PFC: Week 9 recap – Huskies end on a high note

Edmonton Huskies 31 @ Saskatoon Huskies 22 – October 9 @ Griffiths Stadium

The first game of the season’s final day pitted a Huskies club who wanted to end the season on a high note and at the same time ditch a nasty streak of 31 games without a win. For the Hilltops, it was meaningless as far as the standings went, but for Head Coach Tom Sargeant, it was a chance for him & his staff to give his second-stringers a good look at how they
perform under fire.

Saskatoon got off to a 12-0 first quarter lead as Zach Schmidt made good on a 34-yard field goal and Regan Schuler scored on a 15-yard run in the game’s first five minutes and picked up another pair of points as Huskie punter Jonathan Heidebrecht conceded a safety rather than punt into a stiff breeze.

Schuler would add a second touchdown & Schmidt would hit on his second three-pointer on the day to up the advantage to 22-0. The Huskies would get a boost of momentum as Heidebrecht connected on a 52-yard field goal to put his club on the board with under 2 minutes to go in the quarter. Edmonton would find the end zone as Akeem Brown scored on a 21-yard touchdown reception from Ben Gorniak who returned to the lineup after sustaining a concussion a few weeks ago, with 56 seconds to go to cut the Saskatoon lead to 22-10 at halftime.

The Hilltops would use their backups in the second half and for the most part had trouble moving the ball as the offensestruggled and Edmonton came on strong as following a Heidebrecht field goal, Skyler Sargeant, who ran the rock for 110 yards on 19 carries, scored nearly 5 minutes into the frame to cut the deficit down to 2. A punt single shaved it to a 1-point
game. The Huskies would grab the lead for good as Heidebrecht nailed his third field goal of the afternoon from 41 yards out.

The Huskies put the wraps on the win as Devin Kondro picked up a 7-yard major to sew up their first win in nearly 4 years.

Winnipeg Rifles 35 @ Calgary Colts – October 9 @ McMahon Stadium

Sunday’s regular season finale turned out to be a Wild West style shootout that ended in an equally wild result as the Rifles & Colts played to a rare 35-35 tie.

The Colts bolted out of the blocks as they put up 21 points in a span of 4:07 early in the game. Calgary tailback Cuong Thai Lieu dashed 10 yards for the game’s first score a little over 2 minutes into the opening frame. Calgary’s second score came courtesy of Mac Sarro as he scored his first of two touchdowns on the day as he took in a 4-yard pass from Clayton
Masikewich. Winnipeg would fumble the ensuing kickoff and would pay for it one play later as Chris Huband scored on a 16-yard run at 6:26 to make it 21-0.

Brad Mikoluff would put Winnipeg on the board with a 33-yard field goal at 11:38 to make it 21-3. The Colts would make it a four score frame as DJ Whetton scored on a 6-yard run to make it a 28-3 game after 15 minutes.

Mikoluff would get a 44-yard punt rouge and 36-yard field goal, but rattle another 36-yarder off the uprights to keep the score at 28-7 Colts at halftime.

The third quarter turned out to be the Ryan Marsch show as he rallied the Rifles by throwing 4 touchdown strikes as Matt Lariviere reeled in his 8th touchdown reception of the year two minutes into the quarter. Derek Dean would cash in with a 1-yard touchdown score three-and-a-half minutes after that. Alex Vitt hauled in a 7-yard strike to even it at 28-28; and then on the final play of the period, Marsch found Kurt Goodrich for an 11-yarder to give Winnipeg a 35-28 lead. The pass to Goodrich was Marsch’s 31st of the campaign, equalling Darryl Leason’s PFC single-season record for passing touchdowns with 31.

Both offenses would be stymied in the fourth and final frame until Masikewich & Sarro hooked up for the second time on a 14-yard connection with 1:56 remaining. That was set up courtesy of a completion on a third-and-seven gamble to Sarro which went for 14 yards. Marsch and company drove into Calgary territory, but Colts defensive back Skylar Pinchak intercepted him at the 18, thwarting Marsch’s attempt at breaking Leason’s mark. Marsch did throw for 393 yards, giving him 3,030 on the season. The 3,030 yards is a new Canadian Junior Football League single-season record, which surpassed the previous mark of 2,988 registered by Victoria (Now Westshore) Rebels pivot Nate Cote in 2007.

The Rifles end the season at 3-4-1 in 4th spot and head to Saskatoon to play the Hilltops in a semi-final contest next Sunday at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus. The Colts host Regina in the other semi-final.

Regina Thunder 53 @ Edmonton Wildcats 37 – October 9 @ Clarke Park

The last matchup of the regular season featured the Thunder who came into the game riding a 3-game winning streak against a Wildcat side that thrashed their co-tenant Huskies by a 51-25 count 8 days ago.

Wyatt Catley would pass for 5 touchdowns and 372 yards. Kolten Solomon would return to the Thunder lineup and catch 9 passes for 135 yards and score a pair of touchdowns. Clay Cooke would record 6 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, while Mike Scheinbein had 5 grabs for 88 yards and a major. Brady Keller hauled in a touchdown pass as well. Running back Nick Brown led the Thunder with 84 yards along the ground as Regina had quarter leads of 14-7, 25-
16 and 39-16.

Wildcats pivot Jonathan Olson went 12 of 24 for 242 yards and tossed for three scores. Receiver Andrew Johnson had a game-high 148 yards on 7 receptions and a major. Justin McEvoy led the Wildcats ground attack with 43 yards on 9 carries.