Photo courtesy of Gord Mellor

Saskatoon Hilltops 34
Regina Thunder 16

The Hilltops defence was outstanding on Sunday holding the Thunder to just two points in the opening half, then 14 the rest of the way.  Brant Morrow was outstanding intercepting two passes; one of them set a new Prairie Conference record.  He returned the interception 113 yards for a touchdown, the longest return for a major since 1977 when Emilio Fraietta of the Edmonton Wildcats returned a pick 110 yards.

Their offensive passing game struggled, but the Hilltops running attack was deadly with 248 yards.  Ben Abrook carried the rock 33 times for 166 yards and had a touchdown.  Doug Fleming rushed three times and scored two touchdowns.

The Thunder passing game was led by quarterback Blake Scherle who had 19 completions for 228 yards and two touchdowns.   It was the three interceptions that was the difference maker.  He found both Ethan Douglas and Tanner Zaharia for touchdowns and Isaac Foord for 82 yards.

Defensively Brandyn Martin had two interceptions and Davin Williamson collected 10 tackles.

This coming weekend the Hilltops (2-0) will play their third straight road game when they travel to Edmonton to face the Huskies (2-0) on Sunday afternoon.  Meanwhile the Thunder (1-1) will also be on the road in Winnipeg to face the Rifles (1-1) on Saturday night.

Edmonton Huskies 48
Edmonton Wildcats 2

It was all Huskies tallying 568 yards of total offence scoring 35 points in the second half.    Quarterback Declan O’Flaherty finished with 21 completions, 360 yards and two touchdowns.   Sam Clayton hauled in eight of those passes for 107 yards and had a touchdown.  Adner St. Hilaire had a touchdown reception as well.  Ronnie Oling caught five passes for 121 yards.

The ground game was also dominating led by Brandt Burzuk and his 18 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown.  Alex Gayle and Epharh Oyama also tallied a major.

Their defence allowed just 32 yards on the ground and forced six turnovers.    Dwight Francis picked off a pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown and Ben Wilton had two interceptions.

The lone bright spot for the Wildcats was their run game gaining 207 yards.  Dustin Pawliuk rushed 15 times for 109 yards to lead the way.

This weekend the Huskies (2-0) welcome the Saskatoon Hilltops (2-0) on Sunday while the Wildcats (0-2) host the Calgary Colts (0-2) on Saturday night.

Winnipeg Rifles 47
Calgary Colts 8

The Rifles dominated with a fully balanced game getting touchdowns both offensively and defensively.  Quarterback Riley Naujoks completed 18 passes for 260 yards and threw two touchdowns.  His favourite target was Tim Solypa who caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.  Sekina Scheibler caught a four yard touchdown pass.  Naujoks also scored a major on the ground.  Brandon Urciuoli carried 16 times for 103 yards.

Defensively, lineman Devyn Turner picked up a fumble and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown.  Sheycoy Selent also returned a fumble 30 yards for a score.

The Colts lone score came on a touchdown pass from quarterback Cole Belway to Adley Mayala.   In all Belway completed 13 passes for 166 yards while Mayala caught nine of those passes for 157 yards,

This weekend the Rifles (1-1) welcome the Regina Thunder (1-1) and the Colts (0-2) visit the Edmonton Wildcats (0-2).