Cuong Thai Lieu is hitting his stride. The Calgary Colts’ defence? Let’s just say they’re operating at full gallop these days.

Lieu (3rd year, Nanaimo, B.C., John Barsby HS) notched his second straight 100-yard rushing game, including a 52-yard, off-tackle, third-quarter romp for a touchdown that broke the collective backs of the Edmonton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. And John Stevens’ defensive corps was once again a shutdown crew — in every sense of the word — as the Colts whitewashed the visiting Wildcats 30-0 in Prairie Football Conference action at McMahon Stadium.

With the win, the Colts (3-0) stay unbeaten. With the shutout, Keith Kendal’s squad has allowed an eye-popping total of just 15 points over its first three games of the PFC campaign — for a miserly average of five.

“We’ve said right from the start that it was going to take a while for our offence to get their legs, and our defence was going to have to keep us in football games. Even today, up until halftime (with the score 13-0), they had that job to do,” said Kendal, now in his 10th year overall as the Colts’ head coach. “The big development today was that our offence, in the third and fourth quarters, started to find a little bit of rhythm. We want to get our offence cooking a little better each week.”

Lieu, who’d scampered his way to 123 yards in a 24-10 win over the Edmonton Huskies on Aug. 20, ran for 129 more on Sunday. The Vancouver Islander has been the Colts’ leather-lugging leader each of the past two seasons. “I love the open field, and any time I see a little bit of grass, I’m just gonna go,” said Lieu, whose TD made it 23-0. “I think this year, I’ve just needed a little more time to mesh with my offensive line. I think it’s slowly getting there. We’re doing well.”

Sunday afternoon, the Colts moved the ball 206 yards along the ground, after team totals of 179 yards in Week 1 and 191 yards in Week 2. But the real change, offensively speaking, was the performance of quarterback Clayton Masikewich (3rd year, Calgary, John G. Diefenbaker HS), who connected on 12 of 21 passing attempts for 202 yards through the air.

Masikewich’s favourite target was Rodreke Joseph (2nd year, Toronto, OFC Burlington), who caught five passes for 62 yards. Brendan Kearl (2nd-year, Calgary, William Aberhart HS) hauled in a 10-yard touchdown reception from Masikewich late in the first quarter to make it 10-0. The Colts’ other touchdown came courtesy of Chucks Okafor (3rd year, Calgary, Crescent Heights HS), who crashed in from nine yards early in the final quarter to complete the scoring.

“It’s a huge load off my shoulders,” said Masikewich. “To play the whole game is nice, obviously. To put up 200 yards is nice. I missed a couple of easy ones, but the important thing is to get better every game, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re just going to keep climbing.”

Added Kendal: “You really felt for Clayton during our first two games. He needed a performance like this for himself.”

On the other side of the ball, the Colts’ defence, under co-ordinator Stevens, completely bewildered Wildcats quarterback Andrew Johnson, running back Taylor Souster, and Co. The hosts held the Wildcats to 198 yards’ worth of net offence, including just 96 through the air.

During the second quarter, in particular, the Colts’ defence killed Wildcats drives with four consecutive big plays — an interception by Pat MacDonald (4th year, Calgary, St. Mary’s HS); a fumble by Souster that was forced by Zack McEachern (2nd year, Calgary, Dr. E.P. Scarlett HS) and recovered by fellow linebacker Stephen Dereniwski (2nd year, Medicine Hat, Alta., Medicine Hat HS); a turnover on downs; and another pick, this one courtesy of Canadian Junior Football League all-star cornerback Alex Saretsky (5th year, Cochrane, Alta., Cochrane HS).

“Right now, we have an attitude when we go out there as a defence that they’re not going to score, and they’re not driving on us,” said MacDonald. “We’re making big plays, we’re getting turnovers, and there’s nothing they can really do about it.”

The Colts now have their bye week on the Labour Day weekend, and will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 10 against the Huskies (0-3) in Edmonton. The next home game for Kendal’s crew will come on Sunday, Sept. 18 — a big showdown with the defending national champion Saskatoon Hilltops (3-0) at McMahon Stadium, starting at 1 p.m.