Wildcats fall to Thunder at Clarke Stadium

The Edmonton Wildcats fell 35-14 against the Regina Thunder on Sunday afternoon at Clarke Stadium. Both teams were 2-1 coming into the game.

The Thunder took an early lead in the game, with a Justin Banin touchdown at the 1:53 mark. The Thunder increased their lead 10:57 into the first with a William McGee field goal, ending the first quarter 10-0 for the Thunder. The second quarter started out with a Colton Klassen touchdown 1:36 into the quarter, increasing the Thunder lead to 17-0. David Adebayo ran one in for the Wildcats at 6:34 putting the Wildcats on the scoreboard. At 11:24 William McGee kicked a field goal for the Thunder, followed by a Matt Frass touchdown at 13:57 giving the Thunder a 27-7 lead. The first half ended with the Wildcats conceding a safety, putting 2 more on the board for the Thunder.

The third quarter saw no changes to the score, but the fourth started with a William McGee field goal 4:02 in. Tristan Schultenkamper received a Jordan Olson pass for a Wildcat touchdown decreasing the Thunder lead to 32-14 with 5:20 left in the game. With only 0:04 until the final buzzer William McGee kicked another field goal, ending the game with a score of 35-14 for the Regina Thunder.

The Wildcats offense saw 228 yards, 70 on the ground and 179 in the air. David Adebayo lead the rushing with 14 carries for 62 yards while veteran player Brad Quartel lead the receiving with 6 catches for 69 yards, followed closely by Rocky Borrelli with 5 catches for 52 yards. Quarterback Jordan Olson completed 18 of 31 passes for a total of 179 yards.

The Wildcats defense was lead by defensive back Jahlani Knorren, with 11 tackles for 22 points. Marcus Goods racked up 12.5 points with 4 tackles and 1.5 quarterback sacks and Gordon Poliak had 12 with 5 tackles and 1 pass knock down.

The Thunder’s victory places them tied for first in the PFC with the Winnipeg Rifles with 6 points each (both teams are 3-1) and the Wildcats tied with the Saskatoon Hilltops for 3/4 with 4 points each (both teams are 2-2) .

The Wildcats meet the Edmonton Huskies next Saturday, September 20 at 7:00pm in Clarke Stadium.