The Regina Thunder and Saskatoon Hilltops once again met in a Prairie Football Conference first-place showdown on Saturday night.
And now we know how things stand among the PFC royalty at this point in the season.
The Thunder outscored Saskatoon 30-6 in the second half and went on to a 37-13 victory in the first-place showdown between the two archrivals at Leibel Field in Regina.
Peter Boersch and Marcus Butz each had two touchdowns for Regina, which improves to 5-0 on the campaign, while the Hilltops fall to 3-2 and are in second place in the PFC.
Regina got things rolling in the ground game early, with Boersch gaining positive yards on the first three Thunder carries and getting into Hilltops territory. The drive stalled just over midfield, though, and Regina didn’t waste any time looking to extend its series, with a fake-punt pass floating over the intended receiver.
Charles Sawi got into action on the Hilltops second drive of the game, hauling in a long-range pass to get Saskatoon into scoring range near the Regina 30-yard line. The Hilltops gained a handful of yards on a couple more plays to Sawi, and Ryden Gratton would hit a 31-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Saskatoon with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
Neither team picked up any points the rest of the opening 15 minutes and the Hilltops took a lead into the second quarter.
Gratton picked up a 36-yard field goal not long after the teams switched ends, giving Saskatoon a 6-0 lead with nine minutes to play in the second half.
Another solid return by Williams gave Regina a short field at its own 53 with 4:24 to play in before the break, and a long-range catch by Tanner Donovel put the Thunder in the red zone at the 14-yard line.
Boersch then finished things off, breaking a couple of tackles and going the rest of the way to give the Thunder a 7-6 lead with 2:40 to play until halftime.
That’s where things ended up heading into the break.
Saskatoon appeared to have a drive going early in the third quarter, but it came to a sudden end when Butz hauled in an interception at midfield and went all the way the other way for the pick-six. The touchdown was the defensive back’s second of the season and made it 14-6 with 12:53 to play in the third.
Saskatoon got things going a couple series later. Tyson Korol made a great catch and then survived a couple of big hits before getting the Hilltops up to the Regina 24.
A pass over the middle to Luke Bednarek put the Hilltops in the red zone with eight minutes to play in the third. He finished off the drive with a short touchdown catch, making it a 14-13 Thunder lead with 7:01 left in the quarter.
Regina responded quickly, with Boersch leading its grinding ground game and eventually picking up his second major of the night on a 10-yard run. That touchdown came with 2:16 to play in the third and made it a 21-13 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Regina quarterback Jayden Zelionka added a one-yard touchdown plunge with 2:29 to play and Saskatoon conceded a safety on its next possession to make it a 30-13 Thunder lead.
Butz then struck again, picking off a pass at the Saskatoon 40 and once again going to the house, giving him a third pick-six on the campaign and finishing off scoring on the night.
The Thunder are back in action next Sunday when they travel to Winnipeg to face the Rifles at 1 p.m. The Hilltops are also on the road next Sunday as they are in Edmonton to face the Huskies at the same time.
