Pair of 1st half touchdowns carry Saskatchewan-green to victory over Manitoba

Saskatchewan-green scored a pair of first half touchdown en route to a 20-2 win in game four of the 2014 Football Canada Cup at Griffiths Stadium on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.

Saskatchewan will now face Alberta on Wednesday at 7 PM in one semi-final #2 while Ontario and Quebec will play in the other at 4 PM.

To open the scoring, Saskatchewan capitalized on great field position following a botched Manitoba punt as quarterback Sawyer Buettner found Dryden Kalesnikoff in the end zone to make the score 6-0. Manitoba blocked the point after attempt to minimize the damage.

Later in the half, Buettner struck again finding receiver Kade Belyk on a 55-yard touchdown pass to widen the host’s lead 13-0.

After Manitoba punter Jonathan Bennett recovered his own punt to give Manitoba possession near mid-field both teams traded turnovers. Saskatchewan struck first as defensive back Payton Hall blocked and recovered a Manitoba field goal attempt near the 25. Next Saskatchewan quarterback Sawyer Buettner was hit as he threw and the fumble was recovered by Manitoba at the Sask 40-yard line.

Manitoba got on the board as Sask conceded the safety at 6:19 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Saskatchewan widened their lead 20-2 following a touchdown run by running back, Jamal Hooker.

Despite the score Manitoba head coach Dan Washnuk was proud of the way his team handled adversity.

 “It’s a tough one for us to go through – defense played lights out, offense kept going all the way,” said Washnuk.

“Saskatchewan has got a really strong team and hope they do really well for the rest of the tournament. I couldn’t be prouder with the way that Manitoba handled itself all the way through to the end but it’s a tough one.”

Saskatchewan-green head coach Kyle Stroeder knows his team needs to work on some things in preparation for their semi-final matchup with neighbouring Alberta.

“It kind of felt like we were in a sloppy game I think that there’s a chance for us to do a lot more things and we have to clean things up for Alberta now – there the silver medalists from last year,” said Stroeder.

“Opportunity is there for us to do some real good things but we gotta clean some things up.”