Saskatchewan Huskies' tailback Aulain Penner breaks through the pack for a late touchdown during Saturday's 34-24 Canada West football win over the UBC Thunderbirds.
Saskatchewan Huskies' tailback Aulain Penner breaks through the pack for a late touchdown during Saturday's 34-24 Canada West football win over the UBC Thunderbirds.
Article content
Nathan Casimir's travels took him from Ottawa, to Massachusetts, to Connecticut, to New Mexico, to the 45 yard line at Saskatoon's Griffiths Stadium.
That 45 is where the well-travelled football player made his first Canada West interception, a diving effort that set up a go-ahead second quarter touchdown during a tight Saturday-night game with the British Columbia Thunderbirds.
"It was like a bar fight. A hard battle," Casimir said after the Huskies got two Aulain Penner touchdowns in the last four minutes to grit out a 34-24 victory.
Saskatchewan is now 4-1, and Casimir — an Ottawa product who played collegiately at Merrimack College, Post University and Western New Mexico University before heading north late this summer — finds himself at cornerback on the country's fifth-ranked team.
Huskies head coach Scott Flory first recruited Casimir (unsuccessfully) before he headed south on his collegiate football adventure. The veteran footballer has a natural tie to the program, thanks to his friendship with Katley Joseph.
Joseph, a defensive back, earned conference all-star honours in 2022 and 2023 while playing for the Huskies. Casimir says they're so close that he views Joseph as a big brother.
Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond.
Article content
His goal, he says, is to equal or surpass Joseph on the field.
"That's what I'm working for," he said. "Katley made a lot of big plays, and I'm trying to do the same."
"He's a great talent," Flory says of Casimir. "He's come in and got better and better and better each and every week. I couldn't be happier with him as a human, and obviously from a production standpoint on the football field.
"When you dive in head first, I tell these guys, you will bear fruit from that. And he's a prime example of that."
Casimir had an interception during Saskatchewan's pre-season game. A pick against Manitoba was called back on a penalty. This one goes down as his first official interception, and he says it was a relief to get. It also set up a touchdown drive that gave the Huskies a 16-14 edge going into halftime.
UBC held a 23-20 lead moving towards the last four minutes, but touchdowns from Penner on runs of 11 and 14 yards sealed the game.
"Saskatchewan football in a nutshell," said Penner, who fumbled a first-half punt that led to a UBC touchdown, but more than made amends with his pair of clutch majors.
Huskies quarterback Anton Amundrud completed 21 of 36 passes for 295 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
On the UBC side, league rushing leader Marvyn Larozar carried 26 times for 137 yards and a TD.
The Huskies head into the Thanksgiving break with a 4-1 record and sole possession of first place. UBC and Manitoba are 3-2, Calgary and Regina are 2-3, and Alberta is 1-4.
There will be no conference games next weekend, and the Huskies follow that with back-to-back home contests — Oct. 16 against Manitoba and Oct. 23 against Alberta.
"Being at the top of the conference, the only thing that hurts us is us," said Amundrud, though he and Flory both stressed that much needs to be ironed out.
Casimir, meanwhile, is still adjusting to prairie weather. It's been temperate, but he hasn't enjoyed the very few chilly days we've had.
"I'm wearing a big winter jacket (on those days). I'm cold, I'm complaining," he said with a grin. "The guys tell me it's going to get worse, and I'm not excited for that."
But he does look forward to seeing what comes next with a program getting a first look at what he can do on the football field.
"I always told myself I was going to come back to Canada, and I was going to come right back here," Casimir said. "I know about the culture; I know about the fans; I know about Scott. I like what he's doing here. It's a national-ranked team, and we're trying to make it all the way."
kemitchell@postmedia.com
*The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.*