stopped the two point conversion and easily recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt.

“We’re blessed as a coaching staff to work with each other,” Fedus said, shouting out the rest of the experienced assistants on the varsity team.

“We know what we want from each other and we trust each other’s opinions… Some of those decisions and doing well in them, is a result of not done well with them in the past when you’re a younger coach.”

The win meant more than a spot in the playoffs, and a winning season for the Sabres. The victory over Vincent Massey is a feather in the cap for a group of seniors who hold long memories.

“We had an exhibition game against (the Trojans) a couple years ago when we were in the WestMan division, and the scoreboard wasn’t very good,” Fedus said.

We told (the players) then, if we put in the work there’s going to come a day where we will flip the scoreboard… It took a couple years, but we were able to do it.”

The victory put the Sabres at seventh in the province-wide standings, and sets up a re-match with the Dakota Lancers. The Lancers came to Steinbach in the opening game of the season and dominated, winning 54-6.

“We’re going to get a chance to test ourselves and compete with one of the very best programs in the province and see how things go,”

“We want to go and beat them, and we know we have to play our absolute best game of the year, and make as few mistakes as possible in order to beat (Dakota).”

Kick-off between the Sabres and Lancers is at 5 p.m. at Dakota Collegiate.