SASKATOON HILLTOPS 42 EDMONTON WILDCATS 11
OCTOBER 14 GORDIE HOWE BOWL
The first semi-final featured a pair of teams that last faced off in the playoffs in 2009, when the Wildcats downed Saskatoon 33-20 in the PFC Championship Game.
Both teams had a difficult time moving the ball in the opening quarter, the Hilltops couldn’t go anywhere on their first drive. The Wildcats did have some success on their first drive until Michael Waldron intercepted a Taylor Yaremchuk pass. The turnover production continued as Hilltop backup pivot Jared Andreychuk fumbled a snap and the Wildcats recovered. Yaremchuk moved the Cats deep into Saskatoon territory; however Ben Cressman thwarted the drive as he picked off the pass at the 2 and rambled 44 yards to give Saskatoon breathing space. But the Toppers couldn’t move the ball on the drive and had to punt it away, however Adam Laurensse couldn’t find the handle and the loose ball rolled into the Edmonton end zone where Brennen Thorpe dove on it to put the home side up 7-0.
The Cats got on the board in the last 5 seconds of the frame as Ideen Samadi’s 31-yard field goal try was wide and the Hilltops conceded a single. Both offenses had a hard time moving the ball in the second stanza and the 7-1 score held until the 9:40 mark when Zach Schmidt boomed a 57-yard punt single to make it 8-1. Schmidt rounded out the first half scoring with an 11-yard field goal to put Saskatoon ahead by 10 at halftime.
The Wildcats had the ball to begin the second half but the kickoff was fumbled and Reid Hnidy recovered at the Edmonton 37, but the Hilltops couldn’t cash in on the error. But turnovers were the Wildcats downfall on the day as they would fumble on their 3-yard line and Derrick Sorenson recovered. One play later, Tom Shockey took a handoff and scored untouched on a 3-yard run to make it 18-1. From there, things went from bad to worse for the visitors. A fumbled snap on a David Ness punt was recovered by the Hilltops and from there, Brendon Gryba made it 25-1. Add a Schmidt field goal, then after a fumbled kickoff return which gave the Hilltops the ball again, Gryba ran 33 yards down to the 5 and on the next play Andreychuk scampered 5 yards for the score to put the home side up 35-1. Samadi would make a 37-yard field goal to make it 35-4 Hilltops at the end of 3. The teams traded touchdowns in the 4th quarter as Wayndel Lewis made it 42-4 Saskatoon as he scored on a 3-yard run and Chase Nahrebeski reeled in a 9-yard touchdown toss from Yaremchuk to make the final 42-11.
The Wildcats committed 7 second-half turnovers and 11 in the contest. Yaremchuk would only complete 14 of 30 passes for 149 yards and toss 6 interceptions. Running back Levon Hawreliak, in for the injured PFC rushing champion Jordan Samoil, ran 25 times for 232 yards. Matt Karpinka went 15 of 21 for 175 yards on the day, while running back Andre Lalonde ran for 128 yards on 18 carries. The Hilltops move onto the PFC Final where they’ll face the Regina Thunder in a rematch of the 2010 classic.
EDM 1 0 3 7-11
SASK 7 4 24 7-42
FIRST QUARTER
SASK-TD Thorpe fumble recovery in end zone (Schmidt Convert) 9:42
EDM-SG Samadi 52 14:55
SECOND QUARTER SASK-SG Schmidt 57 9:40
SASK-FG Schmidt 15 14:59
THIRD QUARTER
SASK-TD Shockey 3 run (Schmidt Convert) 1:51
SASK-TD Gryba 2 run (Schmidt Convert) 2:55
SASK-FG Schmidt 11 7:40
SASK-TD Andreychuk 4 run (Schmidt Convert) 9:10
EDM-FG Samadi 37 11:38
FOURTH QUARTER
SASK-TD Lewis 3 run (Schmidt Convert) 6:37
EDM-TD Nahrebeski 9 pass from Yaremchuk (Samadi Convert) 12:05
YARDSTICKS EDM SASK
1ST DOWNS 19 22
YDS RUSH 251 261
YDS PASS 149 179
NET OFF 379 424
PASSING C A YDS TD INT
Yaremchuk EDM 14 30 149 1 6
Karpinka SASK 15 21 175 0 0
Andreychuk SASK 1 4 4 0 0
RUSHING C YDS TD
Hawreliak EDM 25 232 0
Yaremchuk EDM 3 15 0
Waters EDM 1 4 0
Lalonde SASK 18 128 0
Lewis SASK 10 63 1
Gryba SASK 5 53 1
Shockey SASK 3 16 1
Andreychuk SASK 2 3 1
Bannerman SASK 2 3 0
Karpinka SASK 1 -5 0
RECEIVING C YDS TD
Smith EDM 5 50 0
LeMoignan EDM 2 30 0
Henry EDM 2 28 0
Hawreliak EDM 2 19 0
Quartel EDM 1 11 0
Nahrebeski EDM 1 9 1
Waters EDM 1 2 0
Unruh SASK 5 58 0
Braun SASK 2 42 0
Trumpy SASK 4 40 0
Gryba SASK 2 24 0
Lalonde SASK 1 9 0
McGinnis SASK 1 2 0
REGINA THUNDER 24
CALGARY COLTS 21 OCTOBER 14 MCMAHON STADIUM
The second semi-final was a rematch of 2011 when the Colts rolled to a 55-6 rout of Regina.
The visitors would draw first blood as Asher Hastings who was injured last week in the regular season closer versus the Wildcats spotted a wide-open Camille Lagimodiere for a 21-yard major a little over 6-and-a-half minutes in.
The Colts started a drive at the Regina 51 towards the end of the quarter and marched all the way down as Derek Cooper connected with Richard Sawatzky on an 11-yard strike to even the game at 7. Regina regained the lead 2 minutes into the middle quarter as Hastings connected with Clay Cooke for a 37-yard touchdown to make it a 14-7 Thunder lead. Ben Koot expanded the lead to 10 thanks to a 37-yard field goal. Jeremy Long entered the game in place of an injured Cooper with 3 minutes remaining in the half and he would engineer a pair of touchdown drives to put his team back in front. Chucks Okafor would draw the Colts to within 3 on a 1-yard touchdown run with under 3 minutes to go in the half. Calgary took the lead for the first time in the game as they drove 73 yards for the go-ahead score as Long found Rodreke Joseph who took it 36 yards with 25 seconds remaining in the half to make it a 21-17 game.
Andrew Fabian would have a chance to put his team in front by a converted touchdown late in the 3rd quarter, but his 40-yard field goal attempt would be no good and the score held at 21-17 after 3 quarters.
In the 4th, rookie Colts tailback Cameron Fox who ran for 64 yards on the day, would move the ball to the Thunder 17, but a pair of penalties on the play moved the Colts back to the Regina 50, where they had to punt from.
In the final 90 seconds a fumbled Regina punt return nearly cost the Thunder the game, but a no yards call on Calgary gave Regina the ball at their 24. Regina had 68 seconds and had to go 86 yards to get the winning points. Two completions to Jacob Carr moved the Thunder to their 53. Then Preston Bews caught a 19-yard pass, putting Regina at the Calgary 38. On the next play, Hastings fired complete to Lagimodiere at the Colt 4 with 22 seconds left. Hastings would put the Thunder in front as Will Heward took in the 4-yard pass for the game-winning score with :17 remaining.
A Jermaine Gabriel kickoff return to the Colts 31 gave them one final chance, but 2 incompletions later, the clock showed :00 and the Thunder had pulled off the mammoth upset. Hastings completed 29 of 36 passes for 371 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cooper who left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return completed 7 of 10 for 99 yards, while Long passed for 128 and 2 scores. Lagimodiere had 6 grabs for 88 yards, while Heward had 6 for 59. Joseph led the Colts receivers with 6 grabs for 74 yards. Regina advances to their 2nd PFC title game in 3 seasons and they will battle their provincial rivals Saskatoon Hilltops next Sunday.
REG 7 10 0 7-24
CGY 7 14 0 0-21
1st QUARTER
REG-TD Lagimodiere 21 pass from Hastings (Koot Convert) 6:40
CGY-TD Sawatzky 11 pass from Cooper (Fabian Convert) 13:50
2nd QUARTER
REG-TD Cooke 37 pass from Hastings (Koot Convert) 2:06
REG-FG Koot 32 9:30 CGY-TD Okafor 1 run (Fabian Convert) 12:30
CGY-TD Joseph 36 pass from Long (Fabian Convert) 14:25
3RD QUARTER
NO SCORING
4th QUARTER
REG-TD Heward 4 pass from Hastings (Koot Convert) 14:43
REG CGY
1ST DOWNS 20 26
YDS RUSH 63 141
YDS PASS 327 227
NET OFFENSE 388 367
PASSING C A YDS TD INT
Hastings REG 29 36 327 3 1
Long CGY 12 19 128 1 2
Cooper CGY 7 10 99 1 0
RUSHING C YDS TD
Brown REG 19 49 0
Banin REG 3 14 0
Fox CGY 11 64 0
Cooper CGY 2 32 0
Okafor CGY 6 24 1
Long CGY 4 20 0
Ralph CGY 1 1 0
RECEIVING C YDS TD
Lagimodiere REG 6 88 1
Cooke REG 6 86 1
Heward REG 6 59 1
Carr REG 4 55 0
Bews REG 2 24 0
Brown REG 2 6 0
Joseph CGY 6 74 1
Sawatzky CGY 4 57 1
Petros CGY 3 55 0
Hnatiuk CGY 2 29 0
Lamoureux CGY 1 20 0
Ralph CGY 1 18 0
Long CGY 0 5 0
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