HILLTOPS UPEND RIFLES IN SEASON OPENER

For the 2nd straight season, the Winnipeg Rifles opened up the PFC regular season at
Saskatoon’s Gordie Howe Bowl and again the home-standing Hilltops would ride
roughshod, downing the Green Gunners 51-14.

Ryan Messner returned the game’s opening kickoff 43 yards to the Winnipeg 50. The
Rifles would drive the ball down into Hilltop territory until starting quarterback Ryan
Marsch’s backwards lateral to Yembeh Mohiba went amiss and Saskatoon’s Aaron Sayer
would pick up the loose prolate spheroid and ramble down to the Winnipeg 13.

The Hilltops would go two-and-out and rookie kicker Zack Schmidt would give
Saskatoon a 3-0 lead. Saskatoon would up its advantage to 10-0 as Ian Miller hauled in
his first of 3 TD grabs and that’s how the opening quarter finished.

The Gunners kept the hosts at bay for most of the middle frame. Rookie DB Marc
Lapointe would come up huge with an end zone interception to prevent a Hilltop major.
The offense moved the ball fairly well, but a Ryan Marsch pass was picked off for the
second time. That enabled the Hilltops to make it a 17-0 game as Miller reeled in his 2nd
of 3 touchdown grabs one play after Aaron Haight latched on to a 29-yard pass on a 1st
and 25 at the Rifle 49. Marsch would go 8/14 for 86 yards on the day.

Miller would rack up his 3rd and final TD catch to make it 24-0 in the 3rd. The Green
Gunner offense would show spark as Derek Dean scored on a 15 yard pass from Tyler
Nickel to make it 24-7. Kit Hillis would get a pair of touchdowns, the 2nd being a 54-
yard punt return to make it a 38-7 game.

Nickel found Alex Vitt for a 23-yard TD strike to cut the margin to 38-14, one minute
into the final frame. Nickel would complete 7 of 12 passes for 91 yards and 2 TD tosses
in relief. But a Graham Unruh 9-yard reception from backup pivot Randy Karpinka and 2
more Schmidt field goals would cap off the win.

Rifles Head Coach Greg Graceffo said after the contest, “Sometimes score is not totally
indicative of play. We rolled up 335 yards of offence. Martin Hovi rushed for 101 yards
on 19 carries.

However, untimely penalties and 4 turnovers really hurt the team at critical junctures in
the game.”

The Rifles would take 10 penalties for 90 yards and concede 538 yards in net offense.
The Rifles host the 0-1 Edmonton Huskies on Sunday August 29th in the home opener.
Opening kickoff is at 12 noon at Canad Inns Stadium.

By Tom Hallick – Winnipeg Rifles Media Coordinator