Don Rice, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Last year, Mason Nyhus set both the Huskies’ passing record for most yards in a single season — 3,829 — and established the new team career record with 9,649.
But, after leading the Huskies to the past two Vanier Cup games, Nyhus graduated and the team needs to fill that all-important starting quarterback position.
Head coach Scott Flory said the Huskies have the right quarterback ready for his moment. Anton Amundrud, from Lloydminster, has been studying with the Huskies and learning by watching Nyhus for the past three seasons.
Amundrud has been told that the starting quarterback position is his to lose.
The Huskies will play host to the Calgary Dinos in Canada West pre-season football action Friday (6 p.m.) at Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park. It’s the lone exhibition game for the Huskies before they open up Canada West play in Winnipeg against the University of Manitoba Bisons on Sept. 1.
“There are a bunch of intangibles there that he just has,” said Flory, who has been grooming Amundrud for this day since 2020. “His size, his arm, and he’s smart. He’s got great accuracy. He’s got a really good feel for the game. I think his instincts are bang on and he knows the game really, really well.
“I think he’s without a doubt grasped the offence. In practice, we see a bunch of good things. We want to be able to make sure we can translate that into games. But we’re seeing leadership, we’re seeing growth there, we’re seeing efficiency with the football, protecting the football. I think he’s good with his eyes. He’s good with his reads. He hasn’t been wrong there on any of that stuff, and he’s got a really strong arm. There’s been growth there in the last week and a half, and we will continue to see that.”
For his part, Amundrud said he appreciates his new role, but he’s taking nothing for granted.
“I still have to come here and perform,” he said. “I can’t just act like I have the starting job. I’ve got to work for it. Since I’ve got here, I’ve always been trying to compete for the starting job and been working every year to just put myself into that position to succeed, and now I finally get the chance to, so I’m going to take advantage of it.”
Amundrud said he sees himself as a pocket passer who brings a lot of arm strength to the table. Although it’s not his strong suit, he says he also can and will run if he needs to.
He has plenty of experience at quarterback, playing the position through peewee and bantam and leading the Lloydminster Barons high school team for three seasons.
Amundrud won a provincial championship at all three levels, and was named MVP in his senior season in high school, but he said that was a team award because of the others around him. He also served as backup to Nyhus last year, seeing limited on-field action for the Huskies.
Other quarterbacks vying for the second- and third-string spots are Griffin Sander, a returnee from last year and a graduate of Bishop Mahoney, and two new players to the Huskies, Jake Farrell from Holy Cross Collegiate and Mustapha Yekini-Oladosu from Simon Fraser University.
“Quarterback is crucial to the game of football, especially in the Canadian game,” noted Flory. “But we’ve also got a ton of pieces around at all three phases. We can win football games a lot of different ways.”
The Huskies have 19 of last year’s 22 starters returning, including leading rushers Ryker Frank with 903 yards rushing last season including playoffs, and Ted Kubongo (422), who is also a special teams conference all-star, and leading receivers Daniel Perry, Rhett Vavra and Caleb Morin, who all had more than 700 yards receiving through regular season and playoffs.
Canada West all-stars returning on defence include defensive backs John Stoll and Katley Joseph. Charlie Ringland is rehabilitating from an injury and surgery.
Flory said it’s a priority to him to try to make sure every player who suits up sees a taste of action on Friday in the two teams’ lone pre-season action.
