When the Winnipeg Rifles and Regina Thunder go toe-to-toe, one of the teams involved usually hits the 50-point mark. That fact rang true again on Sunday afternoon, but this time it was the Rifles that hit the half-century mark as Winnipeg scored a 52-31 win in front of 527 witnesses at Canad Inns Stadium.
Both teams put points on the board on their respective first drives. Brad Mikoluff put the home side up by 3 as he opened the scoring with a 16-yard chipshot 2:27 into the game. The Thunder would jump into the lead as quarterback Wyatt Catley found the end zone on a 1-yard sneak. The Koot convert made it 7-3 nearly 9 minutes in. The home side quickly regained the upper hand at 11:06 when quarterback Ryan Marsch connected with Matt Lariviere for the first of his two majors to make it 10-7 after one frame.
After Koot made it 10-8 on a 20-yard missed field goal, Marsch & company would boost their lead as Marsch fired a touchdown toss to Derek Dean 9-and-a-half minutes in to make it a 17-8 game. Chad Okumura would pick off a Catley pass and motor 36 yards for a major 58 seconds later to up the advantage to 24-8. Regina would rally as Kolten Solomon tallied a 22-yard major score to make it 24-15 after a fast paced first half.
The Thunder would cut the deficit to 2 as Solomon got his second major of the day on a 36-yard pass from Catley.
The home side would go on a 21-0 run as Dean would reel in a 64-yard TD strike; Alex Vitt reeled in an 11-yard six-pointer; and Matt Lariviere hauled in a 42-yard major. The Rifles took a 45-22 lead into the final 15 minutes.
Brad Mikoluff conceded a safety 3 plays after linebacker Steven Hudey halted Catley on a third-down gamble. Receiver Brandon Sieber made it a 45-31 game as he caught a 13-yard pass from Catley 6:06 into the period, but that was as close as the Thunder would get. Catley went 33 of 59 for 466 yards with 3 TDβs and 3 interceptions. Derek Dean would make his third touchdown catch of the day as Marsch would fire a seven-yard strike with 95 seconds left.
Marsch had a career day with 6 touchdown passes as he went 20 of 34 for 425 yards. Matt Lariviere had 7 grabs for 128 yards. Kurt Goodrich had 4 catches on the day for 107 yards. Dean had 3 catches for 76, while Vitt had 5 catches for 99 yards.
The offenses combined for over a thousand yards. Regina racking up 520 yards, the Rifles had 498.
Defensively, Chad Okumura had 2 interceptions, upping his season total to 3. He added 3 tackles for 16 defensive points.
The Rifles head to Edmonton next Sunday to play the 0-3 Wildcats in the lone game of Week 4. The Cats were blanked 30-0 in Calgary on Sunday.
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
2024 CFC Prospect Game Scouting Reports: Wide Receivers Part 1
