Wildcats Manhandle Huskies

The Edmonton Wildcats road roughshod over their cross town rival Edmonton Huskies for the second straight week with a decisive 45-24 win on Saturday night at Clarke Park in front of approximately 500 fans.

This weekend’s contest and a win for the Cats were important to them in their quest for a playoff berth in the PFC. The Wildcats are currently in a battle with the Winnipeg Rifles and the Regina Thunder for the fourth and final playoff spot, with the Saskatoon Hilltops hosting the Wildcats next weekend at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

The first quarter saw the Wildcats jump out to an early 14-0 lead courtesy of Jerit Lamberts 41yd scamper for the first major followed by a 47 yd catch for his second major of the contest. The Huskies answered back with running back Akeem Brown punching it in from three yds out 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 30yds 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 it in from 4yds out to up the score to 28-10 for the Cats heading into the locker room.

The Wildcats came out in the third quarter, guns a blazing with a 74yd boom to Mitch Richter from Andrew Johnson for the TD, putting the home team up 35-10. The Huskies tried to mount a come back with a 24 yd TD run by Akeem Brown to shrink the gap to 35-16 after a missed 2 point conversion. The Cats answered back late in the 3rd with a Donavin Kavich 25yd field goal to up the lead to 38-16 after 3. Midway through the fourth quarter Wildcats running back Shiane Runcie punched it in from 5 yds out to increase the lead to 45-16. The Huskies score a late TD with a 66 yd strike to Mallan Roberts but was two little to late as the Wildcats took their second straight win 45-24 over their cross town rivals.

The Wildcats defense had a strong outing picking off Huskies QB Ben Gorniak 3 times in the contest and holding the Huskies to 326 yds of total offense in the game. Travis Hnatiuk had a huge game leading all defenders with 18 points on 7 tackles and 1 interception. Kevin Hanson had a solid night as well racking up 5 tackles, a QB sack and a forced fumble for 16.5 points.

The Wildcats offense got off to a quick start scoring twice in the first quarter on route to a strong performance with a balanced attack using the running and passing game effectively against the Huskies. The Cats accumulated 252 yds rushing while passing for 235 yds and a total offensive production of 468yds on the night. Jerit Lambert rushed for 61 yds on 5 carries and 2 TDs, with support from Taylor Souter who ran for 61 yards on 10 carries. The Wildcats posted 468 total net yds on the evening with QB Andrew Johnson completing 6 of 10 for 183 yds and 2 TD’s while Adam Senik was 3 of 6 for 24yds. Mitch Richter led with 2 catches for 83yds, while Jerit Lambert snagged 2 for 71yds. The Huskies were held to 326 total net yds with 168yds on the ground and 175 passing yds. QB Ben Gorniak was 10 of 23 for 104 yds while Kevin Allen was 2 of 5 for 71 yds. Huskies Receiver Mallan Roberts had 7 catches for 130 yds with Sam Schwab grabbing 2 for 26 yds.

Next game sees the Wildcats hit the road to face the Saskatoon Hilltops at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on Sunday October 10th at Noon.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field at around 7:30 pm nightly.

Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
[email][email protected]
Phone (780) 221-3671
[url]http://www.edmontonwildcats.com