The Regina Thunder have advanced to the Canadian Junior Football League championship game.
The reigning Prairie Football Conference champions rolled out to a 30-0 halftime lead over the Sault College Cougars and went on to a 44-15 victory in the national semifinal on Friday night in Sault Ste. Marie.
As a result, the Thunder will take on the B.C. champion Westshore Rebels after they defeated the Langley Rams 35-28 to book their spot in the Canadian Bowl.
The Thunder got things started with a 42-yard field goal from Harry Case with 5:11 gone in the opening quarter and Jayden Zelionka turned a quarterback sneak into a 31-yard touchdown run with 8:02 to play in the first.
Case increased the lead to 13-0 with a 45-yard boot at the 2:18 mark of the second quarter, and Peter Boersch went to work from there. He’d punch one in from seven yards out two minutes later and then another from four yards with 5:43 until halftime.
A 42-yard field goal capped a 20-point Thunder quarter and they took a 30-0 lead into the break.
A couple of Cougars touchdowns made things somewhat interesting late in the third quarter, but Boersch hit the end zone for the third time in the game with 58 seconds left, this time from 19 yards out.
Zelionka then found Tanner Donovel for a 46-yard catch-and-run with 7:53 gone in the fourth, closing out scoring on the day.
Zelionka completed 11 of 16 passes for 192 yards, the one major and an interception. Boersch had 26 carries for 212 yards to lead the ground attack, Donovel caught five passes for 111 yards.
Regina had 472 yards total offence, Sault Ste. Marie put up 438.
It’s been a storybook run thus far for Regina, as they put together a 7-1 regular season record before posting a pair of commanding playoff wins. That included a 40-10 victory over the Calgary Colts in the league semifinal before downing the defending national champion Saskatoon Hilltops 44-19 in the PFC championship game.
The Thunder had a single Canadian Bowl title to their credit, a 55-26 win over the Vancouver Island Raiders back in 2013. They also reached the national final in 2022 but dropped a 21-19 heartbreaker to the Okanagan Sun.
The 2026 Canadian Bowl is set for Sunday, Nov. 8 in Lanford, B.C.
