Prairie Football Conference (CJFL) Week 9 in review

CALGARY COLTS 24 @ EDMONTON WILDCATS 27 – OCTOBER 16th @ CLARKE PARK

The season’s final week began in Edmonton with the champions closing out their reign looking for their 3rd victory in 4 games while the Colts had an outside shot at 2nd place with a win and needing a little help from Winnipeg who would host Regina on Sunday.

Donovan Kavich would open the scoring with a single on a 30-yard missed field goal, and then Calgary punter Andrew Fabian would concede a safety to make it a 3-0 Wildcat lead. Fabian would round out the quarter connecting on a 42-yard field goal to tie it at 3.
Kavich would make it 6-3 for the home side with his 2nd field goal of the night, but near the end of the half, Colts DB Alex Saretsky would pick off an Andrew Johnson pass and take it all the way to vault Calgary into a 10-6 halftime lead.
Taylor Souster, who lugged the leather for 199 yards on the night, scored the lone touchdown as he scooted 5 yards to give the Wildcats a 13-10 lead heading into the final frame.
Pivot-turned-receiver Adam Senuik gave the home team a 20-10 lead, taking in a 5-yard Johnson touchdown pass.
Colts kick-returner Robbie Morgan had a quick reply as he took the ensuing kickoff all the way back for a 92-yard score to make it 20-17. Souster would smartly reply with a 74-yard run to restore the Edmonton 10-point edge. Calgary passer Jeremy Long scored on a 5-yard run, but the Colts got no closer as the Wildcats closed out 2010 with a 27-24 win.

REGINA THUNDER 57 @WINNIPEG RIFLES 15 – OCTOBER 17th @ CANAD INNS STADIUM

Sunday’s game at Canad Inns Stadium featured the 2 tailbacks vying for the PFC rushing title as well as two of the top passers in the conference. At the end of the day, it was the Regina Thunder scoring knockout blows in both matchups as the Thunder rolled to a 57-15 win in front of 362 spectators.
The Rifles led in the opening frame thanks to Matt Lariviere’s 21-yard touchdown grab as he leaped over a Regina defensive back. That was set up by a Ryan Messner interception. Nick Bowen would tack on a punt single for the 8-0 edge.
Thunder fullback Jeremy Seidlitz scored from a yard away to put Regina on the board at 8-6. The two point convert pass went incomplete and the score held at 8-6 after 1.
Regina pivot Reid Quest would get untracked in the second frame and stake his mates to a 23-point second quarter as he would connect with tailback Mark Coons for an 18-yard strike. Rifle back Kienan LaFrance would put his club back in front 15-12 as he rambled 37 yards for the score. But a pair of Jay Smith touchdown grabs and a 23-yard field goal from Ben Koot would put the visitors on top to stay as they had a 29-15 halftime lead.
Coons would get his 2nd TD on a 7-yard run for the lone score of the third quarter. Then the Thunder would get 3 unanswered majors in the final 15 minutes as Camille Lagimodiere would reel in an 11-yard major from Quest. Mark Coons would tack on touchdown runs of 6 yards and 1 yard to round out the scoring.
Mark Coons would run 27 times for 278 yards to win the PFC rushing title with 1,135 while LaFrance carried 25 times for 182 yards, finishing with 1,063. Quest would complete 17 of 29 passes for 350 yards and 4 scores while Winnipeg pivot Ryan Marsch completed 6 of 16 for 119 yards. Matt Lariviere had 2 catches for 47 yards to lead the Rifle pass catchers.
Regina racked up 660 yards of net offense, 309 on the ground. The Rifles had 338.
5th-year linebacker Eric Vincent had a 13 defensive point afternoon which gave him the PFC Defensive Player of the Year title with 124.
The Green Gunners end the regular season 3-5, tied for 4th with the Edmonton Wildcats. However, Winnipeg gets the 4th spot by virtue of their home victory over the Cats.
They head to Saskatoon to meet the 7-1 Hilltops next Sunday in one conference semi-final. The 6-2 Thunder host the Calgary Colts in Sunday’s other semi-final showdown.

SASKATOON HILLTOPS 75 @ EDMONTON HUSKIES 13 – OCTOBER 17th @ CLARKE PARK

The season’s last contest featured the home side needing to cap off the campaign with a long sought-after win. The regular season champions looked at this contest as a chance to get their game back in shape. On this afternoon, they did just that.
Toppers tailback Regan Schuler got them on the board 5:03 into the contest as he ran 13 yards for his 5th touchdown of the season. Saskatoon doubled their advantage as Ian Miller reeled in a 35-yard TD pass from Chase Bradshaw. However on the kickoff, Mike Goldring ran it back 99 yards to slice the Saskatoon lead in half after 15 minutes.
The floodgates would swing wide open in the second stanza as the Hilltops found the end zone 4 times, beginning with Lane Bannerman’s 1-yard run 3-and-a-half minutes in. The visitors would go on a 3 touchdown rampage in a 2:14 span. Brendan Gryba with a 5-yard run at 11:58, capping a marathon 12-play, 105-yard drive that took 5:25. A 62-yard pick-6 by Graig Newman at 12:31, followed by Miller’s 2nd TD grab, a 34-yard strike from Bradshaw at 14:12. It was 42-7 for the visitors at halftime.
The third quarter would be more of the same, starting off with the kickoff as Brendan Gryba rambled 98 yards to make it 49-7. The Saskatoon scoring machine just kept rolling on as Mike Waldron and Aaron Sayer would each return interceptions for majors. Waldron’s 70-yard return and Sayer’s 34-yard return made it 63-7 as the scores came 34 seconds apart. The 3 interception return touchdowns equalled the CJFL record of 3 which was first set by the Windsor AKO Fratmen back in 1951. The defense would rack up 8 interceptions, tying a club record set nearly 52 years ago to the day (Oct.18/58). The 205 interception return yards sets a new PFC single-game mark, smashing the old record of 186 set by the Regina Rams on August 15th, 1977. Tack on a Zach Schmidt punt single and it was 64-7 coming home.
Schmidt would pound through a 22-yard chipshot in the 1st minute. Then Miller would get his 3rd major of the day hauling in a 39-yard pass from backup pivot Matt Karpinka. Schmidt would then have a rare miss from 35 yards out to make it 75-7.
The Huskie offense would find the end zone on the game’s last play as Ben Gorniak found Sam Schwab for a 9-yard TD. Schwab’s 3rd touchdown grab of the year. A 2-point convert failed and the Hilltops finished up the campaign at 7-1, while the Huskies drop their 24th consecutive game.

Final Regular Season Standings
Team Record Home Away PF PA Pts
Saskatoon Hilltops 7-1 4-0 3-1 316 123 14
Regina Thunder 6-2 4-0 2-2 337 184 12
Calgary Colts 5-3 4-0 1-3 247 204 10
Winnipeg Rifles 3-5 2-2 1-3 186 315 6
Edmonton Wildcats 3-5 2-2 1-3 209 202 6
Edmonton Huskies 0-8 0-4 0-4 119 386 0

Week Nine in Review
By Tom Hallick – PFC Media Coordinator