Recent Winnipeg Rifles News
Hair We Go...
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a member of the CJFL Executive has challenged a guru in the sport of rugby to raise funds for the Breast Assessment Centre at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina, Saskatchewan.
It’s the age old battle of football versus rugby!
Prairie Conference president Randy O’Shaughnessy is representing the football side of things, while Levi Moore is the “hair” of rugby for this challenge. Both men have been growing their locks for about two years and if enough funds can be raised in the month of October, the clippers will come out and they will have their heads shaved with their luscious locks donated.
Both men chat with Ryan Watters and share why raising funds for breast cancer awareness is important to them.
To donate to Randy or Levi following this link – Home - Hair We Go (akaraisin.com)
The best performers from the regular season finales
With the regular season coming to a close this past weekend the CJFL is pleased to announce the Week 12 Players of the Week.
Vote to make one of these players this week’s Fans Choice Player of the Week, the polls are open until 5:00pm PST on Wednesday.
Offensive Players of the Week
Prairie Conference
RB Kaiden Banfield – Winnipeg Rifles
Sunday afternoon the season concluded for the Winnipeg Rifles, but running back Kaiden Banfield made his mark with another 36 carries, gaining 216 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. He also hauled in two passes and tallied 25 yards. His 36 carries brought his Conference leading total to 195 carries on the year.
BC Conference
QB Sadler Smith – VI Raiders
The Raiders ended the season with a giant victory on Saturday and the offence rode the right arm of Sadler Smith. He completed 77% of his 23 completions for 309 yards and had three touchdown strikes. For good measure he also rushed six times for 21 yards to keep drives alive.
Ontario Conference
RB LJ Dyer – London Beefeaters
For a second straight week LJ Dyer came up big for the Beefeaters. In a game that awarded an all important first round bye in the playoffs, Dyer carried the ball 25 times for 147 yards and four touchdowns as the Beefeaters defeated the visiting Sooners to clinch second place in the conference.
Defensive Players of the Week
Prairie Conference
LB Stephen Smith – Regina Thunder
The Thunder’s defensive captain is heating up just before the playoffs as he finished with six solo tackles, four assisted stops and intercepted a pass, returning it 20-yards setting up his offensive teammates.
BC Conference
DB CJ Augustine – Langley Rams
As the saying goes, you need your big players to show-up in big games and on Saturday CJ Augustine did! With a home playoff date on the line, Augustine was a ballhawk intercepting three passes, returning one 84-yards for a touchdown to secure a win and the home playoff date. He added three solo tackles as well.
Ontario Conference
DB Teagan Good – Quinte Skyhawks
Blanketing receivers all afternoon, Teagan Good picked off two passes returning one interception 55 yards for a touchdown and returning a second pick for 56 yards. Good also had three tackles on the afternoon as the Skyhawks secured a home playoff game and Good was really good.
Special Teams Players of the Week
Prairie Conference
K Teijon Abel-Douglas – Saskatoon Hilltops
When the Hilltops offensive drives would stall shy of the endzone, kicker Teijon Abel-Douglas made sure his team came away with points. As a matter of fact, he accounted for 13 of their 21 points thanks to four field goals and a convert. He also recorded five punts, averaging over 40 yards with each boot.
BC Conference
KR Carson Briere – Prince George Kodiaks
He was a busy on Saturday night in Kamloops as the Kodiaks ended the season. He returned 11 kicks and averaged 18.1 yards a return.
Ontario Conference
KR Tai Colquhuon – St. Clair Saints
Making the most of his only opportunity, Tai Colquhuon took a first quarter punt and raced 61 yards to the endzone for a touchdown crushing any Hurricane hopes for a comeback as the Saints completed a perfect regular season.
Polls are open now until 5:00pm PST to make one of these players the CJFL Fans Choice Player of the Week. Vote now!
The Hilltops, Thunder and Wildcats win
Photo courtesy of the Winnipeg Rifles
The Prairie Conference regular season came to a close on Sunday and oddly enough two of the games featured a playoff preview.
Saskatoon Hilltops 21
Edmonton Huskies 14
Sunday afternoon the top ranked Hilltops had an uncharacteristically off game scoring just one touchdown against the Huskies in Edmonton.
Special teams turned into a big factor as kicker Teijon Abel-Douglas connected on four of his five field goal attempts and accounted for 13 of their 21 points.
Their lone touchdown came in the second quarter when quarterback Trey Reider hit Datiel Fountaine on a five-yard TD strike. In all, Reider finished with only 155 yards through the air, well off his season average. Running back Corbin Edden rushed for 190 yards on 32 carries.
Defensively the Hilltops pitched a first half shutout and picked off two passes.
The Huskies scored all 14 points in the second half and made the game close. In the third quarter Wyatt Matson found Cameron Coyne for a five-yard touchdown then connected with William Campbell in the fourth quarter from eight yards out for a major.
This coming Sunday the Hilltops host the Huskies in a Conference semi-final game in Saskatoon with kick-off set for 1:00pm.
Regina Thunder 40
Calgary Colts 21
In another playoff preview the Thunder smacked the Colts by 19-points collecting 441 yards of total offence., 326 of it on the ground.
The two-headed monster of Sadik Sadik and Ryland Leichert were virtually unstoppable with 41 carries for 282 yards with Sadik scoring three touchdowns and Leichert adding another.
In all, the Thunder scored 20 of their 40 points in the second quarter holding down the Colts the rest of the way.
On the defensive side they forced four Colts interceptions by four different players and kept them off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.
The Colts scored 14 of their 21 points in the third quarter including an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown courtesy of Antoine Barrett. Quarterback Isaiah Klein also found Quinn Fedoroff for a major in the quarter with a 39-yard touchdown strike. Their first score however was an impressive 51-yard TD run by Zion Dogbe-Brown in the second quarter.
These two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon back in Regina for a semi-final with kick-off scheduled for 1:00pm.
Edmonton Wildcats 32
Winnipeg Rifles 21
The Wildcats claimed their second straight win to end the season outscoring the Rifles 12-2 in the final quarter capped off by a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown from Treyc Davies with under a minute to play.
Their offence was led by quarterback Marcos Soltero who finished with 23 of 30 passes for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Gabe Hiebert and Mekhi Tyrell.
Defensively they forced six turnovers, none bigger than the Davies pick-six.
The Rifles offence outgained the Wildcats and finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns from Kaiden Banfield. He rushed 36 times for 216 yards and had the majors.
Their defence combined for four sacks but it wasn’t enough as they fall in the regular season finale.
Week 12 Preview
- By CJFL Media 10/04/2024, 2:00pm PDT
Prairie Conference Recap
- By CJFL Media 09/30/2024, 10:00pm PDT
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- By CJFL Media 09/30/2024, 5:45am PDT
Week 11 Head-to-Head
- By Ryan Watters 09/27/2024, 7:00pm PDT
Top Performers from Week 10
- By CJFL Media 09/25/2024, 6:45am PDT