Sabres dominate Crusaders

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This article was published 13/09/2018 (2052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In their most impressive victory since being elevated last season to the Winnipeg High School Football League’s top divison, the SRSS varsity Sabres destroyed the St. Paul’s Crusaders #2 team 44-0 Thursday in Steinbach.

It was a complete performance on both sides of the ball as the Sabres improved their Potter Conference Division 1 record to 1-1 on the season.

Last week, in their season opener against Garden City, where the Sabres trailed 19-0 at the half, only to lose 27-20 following an inspiring second half performance by the Sabres, head coach Stephen Fedus said he hoped that second half momentum would carry over this week into the St. Paul’s game.

Although it was a bit of a slow start in the first quarter against St. Paul’s as it was scoreless after the first, the Sabres turned it on the second quarter and took a commanding 23-0 lead into the half.

“Despite our big lead at the half,” said Fedus, “we cautioned our guys to keep the pressure on reminding them that the previous week we trailed 19-0 and nearly came back to win the game.”

Due to some recent injuries, the Sabres were playing with a short bench and it necessitated a few more players than normal to play both sides of the ball.

And that was the case with Isaac Dokken, who is the Sabres’ leading player on defence, who turned into a near unstoppable running back against the Crusaders as he lugged the ball 15 times for a total of 119 yards and two touchdowns and also hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass from QB Sawyer Thiessen.

“Isaac is a gifted athlete,” noted Fedus, “we having been practising since the spring to possibly use him as running back if need be.”

Thiessen, for that matter, had another productive day at the helm, completing 12 of 21 for 277 yards. Tyson Bennett had three catches for 69 yards, and Payton Falk, another one of those two-way stars, had three receptions for 58 yards and ran the ball for another 82 yards of seven carries.

And as impressive as this offence was on the day, perhaps the most accolades go to the defence, which did not allow a single point, not easy to do in football.

The defence forced five St. Paul’s turnovers along the way, never giving the Crusaders any traction. Leading the way for the Sabres on defence with noteworthy performances were Alexander Turner, Thomas Peters, Reece Knelsen, Payton Falk and Matt Huzel.

“The nice thing about yesterday’s game,” said Fedus, “is we came close to playing a complete 48-minute game, and that is always our goal.”

The Sabres next see action next Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Sturgeon Heights vs. the Huskies.

Meanwhile, the JV Sabres opened their season Wednesday in Winnipeg as they played to a 28-28 tie with the Oak Park Raiders. Running back Jaxon Gruninger led the Sabres with three touchdowns in the game.

The JV Sabres will play their home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 19 as they host the St. Paul’s Crusaders at 5:00 p.m. at A.D. Penner Park.