The Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) Mohawks nine-man football team opened up their 2012 Conference One season with a pair of convincing victories over the Clavet Cougars 40-0 and Nipawin Bears 48-6. Mohawks' defensive coordinator Cory Popoff said it was great to see the defence play with such great intensity from the opening kickoff."The boys really pursued hard and finished up on all tackles," he said following the home opener versus LP Miller Bears from Nipawin, played September 14.The stingy Mohawk defence allowed very few first downs in both games. Down after down the Mohawks' defence forced execution problems with snaps, handoffs and pass attempts. In their first games, the HCI defence had intercepted opposing quarterbacks six times.According to HCI defensive backs coach Tom Schwinghamer, the defensive backs have done a great job breaking to the ball on the first two games."Both corners and safety Justin Lefebvre have done a very good job being in position to break up pass plays and intercept errant passes," he said post game on Friday.Behind the support of a large home crowd at their homeopener, the Mohawks played a well-balanced game, combining stellar defensive play and timely touchdowns from a host of offensive players. According to HCI coach Gavin Paulsen, the offence really kept the Nipawin Bears' defence off balance. "Although we only had 87 yards passing, the receivers were wide open on play action plays from the well blocked running plays." The defence was once again stingy, only allowing 45 total yards offence in four quarters of work. Brydon Wandzura got the first touchdown of the game for HCI in the first quarter, followed up by a convert by Jonathan Zimroz. Then Tanner Syroteuk strolled over the goal line to score a second TD for the Mohawks, with Zimroz again scoring the convert.In the second quarter, Syroteuk took off and managed another touchdown after an 80-yard run. Zimroz again got the convert.That put the Mohawks up 21-0 at the half.In the third quarter, it was Syroteuk and Zimroz again, scoring the Mohawks' fourth touchdown, then Matthew Ortman took off on a 30-yard run to gain another for the Mohawks, with a convert by Zimroz adding to the score. That was followed by an 18-yard run by Colten Slipetz for yet another TD. Finally, in the fourth quarter, Slipetz ran for another 90 yards to gain the final points of the game, which ended with the Mohawks up 48 to 6. The homeopener followed the Mohawks' trip to Clavet to play the Cougars on September 11. Humboldt returned home with a 40-0 victory on their record, despite winds in excess of 80 km/h hampering any real attempts to pass and punt into the wind. Near the end of the first quarter, HCI fullback Brydon Wandzura broke a 40-yard run up the middle on a third-down fake punt. Although no points were scored, the run seemed to spark the Mohawks. The scoring began late in the second quarter on a punt single by Harris Ford from 40-yards out. Brydon Wandzura capped off a key drive late in the first half on a three-yard plunge, and the convert was made by Zimroz. "Brydon runs very hard and enjoys contact" mused coach Paulsen. The Mohawks continued their run-game dominance in the second half enjoying the ability to use the power running game to wear down Clavet's defence. "The Cougars really had trouble stopping the fullback dive play and hard inside running," commented Josh Kovach, Mohawks' assistant coach.The Mohawks are now on the road the next two Fridays. The next home game will be Thurs., Oct. 4 against the Clavet Cougars at Glenn Hall Park at 4 p.m.
