THUNDER ROLLS
Regina rebounds from Week 1 loss with dominant 55-7 dismantling of Edmonton
Regina Thunder receiver Levi Paul overcomes double coverage to pull in a deep pass during a 55-7 win against the Edmonton Wildcats at Mosaic Stadium in Saturday.
The Regina Thunder proved a point — to the tune of 55 points — during its second game of the 2017 PFC season.
Regina rebounded from a Week 1 loss to the visiting Saskatoon Hilltops, who won 37-20 on Aug. 12, by downing the Edmonton Wildcats 55-7 on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.
“It felt really good,” Thunder linebacker Davin Williamson said.
“Coming off a tough loss to the Hilltops, the team gelled. We were talking all week about proving ourselves to the league. When the rankings came out and we weren’t in the top 10, it didn’t sit well with us.
“We came out, we played hard and we came out on top.”
The Thunder was ninth in the CJFL rankings leading into the season opener. After the loss to Saskatoon, Regina fell out of the top 10 and was supplanted in ninth spot by the Wildcats.
“We were playing against a team that was ranked in the top 10 in the CJFL,” Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay said as 1,488 spectators filed out of the new stadium.
“Our guys were riled up and we spent all week making sure that we were fully prepared and ready to roll.
“When you’re focused and you’re prepared, you can fly around and be aggressive and have some fun. It’s what I expected. We’re going to be using this as a way to continue to get better for the next couple of weeks.”
In the meantime, the Thunder is savouring Saturday’s game.
“It was fun,” quarterback Sawyer Buettner said.
“We had a great week of practice. We were highly motivated from last week. We felt like we weren’t getting much respect from around the league after the way last week ended, so it was fun to get out there and get after them.
“We wanted to come out and make a statement and put on a show for the fans.”
Buettner piloted an impressive air show, completing 10 of 13 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns to help the Thunder assume a 38-0 halftime lead.
“Our offensive game plan, which (offensive co-ordinator) Stefan Endsin put together, obviously was a great one,” MacAulay said.
“We wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the fact that they play man-to-man quite a bit and try to stretch their defence. When you start stretching their defence, that opens up the run game.”
Ethan Hautz was the main beneficiary, rushing for an unofficial total of 122 yards on 10 carries before leaving the game early in the third quarter with an injury of undetermined severity.
Entering Saturday’s game, Hautz’s single-game career high was 100 yards and his longest carry was for 37.
Against the Wildcats, Hautz eclipsed the 100-yard mark late in the second quarter on the strength of 38-, 32- and 24-yard runs.
“Ethan Hautz is a great football player,” MacAulay said.
“He’s a great running back, but more importantly, he’s a great team guy. He’s a major component of our special teams as well. He’s kind of the glue that keeps everything together. We’ll hopefully get him back.”
In addition to finding Kris Calcutt for a pair of 41-yard gains, Buettner aired it out on touchdown passes to Levi Paul (20 yards), Jh’Quin Swan (40) and Jesse St. John (30) and also handed off to Hautz for a threeyard major.
The Thunder’s other firsthalf TD came when Williamson blocked a punt and teammate Parker Dawson recovered the ball in the end zone.
Regina completed its first-half scoring when Eric Maximuik kicked a 21-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.
With the game well in hand, Brock Sich quarterbacked the Thunder for the remaining 30 minutes.
Sich threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Henry and handed off to Tristan Lockman for another major.
The Wildcats (0-2) scored their only TD when Justin Swedish found Brandon Olson from 11 yards out at 1:02 of the fourth quarter.
“Edmonton’s a very good football team,” Williamson said.
“It’s just that when you get momentum in football, it just snowballs.”
The Thunder is to return to action next Saturday in a CJFL inter-conference meeting with the host Hamilton Hurricanes.
We wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the fact that they play man-to-man quite a bit and try to stretch their defence.