It was a long but successful fall training camp for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team. After playing a controlled scrimmage against the University of Alberta Golden Bears and the green and white scrimmage on Aug. 25, the dogs are polishing their final roster before hitting the field for the regular season, beginning Sept. 2 at Griffiths Stadium against the University of Regina Rams.

Defensive line co-ordinator Ed Carleton was pleased with training camp and this year’s roster, noting that the current defensive line features plenty of depth.

“There aren’t a lot of big differences from last year. We’ve got a lot of depth and experience from the D-line and we should have some good push with those four guys, and we have a number of different guys that we can put in to be on the line, which are going to allow us to get some format pressure,” Carleton said.

The veteran defensive line, consisting of Donovan Dale, Brayden Twarynski, Tristan Koronkiewicz and Evan Machibroda, should be a formidable force on the field. However, Carleton added that more work needs to be done before the regular season commences.

“We gave up a lot of long passes last year, [more] than we have in previous years, and that was a combination of not getting enough pressure on the opposing team’s quarterbacks and being kind of young in the secondary,” Carleton said. “We hope to improve immensely in that regard. We’ve got a little more experience in the secondary and another year of experience for some of those younger guys, plus we added some younger guys and some junior kids with experience so that should help.”

Offensive line co-ordinator Scott Flory said that coaching staff and players got what they wanted out of the camp and importantly, managed to avoid any serious injuries. According to Flory, this year’s offensive line is very similar to last year, and the focus will be to refine the gameplay.

“We’re building off of last year. The structure is the same — we’re just trying to build off of it and be a little bit more dynamic and be able to move people around more, introduce some new things and keep one step ahead of the game and keep defenses off-balance and make them defend everything,” Flory said. “[We need to] make it difficult on their defence without overburdening our guys. I’m looking forward [to the season]. I think we have a lot of depth in all positions. We’ve got a lot of good young guys so I’m excited to see how things turn out.”

Huskies wide receiver Mitch Hillis — a Canadian Interuniversity Sports All Canadian — felt the preseason went well and is confident about this year’s roster.

“We learned that we are a pretty young team and we have those young guys that can step up and fill in for those guys that graduated, and we have a lot of vets that have been here a couple of years, and they’re going to be our leaders,” Hillis said.

Last season, Hillis tallied 1052 yards on 66 catches for seven touchdowns, setting the Huskies Athletics record in yards and catches in a single season.

Defensive back Ben Whiting — who was an all-star at the 2016 International Federation of American Football World Junior Championship — believes that the team is coming together well and is looking forward to playing the Rams on Sept. 2.

“We’re working out the kinks before our first game but I think we’ll definitely be able to put on a show this Friday. It’s typical stuff, shaking the cobwebs off. We’ve got new guys in that are trying to contribute to the team, but now that the team is finalized, it’s time to start doing some polishing and [we’re] looking forward to seeing the finished product this Friday,” Whiting said.“Playing the Rams will be a good way to start it off. It’s always a good time, a fun rivalry game and it will be good to hit the ground running.”

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Brenden Palmer / Sports & Health Editor

Photos: Jeremy Britz / Photo Editor