Calm, collected Colts silence Thunder to remain atop PFC standings

CALGARY — They silenced the Thunder, but first they had to survive that third quarter
bolt of pure prairie lightning.

The Calgary Colts had established a masterful 24-0 halftime lead over the
Regina Thunder in Prairie Football Conference play Sunday afternoon at
McMahon Stadium, but three Thunder touchdowns in the first 11 minutes of the
third quarter had them staring in the face of a full-force gale.

From there, however, the young Colts took major steps toward maturity against a
more seasoned Regina squad – standing firm defensively, scoring the only points
of the final quarter, and emerging with a 31-21 junior gridiron win.

The Colts (4-1) now have three straight victories, and retain a share of top spot in
the PFC alongside the Saskatoon Hilltops (4-1). They also earn some very
satisfying revenge after being poleaxed 59-10 by the Thunder back on Aug. 29 at
Regina.
“Sometimes, you wonder if the football goods are going to smile on you again.
We gave up some big plays in that third quarter, but we got the players calmed
down and we got a couple of big stops in a row,” said Colts defensive consultant
John Stevens. “We lost the momentum, we neutralized the momentum, and then
we got it back.”

Change was in the wind on the very first play of the second half, when Regina’s
Kolten Solomon returned the opening kickoff 109 yards for a touchdown. An
interception by the Thunder’s Mark Ingram led to another TD for the visitors, this
one an 11-yard toss from Reid Quest to Jay Smith.

And mere moments later, a roughing-the-kicker call against Calgary on a fieldgoal
attempt gave Regina the ball on the Colts’ 14-yard line. On the next play,
Quest found Mike Schienbein to cut Calgary’s lead to 24-21.

But from there, the Colts proved they were made of sterner stuff. Starting from
their own three-yard line and facing a howling north wind, the hosts dug
themselves out of a deep fourth-quarter hole, helped by a 32-yard gain on
second-and-long by slotback/running back Jake Harty (2nd year, Calgary, Henry
Wise Wood HS).

They didn’t score on that drive, but they did on the next — going 57 yards, eating
up a valuable four minutes, and finishing off with a one-yard quarterback sneak
by Clayton Masikewich (2nd year, Calgary, John G. Diefenbaker HS). Harty
played a pivotal role on that drive, too, with a 14-yard run down to the Regina
three.

“I think we’ve got the best offensive line in the country, and I just told them, ‘I
know we can do this, guys. Let’s just execute our plays,’ ” said Harty, who led
Calgary in rushing with 118 yards on 10 carries, also catching one pass for 21
yards. “We were able to calm down, knowing that we’d had a great first half and
that we could do that again.

“It seemed like every time we were looking at second down, we were able to
move the chains today. That was critical to winning.”

The Colts opened up that 24-point lead at the break on a 37-yard passing play
from Masikewich to Doug Long (2nd year, Calgary, Bowness HS), and another
TD toss –this one measuring 25 yards – from Masikewich to Ryan McDermit (5th
year, Cochrane, Alta., Cochrane HS). Andrew Fabian (2nd year, Brooks, Alta.,
Brooks Composite HS) booted field goals of 23 and 39 yards, and Regina punter
Ben Koot conceded a pair of safeties.

The Colts defence played a big hand in some of those points. Prince Baffoh (3rd
year, Hamilton, Ont., St. John de Brebeuf HS) forced a Quest fumble, recovered
by Peter Dominic (4th year, Calgary, Notre Dame HS), that led to three points.
And the hosts stopped the Thunder on a third-down short-yardage play that led
directly to Long’s TD on the next snap from centre.
The Colts utterly dominated that first half, with 255 yards of net offence to
Regina’s 71.

“Physically, we knew we had to step up. We pride ourselves on being a fast,
physical defence,” said Calgary safety Garry Wilson (2nd year, Calgary, Western
Canada HS), who returned a first-half interception 25 yards. “We came out
hitting. We wanted to send a message early.”

The Colts won’t have much time to enjoy winning this first-place showdown.
Another looms on the horizon – this one on Sunday, Oct. 3 at Saskatoon’s
Griffith Stadium at 12 p.m.
For more information on the club, please visit [url]www.calgarycolts.com