“I feel a lot more confident after this game.”
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Rookie Javin Boynton ran for 81 yards in just over one quarter of football Thursday night, and then he made a wish.
“I want to be traveling and stuff (this season),” the University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ running-back recruit said after Thursday’s 42-16 pre-season win over the visiting Alberta Golden Bears. “If that’s not the way it goes, that’s not the way it goes, but it’s what I want to do.”
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Huskies’ head coach Scott Flory was told of that comment a few minutes later, and he smiled.
“That’s probably a pretty safe bet,” Flory said.
Boynton, who joins the Huskies this season out of Moose Jaw Central, was a highly-coveted recruit, and he showed Thursday night why Flory has been saying he can play immediately.
Boynton ran 12 times for 81 yards, and scored on a one-yard touchdown scamper during a stint that began in the third quarter and wrapped up early in the fourth. His presence provides an interesting dynamic on a team that’s deep at the position.
“Let me find the words for this kid,” Flory said when asked for his post-game assessment. “We identified him, and his potential, early on. We recruited him hard, and we’re just so happy he’s a part of our football team. The sky’s the limit with that young man. He’s still so young. He’s still trying to figure it all out. But he does so many things so naturally and so well, just how he runs the ball. He’s so powerful already, and he’s got a very bright future.
“We had a scrimmage in spring camp, and you could see how he runs — he keeps falling forward all the time. He churns yards. He always finds a way to make positive yards. He’s going to be part of this team for a long time, and he’s got to get his feet wet. This was a great introduction to that.”
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Which leads to the next question: How do they work the freshman into the running-back mix?
“That’s the thing,” Flory said. “We’ve got Ryker Frank. We’ve got Kayden Miller. We’ve got guys that can play. Brody Nelson had a great run (a 43-yard touchdown), and young Shaun Clazie had a great run, too. There’s a stable of riches there, which is fantastic. And then it’s about finding ways to get them the ball; to put the ball in their hands. When they do, each one of them can make plays.”
Thursday’s clash provided evidence that the Huskies have some tough decisions ahead of them, a notion Flory did not dispute. Starters played the first half, and led 14-10. The young players stepped in during the third and fourth quarters, and ran away from the Golden Bears.
“It’s been a grind,” Boynton said. “It’s hard on the rookies, but we’re getting good at the playbook, and everything. I feel a lot more confident after this game.”
Said Flory: “We’re going to have some tough decisions. Who’s the 45 getting on the bus next week and going to Winnipeg (for the season opener)? That’s the good and the bad. It means the future’s bright, and we’ve got a lot of great young talent. Sometimes, they’ve just to be a little bit patient. Their time’s going to come.”
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Saskatchewan put up 564 yards of total offence, and Alberta posted 268.
The Huskies got two touchdowns from Nelson, including a 24-yard pass from Elias Flory and the aforementioned 43-yard run. Touchdowns also came from Tyrus Flory (five-yard pass from Anton Amundrud), Kayden Miller (10-yard run), Luke Bednarek (six-yard pass from Jake Farrell), and Boynton on the one-yard run.
Alberta got a one-yard run from Eric Torhjelm, a six-yard run from Alan Xiang and a 20-yard field goal from Jonathan Giustini.
The Huskies lost three times to Alberta last season, including a 40-17 opening-round playoff loss. Boynton was not a member of the team then, but he noted post-game that pre-season or not, his older teammates coveted a victory.
“You could tell,” he said. “In the locker-room, even though it was pre-season, all the vets wanted to win this game. They were so into it; they got all the rookies hyped. Into the second quarter, they told us that we’re probably going to go in, and they want this win — they wanted us rookies to win it for them.”
The Huskies open their regular season Saturday in Manitoba, followed by a Sept. 6 contest in Regina. Their home opener is Sept. 13 against Calgary.
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