Photo courtesy of Eclectic Shots

The Prairie Conference opened their regular season schedule this past weekend with two road wins and one home opener victory. 

Regina Thunder 36
Calgary Colts 20 

A pair of touchdowns from both Ryland Leichert and Justin Reiger helped the defending Prairie Conference champion Thunder to a 16-point victory over the Colts in Calgary. 

The Thunder were balanced in their offensive push with 493 total yards.  Leichert was the featured back collecting an impressive 170 yards on 21 carries and scored a major.  He also caught two passes, one of which for a touchdown.  Reiger carried the rock seven times and scored twice.

New starting quarterback Carter Moberg had a nice game completing 56% of his passes for 256 yards and that touchdown to Leichert. 

Speaking of passing, the Colts primarily used the aerial attack to move the ball as well.  Former Prince George Kodiaks quarterback Liam Ozkowski threw for 229 yards on 13 completions and found Zion Dogbe-Brown for a touchdown and hit Nicholas Sirleaf on a 69-yard bomb for another.    He spread the ball around as nine different receivers caught a pass. 

This coming weekend the Thunder (1-0) will stay on the road and visit the Edmonton Wildcats (0-1), while the Colts (0-1) are also in Edmonton, but they will face the Huskies (0-1).

Winnipeg Rifles 20
Edmonton Huskies 16

The Rifles traveled to Edmonton to open the season and came away with a four-point win over the Huskies thanks to some outstanding fourth quarter defence.  

On the offensive side quarterback Thomas Hubbard threw for 164 yards and found Kaiden Banfield for a second quarter touchdown.  Banfield was also a force on the ground carrying the rock an impressive 30 times for 151 yards.  

The backbreaker came on the second half kick-off when Roy Tambal Musa returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.

Defensively Zack Davis had a pair of sacks and Brandon Kamenz intercepted a pass.

The Huskies scored 12 of their 16 points in the second half, but still came up short on the scoreboard.  Quarterback Carson Neitz threw for 111 yards and hit Caleb Akerley for a 59-yard major for their longest offensive play.  That aside the Huskies did struggle to move the ball collecting 168 yards of total offence. 

On the defensive side the Huskies did hold the Rifles to just a single point in the second half, but the offence couldn’t match their performance. 

This coming weekend the Rifles (1-0) will have their home opener and host the Saskatoon Hilltops (1-0) while the Huskies (0-1) will welcome the Calgary Colts (0-1).

Saskatoon Hilltops 50
Edmonton Wildcats 2

The most lopsided game on Sunday came in Saskatoon as the Hilltops dismantled the visiting Wildcats.

Offensively they saw success through the air with quarterback Trey Reider finishing 20-25 for 294 yards and three touchdowns finding Drake Douglas, Noah Flaman and offensive lineman Jermey Funk.  On the ground the Hilltops scored three more touchdowns as Boston Davidsen tallied a pair and Xaiver Sabo added another. 

On the defensive side they were solid holding the Wildcats to 96 yards through the air.   Matt Wist and Isaac Michalyuk played major factors in the Hilltops dominance. 

Next week the Hilltops (1-0) hit the road and will face the Winnipeg Rifles (1-0) while the Wildcats (0-1) will look to rebound and host the Regina Thunder (1-0).