The Saskatchewan Huskies have gained a reputation over the past few seasons of giving up big plays on the football field.
The team’s pass defence has ranked in the bottom half of Canada West in yards allowed in five of the past six seasons.
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This season, however, there’s a renewed sense of purpose on the back end as the Huskies currently lead the conference in pass defence.
“We know what everyone thinks of us as a secondary, but that was years past and for years on it was like that,” Huskies defensive back Clovis Lumeka said.
“So we’re just trying to change it, make a new culture here.”
Lumeka had a first-half interception against Alberta last week, providing a much needed spark to the Huskies who have given up the fewest points so far this season in Canada West.
“(Lumeka’s) what we expected him to be and he’s done an outstanding job there at the field half for us,” head coach Scott Flory said.
“We fully expect him to continue to grow and make plays for us there because he’s done an awesome job of it.”
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Lumeka said there are bigger challenges ahead for the team.
“Last year we started off 2-0 so we know we’re not really anything right now,” Lumeka explained.
“We beat some pretty good teams but those are the teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year so we know that we got to keep proving ourselves as the season goes on.”
The Huskies secondary will be put to the test on Saturday when they travel to Vancouver to take on the UBC Thunderbirds, who are led by quarterback Michael O’Connor, the number two passer in the conference last season.