Rifles clobber Wildcats, Marsch throws 7 touchdowns

The Winnipeg Rifles wrapped up the first half of their 2011 season with the identical record as they had a year ago as they humbled the Edmonton Wildcats 54-13 at Clarke Park on Sunday afternoon to up their record to 3-1.

The Rifles broke out of the blocks in fast fashion as they took a 21-0 first quarter lead as Ryan Marsch threw a pair of touchdown strikes to Matt Lariviere and one to Derek Dean. The 3 scores would come in a span of 8-and-a-half minutes.

The roll would continue on in the second stanza as Bryan Giesbrecht, Alex Vitt & Kurt Goodrich would grab touchdown strikes from Marsch. The third-year signal-caller from Sturgeon Heights Collegiate equalled his performance from last week as he threw for 6 majors in the first half. Winnipeg would rack up 24 first downs and 453 yards of net offense in the half as the defense held the Wildcats to 6 first downs and 153 yards. The first half ended with the Rifles owning a 40-point lead at 41-1. The only Wildcat point came courtesy of a 74-yard David Ness punt single 42 seconds into the period.

Winnipeg made it a 47-1 game 6 minutes into the 3rd as rookie receiver Brett Carter scored on a 31-yard pass from Marsch which would set a new club record with his 7th touchdown throw of the day.

The Wildcats would get a safety as Brad Mikoluff conceded a safety touch 2:52 into the final quarter. Kicker Ryan Smyth connected on a 24-yard field goal. Edmonton would find the end zone in the final three minutes as Justin McEvoy scored on a 1-yard run to make it a 47-13 game. Choe Sesay would round out the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown scamper on the final play from scrimmage.

Ryan Marsch would complete 24 of 32 passes on the day for 392 yards with 7 majors and 2 interceptions. The 7 touchdown tosses gives him 20 on the season.

Alex Vitt was the leading Rifles pass catcher with 6 grabs for 104 yards. Kurt Goodrich had 5 catches for 68 yards, while conference-leading receiver Matt Lariviere had 6 catches on the afternoon for 68 yards.

Tailback Martin Hovi ran the rock for 129 yards on 17 carries. On defense, rookie linebacker Donovan Gregoire had an outstanding day as he recorded 9 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle and a 7-yard interception return for 23 defensive points.

The Rifles recorded a season-high 32 first downs and 622 yards of net offense, while the Wildcats had 360.

With the win, the Rifles sit a half-game out of top spot as Calgary & Saskatoon both have 3-0 slates. Winnipeg has the bye this week and will start the second half of the season in Regina versus the Thunder on Sunday September 18th.