Huskies to recognize 3 fifth year players

Watch above: Saskatchewan Huskies to honour football players who have exhausted their CIS eligibility

SASKATOON – Every season, players graduate from the Huskies programs, moving on to the next level or beginning their next career.

Only a select few graduate after using all their CIS eligibility with the Huskies. They are the “true fifth years.”

“We’re proud of those guys,” expresses Huskies head coach Brian Towriss. “It’s a tremendous commitment to play college football and excel in the classroom and excel on the football field.”

A trio of “true fifth year” Huskies will be honoured Saturday at Griffiths Stadium. One of those is defensive back Andrew Abbs, who has 61.5 tackles in 34 career games with the Green and White.

“I’m very proud of it. I feel pretty special to be able do that,” claims Abbs. “I’m just happy to get to go out there every week.”

Another is kicker/punter Denton Kolodzinski, who has 37 career CIS field goals.

“It’s something special,” says a smiling Kolodzinski. “I’ve seen how other teams are and how they come out on game day. Playing here in home games in a surreal experience and I’ll never forget that.”

Offensive lineman Brad Nehring, who was a CIS Academic All-Canadian in 2012, feels the same way as his fifth year teammates.

“I’m proud. I couldn’t expect anything better than this. I’m from Edmonton, I could have gone to the U of A, but I’m so happy with my decision to come out here. It’s been good since day one.”

Kit Hillis, Mark Ingram, Clayton Sarich, Richard Zacharias and Tim Doerksen will also be honoured Saturday as players whose CIS eligibility will be exhausted at the end of the season.