CJFL roundup: PFC opening week, BCFC week 4
Source: Ryan Watters, www.CJFL.org
The PFC opened their 2015 season over the weekend with three very exciting games as the Edmonton Wildcats, Regina Thunder and Saskatoon Hilltops all won.
WILDCATS 35 – HUSKIES 33
The City of Champions became a shootout on Saturday night as the Wildcats scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Edmonton Huskies 35-33. Both teams combined for 943 yards of total offence.
The Cats had a balanced attack gaining 235 yards on the ground led by Bray Josue who carried 12 times for 165 yards and scored twice. Armand Katamba scored a touchdown on seven carries.
Through the air, veteran quarterback Jordan Olson finished 12 of 24 for 204 yards and threw a pair of TD passes. Six different receivers caught passes as Tristan Schutlenkamper and Brandon Olson hauled in touchdowns.
The Wildcats defence didn’t create a turnover but did collect three sacks. Travis Semenok, Marcus Goods and Tony Savchuk each had a solo sack. Gordie Poliak finished with a team high seven tackles.
This Sunday the Wildcats (1-0) will travel to Regina to take on the Thunder (1-0) at 2:00pm.
The Edmonton Huskies let Week 1 slip away leading 24-14 going into the final quarter. They outgained the Wildcats recording 518 yards of total offence despite the loss.
Running back Jimmie Airey was simply awesome carrying 24 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Landon Rosene added a major on four carries. Quarterbacks Bradley Launhardt and Kieran Pruden finished 16 of 32 for 214 yards, neither one of them throwing a touchdown pass.
Defensively Brandon Mellen led the club with four tackles and the lone interception. Stephan Paleniuk and Michael Getzinger also had four tackles.
The Huskies (0-1) will host the Calgary Colts (0-1) for the lone Saturday game at 7:00pm.
THUNDER 49 – RIFLES 32
Week 1 saw another high scoring affair in Regina, as the Thunder held on to beat the Winnipeg Rifles, 49-32 with the teams combining for 35 points in the fourth quarter.
The Thunder used a successful running attack, tallying 277 yards on the ground led by Colton Klassen who rushed 18 times for 139 yards and a major. Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette was equally effective rushing six times for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Quarterback Jaeden Marwick left the game before halftime with an injury. He finished 5 of 9 for 70 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Kristiane Desautels. Back-up Sawyer Buettner was 7 of 17 for 109 yards in relief.
The Thunder got into the action as well as Ashton Vien scored a touchdown on a blocked punt.
Defensively the Thunder forced four turnovers. Taylor Mayer, Dustin Erbach and Mason Dick each picked off passes, while Vien recovered a fumble. Terry Giovannetti recorded the lone sack.
The Thunder (1-0) will host the Edmonton Wildcats (1-0) on Sunday at 2:00pm.
The Winnipeg Rifles showed a lot of fight on Saturday in Regina collected 360 yards offensively.
Former BCFC Rookie of the Year and new Rifles pivot Jamie Ybarra finished 13 of 27 for 233 yards and threw three touchdown passes in his PFC debut. He would find Timothy Demidiuk, Alexander Tachinski and Brendan Naujoks in the end zone. His favourite target however was Ian Lee who caught a game high five passes for 107 yards.
On the ground Jonathan Remple scored the lone major, but former VI Raider Michael Ritchott led the charge with 16 carries for 103 yards getting reunited with former teammate Ybarra.
The Rifles defence was led by Chris Brown-Fillion and Joshua Onyebuchi who each had four tackles. Spencer Riche collected the lone sack.
Sunday afternoon the Rifles (0-1) will host the defending champion Saskatoon Hilltops (1-0) at 1:00pm.
HILLTOPS 31 – COLTS 10
Speaking of the Saskatoon Hilltops, the champs began the season right where they left off last year, with a 31-10 win over the Calgary Colts.
The passing attack from quarterback Jared Andreychuk led the charge as he completed 16 of 30 for 249 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns. He found Chad Braun for a game high seven time s for 63 yards, but Evan Kopchynski was the main man with three catches for 116 yards and a score. Logan Fischer also caught a touchdown pass.
Veteran Hilltops kicker Brett Thorarinsson was 3 of 4 in field goals, including hitting from 45 yards out.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Hilltops pitched a second half shutout for forced four turnovers. Defensive lineman Tom Schnitzler collected three tackles, two sacks and a knockdown. Derek Sadownick intercepted a pass while Dillon Buckle jumped on a fumble for a touchdown. James Vause and Austin Thorarinsson also recovered fumbles.
The champs (1-0) stay on the road on Sunday and will visit the Winnipeg Rifles (0-1) at 1:00pm.
The Calgary Colts didn’t score in the second half collecting just 279 yards of total offence.
Quarterback John Kiesman finished 20 of 29 for 237 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Dylan Minshull. Kyle Brick led the Colts with five catches for 97 yards.
Kicker Kyle Byrne who is kicking for the “Kick It Champion” program was good on a 38 yard field goal helping raise money for kids cancer research.
The Colts “D” forced three turnovers as Connor Robinson and Owen Redlick each picked off passes and Tariq Lachance recovered a fumble.
Saturday the Colts (0-1) will head north on Highway 2 and face the Edmonton Huskies (0-1) for the lone PFC game at 7:00 pm.
Home teams prevail in BCFC’s Week 4
SUN 32 – RAMS 13
Week 4 of the BCFC season saw three very exciting games and the Okanagan Sun stay undefeated; the VI Raiders claim second place and the Westshore Rebels tally their first win of the season.
In a first place showdown at the Apple Bowl and a rematch of the BCFC Cullen Cup championship game, the Sun got a measure of revenge with a 32-13 victory over the Langley Rams to remain undefeated.
Both the Sun and Rams showed off their outstanding defences, with the Sun “D” a little better on this night.
The Sun defence created four turnovers and allowed just 89 yards on the ground and 83 through the air. They held the Ram offence to only three first downs in the second half, giving their own offence terrific field position to work with. Brennan Van Nistelrooy, Matt McConnell and Beck Fullerton picked off passes, while Kent Lawrence recorded the lone sack. Both McConnell and Layne Hull led the club with five tackles.
Offensively the Sun scored 21 points in the third quarter and collected 429 total yards in a balanced attack. Both quarterbacks were used. Cam Bedore played the first half finishing 6 of 12 for 78 yards. The second half belonged to Josiah Joseph who was 12 of 14 for 211 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Lerone Robinson.
Kyle Kawamoto had an outstanding game collecting a game high seven receptions for 131 yards. Kyle Patchell caught five passes for 69 yards.
The Sun ground game tallied 149 yards led by Dillon Fortune’s 13 carries for 65 yards and three touchdowns.
Next Saturday the Sun (4-0) will stay at home and welcome in the Valley Huskers (0-4) who they shutout in Week 2.
The Langley Rams defence played very good, but their offence struggled in their second loss of the season. The “D” forced five turnovers including fumble recoveries from Joey Whyte, Nick Westad, John Beckerleg and Ryan McDonald. Darrin Matassa-Fung intercepted a pass.
Jacob Dodd recorded the lone sack, as Brock Gowanlock, the CJFL sack leader was held without one for the first time this season. Brendan Desjardine led the club with seven tackles.
Offensively the quarterbacks Dylan Tucker and Devoun Hallums combined for 12 of 25 for 83 yards. Hallums threw a touchdown pass to Seye Akinsanmi.
Nathan Lund led the ground game with 10 carries for 50 yards.
The Rams (2-2) will host the Westshore Rebels (1-3) on Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.
RAIDERS 35 – BRONCOS 26
The VI Raiders and Kamloops Broncos played an outstanding game in a tale of two halves. The Raiders won their third of the season, a 35-26 victory scoring 28 points in the second half.
After the Broncos scored 20 points in the first half, the Raiders defence tightened up allowing just six points in the second half. Shea Dexter led the club with seven tackles. Cole Virtanen had the defensive play of the game, and maybe the week setting a Raider record with a fourth quarter 95 yard pick six. He finished with a pair of interceptions, while Tyler Hill recovered a fumble. Quinton Bowles had two sacks while Kealan Botel had one.
Offensively quarterback Liam O’Brien completed nine passes, three of them for touchdowns. He finished with 217 yards and threw a touchdown Dustin Rodriguez and a pair to Arthur Fabbro. Rodriguez finished with four receptions for 131 yards.
Nathan Berg led the ground game with 14 carries for 89 yards and a score.
The Raiders (3-1) will travel to Kamloops for the second half of a home and home with the Broncos (2-2) on Saturday night at 7:00pm.
The Kamloops Broncos exploded in the first half, but was very quiet in the second half.
Quarterback Steve Schuweiler set a new BCFC record with 35 pass completions, surpassing the 29 in 2010 by Jordan Yantz. Schuweiler finished with 358 yards and two more touchdowns. His favourite target was Devin Csincsa who set a new Broncos record with 12 receptions for 136 yards. Meanwhile Derek Yachison caught 10 balls for 97 yards and both touchdown passes.
The running attack was led by Jacob Palmarin and his 12 carries for 63 yards and did score a major.
Defensively the visitors were led by Braden Vankoughnett and his seven stops. Derek Trager forced the lone turnover by intercepting a pass and Tevin McCarty had the only sack.
The Broncos (2-2) will get another crack at the Raiders (3-1) on Saturday night at 7:00pm at Hillside Stadium.
REBELS 45 – HUSKERS 14
The Westshore Rebels offence exploded on Saturday afternoon recording their first win of the new campaign, a 45-14 win over the Valley Huskers.
The Rebels tallied 643 yards of offence and set a new team record with 542 passing yards. Quarterback Ashton McKinnon finished 29 of 38 for 427 yards and three touchdowns. He set a new Rebels record with his 29 completions. He also ran 10 times, scoring a pair of touchdowns.
Hunter Lake and Taylin Davies each had nine receptions. Lake tallied 183 yards and caught a touchdown pass, while Joe Barkhouse hauled in two TD passes.
On the defensive side, Sheldon Mack led the Rebels with six tackles. James Bradley was solid with a fumble recovery, two sacks and a tackle. Dusean LeBlanc, Jorge Morzon-Yarwood and Peter Allen also collected a sack.
The Rebels (1-3) will visit the Langley Rams (2-2) on Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.
The Valley Huskers had their best offensive game of the season collected 272 yards of total offence.
Quarterback Noah Falconer was 11 of 24 for 179 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Jesse Deering.
The Huskers run game was solid was Jackson Ryan carried a Conference high 17 times for 108 yards and a major.
The Huskers defence was led by Conner Smith and Tyler McStravic who each tallied seven tackles. Brenden Atkinson chipped in with six stops while Ryan Beaubien had five.
On Saturday night the Huskers (0-4) will visit the Apple Bowl for the first time since 2013 and play the Okanagan Sun (4-0) at 7:00pm.
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