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UPDATED: The Thunder Rolls

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters), 10/30/22, 6:00PM PDT

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The Regina Thunder win the Prairie Conference

The Regina Thunder are the Prairie Conference champions for the first time since 2013 beating the defending champion Saskatoon Hilltops 39-21 on Sunday afternoon in Regina.

After the teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, the Thunder exploded for 17 points in the second frame and held a 24-7 lead at the break.  They would use a good mix of both the run and passing attack to keep the Hilltops on their heels.

However, in true Hilltop form they would come out of halftime with some incredible adjustments and in a blink of an eye cut the lead to 25-21 in the early stages of the fourth quarter.  The Thunder didn’t panic and stuck to their game plan and weathered the storm and rebuilt their lead in the final frame with a pair of rushing touchdowns on route to their title win.

In all running back Ryland Leichert picked up where he left off in last week’s semi-final win over the Winnipeg Rifles.  After 52 carries last week, he rushed 33 times on Sunday for 190 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns.  Quarterback Carter Shewchuk was on point finding eight different receivers completing 25 of 31 for 312 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Garion Miller.  He also rushed for two majors.

Defensively the Thunder were quick to the ball and tackled well holding the powerful Hilltop running attack to just 102 yards.  All-Star Stephen Smith led the way with five solo tackles and three assists.  Adam King had a nice game with the lone interception, 2.5 tackles and had a knockdown.

For the first time since 2013 the Hilltops are not the Prairie Conference champs, an incredible run of seven straight titles.  They weren’t able to move the ball on the ground like they had all season.  Boston Davidsen was held to 80 yards on 13 carries and kept out of the end zone.  

Quarterback Trey Reider completed 15 passes for 198 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Presley Peterson, including the game’s first score.  Reider also ran for a major. 

On the defensive side Matt Wist was all over the field with nine tackles and nine assists.  Konner Johnson also played a major factor with eight tackles.  The nine assists from Wist are tied for second in a Prairie Conference playoff game.

Meanwhile rookie Charles Sawi set a Conference playoff record for most missed field goal returns in a game, with two. Also, his 100 yards in missed field goal return yards is second most in Conference playoff history and third in the CJFL. 

The Thunder will now host the Okanagan Sun in the 2022 Canadian Bowl on Saturday November 12th at 1:00pm at Mosaic Field in Regina.