Photo courtesy of Gord Mellor

The PFC opened their 2015 season over the weekend with three very exciting games as the Edmonton Wildcats, Regina Thunder and Saskatoon Hilltops all won.

WILDCATS 35 - HUSKIES 33

The City of Champions became a shootout on Saturday night as the Wildcats scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Edmonton Huskies 35-33.  Both teams combined for 943 yards of total offence.

The Cats had a balanced attack gaining 235 yards on the ground led by Bray Josue who carried 12 times for 165 yards and scored twice.  Armand Katamba scored a touchdown on seven carries.

Through the air, veteran quarterback Jordan Olson finished 12 of 24 for 204 yards and threw a pair of TD passes.  Six different receivers caught passes as Tristan Schutlenkamper and Brandon Olson hauled in touchdowns.

The Wildcats defence didn’t create a turnover but did collect three sacks.  Travis Semenok, Marcus Goods and Tony Savchuk each had a solo sack.  Gordie Poliak finished with a team high seven tackles.

This Sunday the Wildcats (1-0) will travel to Regina to take on the Thunder (1-0) at 2:00pm.

The Edmonton Huskies let Week 1 slip away leading 24-14 going into the final quarter.  They outgained the Wildcats recording 518 yards of total offence despite the loss.

Running back Jimmie Airey was simply awesome carrying 24 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns.  Landon Rosene added a major on four carries.  Quarterbacks Bradley Launhardt and Kieran Pruden finished 16 of 32 for 214 yards, neither one of them throwing a touchdown pass.

Defensively Brandon Mellen led the club with four tackles and the lone interception. Stephan Paleniuk and Michael Getzinger also had four tackles.

The Huskies (0-1) will host the Calgary Colts (0-1) for the lone Saturday game at 7:00pm.

THUNDER 49 - RIFLES 32

Week 1 saw another high scoring affair in Regina, as the Thunder held on to beat the Winnipeg Rifles, 49-32 with the teams combining for 35 points in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder used a successful running attack, tallying 277 yards on the ground led by Colton Klassen who rushed 18 times for 139 yards and a major.  Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette was equally effective rushing six times for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Quarterback Jaeden Marwick left the game before halftime with an injury.  He finished 5 of 9 for 70 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Kristiane Desautels.  Back-up Sawyer Buettner was 7 of 17 for 109 yards in relief.

The Thunder got into the action as well as Ashton Vien scored a touchdown on a blocked punt.

Defensively the Thunder forced four turnovers.  Taylor Mayer, Dustin Erbach and Mason Dick each picked off passes, while Vien recovered a fumble.  Terry Giovannetti recorded the lone sack.

The Thunder (1-0) will host the Edmonton Wildcats (1-0) on Sunday at 2:00pm.

The Winnipeg Rifles showed a lot of fight on Saturday in Regina collected 360 yards offensively.

Former BCFC Rookie of the Year and new Rifles pivot Jamie Ybarra finished 13 of 27 for 233 yards and threw three touchdown passes in his PFC debut.  He would find Timothy Demidiuk, Alexander Tachinski and Brendan Naujoks in the end zone.  His favourite target however was Ian Lee who caught a game high five passes for 107 yards.

On the ground Jonathan Remple scored the lone major, but former VI Raider Michael Ritchott led the charge with 16 carries for 103 yards getting reunited with former teammate Ybarra.

The Rifles defence was led by Chris Brown-Fillion and Joshua Onyebuchi who each had four tackles.  Spencer Riche collected the lone sack.

Sunday afternoon the Rifles (0-1) will host the defending champion Saskatoon Hilltops (1-0) at 1:00pm.

HILLTOPS 31 - COLTS 10

Speaking of the Saskatoon Hilltops, the champs began the season right where they left off last year, with a 31-10 win over the Calgary Colts.

The passing attack from quarterback Jared Andreychuk led the charge as he completed 16 of 30 for 249 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns.  He found Chad Braun for a game high seven time s for 63 yards, but Evan Kopchynski was the main man with three catches for 116 yards and a score.  Logan Fischer also caught a touchdown pass.

Veteran Hilltops kicker Brett Thorarinsson was 3 of 4 in field goals, including hitting from 45 yards out.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Hilltops pitched a second half shutout for forced four turnovers.  Defensive lineman Tom Schnitzler collected three tackles, two sacks and a knockdown.    Derek Sadownick intercepted a pass while Dillon Buckle jumped on a fumble for a touchdown.  James Vause and Austin Thorarinsson also recovered fumbles.

The champs (1-0) stay on the road on Sunday and will visit the Winnipeg Rifles (0-1) at 1:00pm.

The Calgary Colts didn’t score in the second half collecting just 279 yards of total offence.

Quarterback John Kiesman finished 20 of 29 for 237 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Dylan Minshull.  Kyle Brick led the Colts with five catches for 97 yards.

Kicker Kyle Byrne who is kicking for the “Kick It Champion” program was good on a 38 yard field goal helping raise money for kids cancer research.

The Colts “D” forced three turnovers as Connor Robinson and Owen Redlick each picked off passes and Tariq Lachance recovered a fumble.  

Saturday the Colts (0-1) will head north on Highway 2 and face the Edmonton Huskies (0-1) for the lone PFC game at 7:00pm.