Skip to content

Kodiaks players receive honours after title season

The Creighton Kodiaks earned their biggest award this season last month. The team handed out individual hardware at their team banquet Nov. 20.

The Creighton Kodiaks earned their biggest award this season last month. The team handed out individual hardware at their team banquet Nov. 20.

Marcus Kennedy received the team’s rookie of the year award, while second year players Davin Eastman and Brendan Haley both were named the team’s most dedicated players. Austin McLean, who scored three return touchdowns this season, was named special teams player of the year. The most improved award went to Aidan Collard, likely to be the team’s starting running back next season.

Haiden Kanto-Lengyel, the only multiple award winner on the evening, won both defensive player of the year and the team’s leadership award.

“I loved it. It was a great season - the best season I’ve had in the four years,” he said.

“This year, it was a lot different. I could see everything a lot different. I could see how everybody actually played and I could see our offence was going to work a lot better this year.”

The team’s two “warrior awards” went to Brady Carmichael and Evan Madarash. Head coach Ryan Karakochuk described Carmichael, the team’s defensive warrior, with three sentences - “Tough kid. Loves to hit people. Willing to play any position that we need and we’re really excited for [his] Grade 12 year.”

Madarash was recognized for powering through pain for big gains. This year’s offensive player of the year was quarterback and kicker Blake Alexander. The junior won his first title behind centre with the Kodiaks this season.

“By far, this was the most fun year I’ve had. The commitment level of the team was different. We knew that this year. We were going for that championship and that’s what we ended up getting,” he said.

During the ceremony, Karakochuk summed up one of the most successful teams in Creighton’s short football history, the school’s third league championship in seven years. That season started with a bang, in the form of a 67-12 win in Pinehouse. A week later, the Kodiaks snagged a statement win, beating rivals Sandy Bay 43-9 in Creighton, before going to Cumberland House and beating the reigning champs 34-28.

The regular season ended with a home wooping of a young Pinehouse team, ending in a 88-12 Kodiaks win. A 44-20 playoff victory over Sandy Bay sent the Kodiaks to the Ralph Pilz Trophy game against Cumberland House.

Karakochuk shouted out some breakthrough performances during the league title game, including a key block by Myles Patterson before halftime, contributions from seniors and long plays by Collard - including the game-tying touchdown late and the eventual championship winning score with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“It was a back and forth game. We knew we had to pass to win, and we did that,” the coach said.

“Myles got hurt making a play that scored a touchdown for Aidan. It was really important and while Myles didn’t get to play the rest of the game, that’s sometimes what you have to do to get a win.”

The team’s season ended after a 41-17 loss to Birch Hills at home in a snowy provincial playdown game.

All seven of this year’s senior players - centre Keenan Campbell, two-way lineman Will Chilliak, lineback Drayden Cook, safety Sarah Gardiner, defensive back Kanto-Lengyel, running back Madarash and defensive back Brandt Moore - were honoured by the team, with several receiving awards for their efforts over the past season.

Kanto-Lengyel played four seasons with the Kodiaks, joining the team in 2015. In his first season with regular playing time a year later, the Kodiaks had their worst season in the program’s history, winning just once in four tries with a young, inexperienced squad. This season, Kanto-Lengyel was a defensive leader for the team, at times running practice drills for the defence during the season. At halftime during the team’s Ralph Pilz Trophy game in Prince Albert, Kanto-Lengyel rallied the troops with a bombastic speech - although he maintains he can’t remember what he said to the crew.

While the first main season on the gridiron was rough, Kanto-Lengyel said winning a league title this year was the ultimate payoff.

“The first year, it was definitely not the best. It was absolute garbage, but honestly, the buildup to this year made that last win even better,” he said.

Kanto-Lengyel voiced a desire to follow in the footsteps of other recent Kodiaks program grads like Shawn Francois and Noah Dickens and come back and volunteer as a coach when possible.

“I’m really going to miss it. I think I might try, as best as I can, to come back and help out the coaches and stuff. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad I did it.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks