It’s been a lot and it’s been intense for a long time now. That’s how it always is when you take 40-plus players from different schools, hand them the same uniform and try to make them into a team.
And so, on the eve of their last game in the Canada Cup, the Manitoba Gold squad decided to head out together and take in a movie as a bit of a stress release/bonding event.
Good call.
And the title of flick they took in – Independence Day: Resurgence – might just perfectly represent what Manitoba Gold went through this past week at the Under-18 championship.
Manitoba Gold fell to Saskatchewan 11-0 in their first game, pushing them to the consolation side. But wins over New Brunswick and then Nova Scotia on Friday, by a score of 20-14, propelled them to a fifth place finish in the event.
A resurgence? Heck, yeah.
“Nova Scotia’s a solid football team and we made some mistakes to let them back in the football game,” said Manitoba Gold head coach Don Burrell, a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber and assistant coach. “I’m proud of my players, I’m proud of how we hung in there and fought back. They’re a good football team and they were going to make some plays and we had to be aware of that. We had to make some plays to win this game.”
Did they ever.
Manitoba Gold took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter when Tyler Fedak returned a punt from his own goal line 110 yards to pay dirt. They jumped ahead 14-0 on Brandon Urciuoli’s 11-yard run, and then watched as the Maritimers cruised back with two scores of their own on runs by Connor Ross and Adam Bennett, the second coming just four seconds before the intermission.
It was the defence that was critical in stopping the bleeding, as Zane Stawiarski intercepted two passes – one of them in the Manitoba Gold end zone – with two other picks courtesy Jake Richardson and Chase Elingson.
“I’ve been playing football for about 10 years and I can honestly say I’ve never had a half like that. Two picks in one half… I’ve never done it,” said Stawiarski.
“That gave us a lot of momentum. A lot of our guys were down and when I got that pick it helped us out a lot. Everyone was around me, I gave them a little Gronk (Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots) spike and everyone was jumping up and down. It was pretty awesome.”
Prior to the tourney, Burrell, a defensive back during his days as a Bomber, set a goal for his team to get three interceptions a game.
“We got four,” said Burrell with a smile. “That’s been our goal the whole time, to go into each and every football game and average three interceptions and we got four today. I’m happy with that.
“Old DB and old defensive backs coach… it’s known that if they’re going to put it in the air 15-20 times we should at least get three or four. They did a lot of passing today and they have an outstanding receiver in No. 11 (Alyjah Ford) and we had to make some adjustments at halftime to keep him out of the end zone.”
The winning TD came on a two-yard run by Dayton Black, and the Tobans relied on Urciuoli, who finished with 15 carries for 156 yards, to move the sticks along the ground.
“I just gave it all I’ve got on every run,” he said. “I’m more of a north-south guy, a power back, but I can get around some guys if I really have to.
“It means a lot (to have the team call his number). I can be nervous, but I’ve been put in this position a few times. I’m used to it. I’m able to lead my team under that kind of pressure.”
Earlier in the day, New Brunswick knocked off Manitoba Silver, comprised of players from Northwestern Ontario, to finish seventh in the event.
Burrell, in his first crack at the helm, helped improve Manitoba’s seventh-place finish at the last event.
“All of these teams are great,” said Burrell. “This is something I know now going into January. I need to get my guys into the weight room. We need to start this program earlier. This is a great tournament. I had a lot of fun.
“We started in February trying to make a St. Paul’s kid and a River East kid and a Kildonan East kid play as a team. We had a fun night, they went out to the movies, and we came back and I never heard so much laughter in my whole life.
“We finally got the message that we are a team.”
