Teams always want to make adjustments to help themselves perform better in the second half of a football game, but what the Regina Thunder pulled off on Sunday was beyond the pale.
Trailing the Winnipeg Rifles 21-18 at halftime in their home opener at Leibel Field in Regina, the Thunder would go on to score 32 third-quarter points and go on to a 60-34 victory.
The news was also good for the Saskatoon Hilltops, as they also overcame an early deficit before going on to a 36-26 win over the Calgary Colts at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
As a result, Regina improves to 3-0 and are in first place in the Prairie Football Conference, while Saskatoon improves to 2-1 and are tied with the Edmonton Wildcats and Edmonton Huskies for second place.
Regina 60, Winnipeg 34
The Rifles had everything going for them in the first half on Sunday, as they took a 10-7 lead out of the opening quarter and held their two-point lead at the half.
Things changed dramatically after the break, though, beginning when Peter Boersch cracked off a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Thunder the lead. Carwyn Williams caught a 26-yard pass, Jayden Zelionka had a 45-yard dipsy-doodling touchdown run and Tanner Donovel had a nine-yard catch for Regina’s other majors in the quarter.
Isak Cloete hit a 38-yard field goal and Harry Case booted a 66-yard kickoff single to wrap up Regina’s incredible 15 minutes.
They’d go on to add another field goal from Cloete and a 75-yard pick six by Marcus Butz in the fourth quarter to close out second-half scoring.
All told, Boersch and Donovel each had a pair of majors in the game, while Cloete kicked three field goals and finished with 17 points.
Zelionka finished 19-for-26 passing for 296 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while also running four times for 79 yards. Boersch had another strong game with 17 carries for 206 yards, Donovel led the receiving corps with nine catches for 141 yards.
Riley Element had a solid outing of his own for Winnipeg, completing 27 of 46 passes for 481 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. Jarome Penner (six catches for 160 yards and two majors) and Jalen McDonald (nine catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns) were his favourite targets. Four ball carriers had only 61 yards rushing for Winnipeg.
Regina ended up with 597 yards total offence, Winnipeg had 525.
Saskatoon 36, Calgary 26
The Colts got things going with an early touchdown in Saskatoon, but the Hilltops saw to it there would be no repeat of their upset loss to the Edmonton Wildcats last week.
A safety with 4:24 to play in the opening quarter got Saskatoon on the board, and Luke Bednarek picked up the Hilltops’ first major with 1:11 left to make it 9-7 at the change of ends.
Charles Sawi punched one in from short yardage to extend the lead to 16-7 only 10 seconds into the second quarter, and the Hilltops would keep things rolling from there.
Ryden Gratten hit a field goal to make it a 12-point lead with 11:26 to go until halftime and Brody Komarnicki picked up Saskatoon’s third touchdown with 2:30 left to make it 26-10 at the break.
A Gratton field goal gave the Hilltops their only points of the third quarter and a 29-10 lead.
Komarnick then finished off their offence with a short yardage touchdown with 6:58 remaining, giving the Hilltops a 36-10 edge.
Calgary put together a late-game comeback and would get to within 10, but ran out of time from there.
Further stats were unavailable as of this writing.
Up Next
It’ll be the first all-Saskatchewan meeting of the season as the Thunder make the trip north to take on the Hilltops on Saturday, Aug. 26. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
