The Winnipeg Rifles bounced back from a couple of close losses on the road to start the season with a heart-stopping 19-16 win over the Saskatoon Hilltops in their Prairie Football Conference Home Opener on Sunday afternoon at East Side Eagles Field.
It was the Rifles’ first win over the perennial PFC contending Hilltops since 2006 and a jubilant head coach Geordie Wilson said it was something he had seen coming. “We’ve been building for this and you could see it towards the end of last year, and then as we came out of the gate this year, you could see we were ready. Just had to learn to make plays and not make mistakes at the wrong time.”
Donavon Downing’s game-winning, 10-yard field goal with 36 seconds remaining was set up by a clutch over-the-shoulder catch by Aidan Avanthay from quarterback Bryson McNeil to the Hilltops’ 14. Both were examples of the plays that Wilson referred to in the see-saw battle.
Other examples were a Cade Lerm-forced fumble and Wyatt Richards recovery with five minutes left in the final quarter, along with a Brandon Kamenz interception late in the first quarter and a Keyshawn Gaskin fumble recovery with time winding down in the first half to set up Adam Fast’s touchdown run for Winnipeg’s lone major of the game.
Downing finished with four field goals on the day for Winnipeg, which lost 19-10 in Saskatoon and 24-22 in Regina during the first two weeks of the schedule.
The Rifles now have a bye week before hosting the Calgary Colts on Sept. 11 in an 11 a.m. CT kickoff at East Side Field.
Comments