Junior: PFC week 7 in review

EDMONTON WILDCATS 45 EDMONTON HUSKIES 24 – OCTOBER 2nd @ CLARKE PARK

Week 7 opened with the 2nd and final “Battle of Edmonton” of 2010. The home standing Wildcats were looking to build on last week’s win and inch closer to the fourth and final PFC playoff berth. On the other side of the field, the Huskies looked at this contest as another chance to snap a long victory drought.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 14-point lead courtesy of a pair of Jerit Lambert majors. The Huskies replied as Akeem Brown scored on a 3-yard run to slice the Wildcat lead in half after the first frame as running back Akeem Brown charged 3 yards for the score late in the quarter to cut the lead to 14-7 after 1.
Halfway through the second quarter the Huskies narrowed the gap to 14-10 with a Mattias Hencke field goal from 30 yards out. With time running out in the half the Wildcats started to put the pedal to the metal with a 2 yd Jerit Lambert run into the end zone for his second rushing TD and third on the night followed by running back Kendall Kennedy pounding the rock in from 4 yards out to up the score to 28-10 for the Cats heading into the locker room.
The Wildcats went right back to work in the third quarter, as Andrew Johnson found Mitch Richter deep for a 74-yard TD connection, putting the home team up 35-10. The Huskies found the end zone again as Brown picked his 2nd TD on a 24-yard run to make it 35-16. A 2-point convert try failed .The Cats would reply late in the 3rd with a Donavan Kavich 25-yard field goal to up the lead to 38-16 after 3.
Midway through the fourth quarter Wildcat running back Shiane Runcie punched it in from 5 yards out to increase the lead to 45-16. The Huskies rounded out the scoring as backup pivot Kevin Allen hooked up with Mallan Roberts on a 66-yard pass & run touchdown and added a 2-point convert.

SASKATOON HILLTOPS 25 CALGARY COLTS 9 – OCTOBER 3rd @ GRIFFITHS STADIUM

The Hilltops christened their temporary home on the University of Saskatchewan campus, battling the Calgary Colts in a 1st place showdown.
The Toppers would grab a 10-point first quarter lead on a Zach Schmidt 21-yard field goal and a Regan Schuler 8-yard run.
Schmidt would connect on a 32-yard placement & force Colt punter Andrew Fabian to give up a safety to make it a 15-0 Saskatoon lead in the 2nd quarter. The Colts offense would kick it into gear and drive down to the Saskatoon 23, but Fabian would be wide on a 30-yard try. The single put Calgary on the board. Towards the end of the half, Schmidt hit his 3rd field-goal to give Saskatoon an 18-1 halftime lead.
The third frame was scoreless, as was most of the final 15 minutes until running back Tom Shockey plowed in from 1-yard out to give the Hilltops a 24-point lead. The Colts would get a major score in the final minute as Cuong Thai Lieu scored on a 2-yard touchdown run which was set up by a Ryan McDermit catch deep in Toppers territory.
The Hilltops host the PFC champion Wildcats in one of 3 Sunday games on the week 8 slate, while the Colts welcome the Winnipeg Rifles.

REGINA THUNDER 51 WINNIPEG RIFLES 16 – SEPTEMBER 26th @ MOSAIC STADIUM

The Winnipeg Rifles took on a Regina Thunder club that was anxious to ditch a 2-game losing slide. The Thunder would roll to a 17-0 lead on their way to a 51-16 humbling of the Rifles.
The Thunder would open the scoring 6 minutes into the game as Camille Lagimodiere took in a 6-yard pass from Reid Quest for the major score. After a Ben Koot field-goal upped the advantage to 10, Mark Coons would add a touchdown on a 3-yard run to make it 17-0 after one.
Kolten Solomon would open the second quarter in style as he took a pass from Quest and took it 90 yards for the score. Quest would add a TD on a 3-yard run and Jay Smith reeled in a 47 yard strike as the Thunder would own a 51-0 lead at halftime.
Eric Campbell would crack the goose-egg as quarterback Ryan Marsch found him for a 9-yard strike. For Campbell, his only catch of the game.
Alex Vitt had a terrific game with 8 receptions for 140 yards, one of those being a 7-yard touchdown catch with less than 7 minutes left. Nick Bowen would add a 17-yard chipshot in the final 4 minutes to finish up the scoring.
The Regina duo of Kolten Solomon & Jay Smith had a huge day yet again as Solomon had 6 grabs for 183 yards, while Smith racked up 10 for 174 yards.
PFC rushing leader Kienan LaFrance ran for 104 yards on 17 carries. Ryan Marsch would complete 13 of 29 passes for 233 yards with 2 TD’S & 2 INT’S. Mark Coons of Regina would score 2 TD’s on the day and run for 149 yards on 15 carries. Thunder quarterback Reid Quest was back to his old self, going 18 of 24 for 373 yards with 3 TD’s and an interception.
The clubs combined for over a thousand yards in net offense, with Regina gaining 651 yards to 406 for the Green Gunners.
The Rifles have now dropped 2 in a row and what was once a 6-point edge on both the Edmonton Wildcats & Edmonton Huskies for the final playoff berth has dwindled to a 2-point lead, thanks to the Wildcats sweeping their Clarke Park co-tenants.
The Thunder host the winless Edmonton Huskies next Sunday as they look to get sole possession of 2nd place in the conference.

By Tom Hallick