The Edmonton Wildcat Football Club is pleased to introduce Darcy Park as their new Head Coach for the 2011 season. Coach Park succeeds Gary Durchik who indicated at the start of our 2010 season that this would be his last.

In 2002 the Wildcats recruited former CFL Head Coach Gary Durchik and gave him four objectives: elevate the teams’ attitude, develop the coaching staff and implement a succession plan, structure the player personnel to provide a balance of experience and provide success on and off the field. Coach Durchik more than ably accomplished all four objectives. In the last 5 regular seasons the Wildcats compiled an impressive 27-11-2 record with two trips to the Canadian Bowl, two Intergold Cups, two PFC Championships and two regular season first place finishes.

After coaching with the Edmonton Wildcats for 12 seasons, the last three as Assistant Head Coach, Darcy Park is well positioned, and experienced, to continue the Wildcat winning tradition. The 2011 season will be Coach Park’s 13th year with the Wildcats. He coached the Running Backs for the first seven seasons and in 2006 switched over to the defensive line. He has been the Special Teams Coordinator since the 2000 season and became the Assistant Head Coach in 2008. Coach Park graduated from Edmonton’s McNally High School and went to the New Mexico Military Institute (which played in the Western Junior College Conference), where he was named an Honorable Mention All American in 1993. He spent the rest of his eligibility with the University of Alberta under Head Coach Tom Wilkinson. In 1996 he was drafted by the Edmonton Eskimos, and in 1997 signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Edmonton Wildcats Football Club extends heartfelt appreciation to Coach Durchik for his many years with the program and acknowledges and celebrates his successes. The Wildcats also welcome Coach Park to his new position and look forward to the continuation of the Wildcats tradition.

The Wildcats honored some of their own at last weekend’s banquet and were presented with individual team awards for the various performances on the field in 2010. The winners are as follows:

Big Kahuna Special Teams Player: # 28 Tanner Lestus
Rookie of the Year: # 1 Andrew Johnson
Peter Smith Award: # 2 Miguel Barker
Jay Meraw Trophy: # 45 Mike Podloski
Most Valuable Back: # 17 Taylor Souster
Most Valuable Lineman: # 92 Steven Giang
Most Valuable Player: # 3 Jerit Lambert

The Wildcats also honored their 2010 graduating players and their 5 year graduates at the banquet. They are as follows:

2010 Graduating class 5 Year Graduates

# 4 Ray Hurrel – S
# 34 Travis Hnatiuk – LB # 31 Kendell Kennedy – FB
# 96 Delano Tennent – DL # 8 Sean Goos- REC
# 27Jordan Bierkos – DB # 45 Mike Podloski – LB
# 99 Gabriel David – DL # 28 Tanner Lestus – DB
# 53 Shawn Doll – OL

Joining the Wildcats coaching staff for 2011 will be Jason Dailey as Offensive Assistant, Jody Hancock as Defensive assistant, while returning Coach Vince Baraniecz will take over as Offensive Coordinator and returning coach Dylan Graff will be Defensive Assistant.

Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a bright and prosperous New Year. Looking forward to seeing you all out next year to support the 2011 Edmonton Wildcats

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 718-3447 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 718-3447      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats will honor their 2010 PFC award winners and graduating players at their annual banquet to be held in Edmonton on November 20th. There is plenty of optimism for next year as the Wildcats have roughly 50 returning players to compete for the Nation Title which will be hosted by the winner of the OFC conference in 2011. Ticket for this year’s banquet which is being held at St. Josaphap Hall 9637 – 108 Ave will need to be purchased by Nov 16th at a cost of $50.00 per person and are available by calling Marie Richter at 780-464-0187 or Corrine Olson at 780-465-7755. Cocktails start at 6:00pm and Dinner will be at 7:00pm

The Wildcats will honor their 2010 graduating players and their 5 year graduates at the annual banquet. They are as follows:

10 Graduating class; 5 Year Graduates:
# 4 Ray Hurrel – S #99 Gabriel David – DL
# 34 Travis Hnatiuk – LB #31 Kendell Kennedy – FB
# 96 Delano Tennent – DL #8 Sean Goos – WR
# 27 Jordan Bierkos– DB #45 Mike Podloski – LB
#28 Tanner Lestus – DB
#53 Shawn Doll – OL

The PFC awards in Saskatoon also honored 6 Wildcats for their excellent play in 2010. They are as follows:

PFC Rookie of the Year: PFC Offensive All-Stars
#48 Joshua Tunke – OL #3 Jerit Lambert – WR
#17 Taylor Souster– RB
#1 Andrew Johnson – QB PFC Defensive All-Stars
#9 Rory Connop – DL
#24 David Berg – DB

Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a bright and prosperous New Year. Looking forward to seeing you all out next year to support the 2011 Edmonton Wildcats

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 718-3447
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats closed out the 2010 campaign with a hard fought win over their southern neighbors, the Calgary Colts 27-24 at Clarke Park on Saturday night in front of approximately 800 vocal fans who came to see their Wildcats finish the season on a winning note and they weren’t disappointed. The Wildcats finished the season with a 3-5 record for a share of 4th place with Winnipeg in the PFC. The Rifles will move on to the playoffs after beating the Cats in Winnipeg last month.

The defending PFC champion Wildcats did manage to throw an effective monkey wrench into the Colts’ hopes of finishing second overall and hosting the Regina Thunder in a conference semifinal.

Thanks to Saturday’s decision, the Colts will finish third and climb aboard the bus for a road trip to the Queen City — and a semifinal at Mosaic Stadium on either Oct. 23 or 24 against the Thunder, who carry a 5-2 record into their regular-season finale on Sunday, Oct. 17 against the Winnipeg Rifles in the ’Peg.

The Wildcats opened the scoring early in the first quarter with a single point on a missed 30yd field goal attempt. The Cats increased that lead a few minutes later with the Colts taking a safety to up the score to 3 -0. Late in the first the Colts got on the board with a 42yd field goal to tie it up at 3 going into the second quarter. The Cats answered back with 4 minutes remaining in the half to break the tie with another field goal to make it 6-3. With time winding down in the half the Colts got a pick from A. Saretsky who took it to the house sending the Colts into the locker room up 10-6.

The Wildcats came out fighting in the third quarter as the cats scored their first TD of the game with a 5 yd run by Taylor Souster to take over the lead 13-10 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd. The Wildcats opened up the lead early in the fourth quarter with an impressive 6 play 65 yd drive as Adam Seniuk finished it off with a 12yd catch from Andrew Johnson for the Cats second major of the night to up the lead to 20-10. On the ensuing kick-off though the Colts returner R Morgan took the ball 92 yds for the major to cut the Wildcats lead to 20-17. Not to be outdone the Cats answered back with a sizzling 74 yd run by Taylor Souster to get back their 10 point spread over the Colts 27-17. With less than 2 minutes left in the game the Colts fought back with a 3 play 53 yd drive with J. Long finishing it off with a 5 yd TD run to cut the lead to 27-24. But it was too little to late as the Wildcats win a nail biter to close out the season 27-24 over the Colts.

The Wildcats offense had a strong outing with the running game racking up 283 yds while passing for 132 yd. Running back Taylor Souster had a night to remember with his 22 carries for 199 yds and 2 TD’s. QB Andrew Johnson was good on 11 of 23 with 2 interceptions and 1 TD, while the Cats offense accumulated 395 total yds on the evening.

The Wildcats defense was dominant in the first half holding the Colts offense to just 2 field goals. The defensive secondary of Ray Hurrel and David Berg led the way with Safety Hurrel picking up 5 tackles and 1 knock down pass for 12 points while corner David Berg had 4 tackles 1 knock down pass and an interception for 14 points. The defensive line held the running game to 155 total yds on the night while holding Colts QB Masikewich to 4 of 11 pass attempts for 141 total yds.

This ends the regular season for the defending Champion Edmonton Wildcats who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1995. See you all next year.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 221-3671 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 221-3671      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats will host the Calgary Colts to close out the 2010 regular season campaign this Saturday evening at Clarke Park. Game time is 7:30pm. The Cats are looking to rebound from a tough loss to the Hilltops this past weekend and are determined to avenge their 40-30 loss in Calgary last month. The Colts on the other hand will be focused on locking down second place in the conference and making it 2 in a row to end the regular season after a close encounter in Calgary last weekend, squeaking out a win 42- 35 over the Winnipeg Rifles.

The Wildcats defense will be looking forward to a repeat performance from last weekend in Saskatoon as they held the Hilltops to 3 field goals in the first half and just 19 points in the game. The defensive secondary had a lockdown game as they held the Hilltop’s QB Chase Bradshaw to just 8 of 23 passes for 145yds. The Cats will be relying on strong performances from their Linebacker corp and will be focused on shutting down the running game while putting the heat on the Colts Quarterback, who is very mobile and fires the ball down field very effectively.

Offensively the Cats will set their sights on a balanced attack of running and passing as they have done over the pass 2 game with great success. They managed to minimize the penalties in last weekend’s contest and will need to continue that trend on Saturday night. Special teams as always will play a key role in the outcome of this game along with discipline and execution as the Champions look to close out the season on a winning note.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field around 7:00 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 718-3447 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 718-3447      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats showed tenacity and toughness as they fought to stay in the playoff race in the PFC. But it wasn’t meant to be as the Wildcats went down fighting 19-10 to the Hilltops in Saskatoon on Sunday afternoon in front of approximately 800 fans.

The Wildcats came into Sunday’s game needing a victory to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, while a Hilltops win would clinch top spot in the conference.
Hilltops rookie kicker Zach Schmidt would open the scoring 9:37 into the opening quarter with a 47-yard field goal. He would double the Hilltops lead with a 29-yarder with 12 seconds left in the first.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats run game roared to life as Taylor Souster would motor for 50 yards on his first two carries of the game. But the Wildcats would score their lone touchdown via the pass as Anthony Johnson fired a 10-yard TD pass to Tyler Nelson to give the champions a 7-6 lead. A muffed Wildcat punt return gave Saskatoon great field position, but had to settle for a 3rd Schmidt placement giving Saskatoon the lead as he connected from 10 yards out to make it 9-7 after 30 minutes.
Schmidt hit his 4th field goal of the day to up the lead to 5. Shortly thereafter, Clayton Garnett would increase the Hilltops lead as he took a 47-yard pass from Chase Bradshaw to make it 19-7 after 3.
The Wildcats fought back in the fourth quarter with a Donovan Kavich field goal with 6 minutes left in the game but it proved to be too little, too late as the champions where knocked out of post-season contention with a 19-10 loss.

The Wildcats defense had a strong outing holding the Hilltops to three field goals in the first half as the Toppers went into the locker room only up by 2. Linebacker Mike Podloski had a huge game leading all defenders, racking up 11 tackles and 22 defensive points. The defensive secondary held the Hilltops to just 145 yds in passing as Chase Bradshaw was 8 for 23 and 1 TD on the afternoon.

Offensively the Wildcats had a solid outing racking up 345 total yds in the contest with the running game producing 233yds and the passing game picking up 143yds on the afternoon. Andrew Johnson was 13 of 21 and 1 TD, while rushing for 107yds on 15 carries. Running Back Taylor Souter had 11 carries for 86 yds while Wide Receiver Mitch Richter had 5 catches for 53 yds. The Hilltops offense was held to 322 total yds with the running game picking up 191 yds. Running Back Regan Schuler rambled for 108 of those yds on 21 carries. Hilltops Wide Receiver Clayton Garnett caught the loan Toppers TD as he snagged 1 catch for 47yds.

The Hilltops clinch the regular season title with a 6-1 mark, while the Wildcats loss allows Winnipeg to take the last playoff berth. The Wildcats wrap up 2010 with a home game at Clarke Park this Saturday Oct 16th 7:30pm against the Calgary Colts.
All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field at around 7:30 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 221-3671 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 221-3671      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats head east to Saskatoon this weekend to take on the 5-1 Saskatoon Hilltops on Sunday at Noon in Griffiths Stadium. The Wildcats are looking to make it three in a row after their decisive victory of their cross town rival Huskies last weekend, while the Hilltops are coming off a three game run of their own after beating the Colts 25 -9 this past weekend in Saskatoon to take over sole possession of first place in the PFC.

The Wildcats will be focused on continuing the momentum heading into Saskatoon while the Hilltops will be looking for their second win over the Wildcats this season after defeating the Cats in their season opener 27 -13. The Wildcats are hungry for redemption and a win in Toon Town will keep them in the playoff race in the PFC.

The Wildcats will need to minimize the penalties and continue the balanced attack of running and passing that was displayed in the Huskies contest last weekend, along with another strong performance from the defensive corp if they want to have success against the Toppers this weekend. The Hilltops are well coached with talented players and the Wildcats will have to bring their “A” game if they want a chance of securing a victory in Saskatoon. The Wildcats know what they need to do to get the job done with execution and discipline playing key roles in the outcome of the game this Sunday.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field around 7:00 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 718-3447 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 718-3447      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats road roughshod over their cross town rival Edmonton Huskies for the second straight week with a decisive 45-24 win on Saturday night at Clarke Park in front of approximately 500 fans.

This weekend’s contest and a win for the Cats were important to them in their quest for a playoff berth in the PFC. The Wildcats are currently in a battle with the Winnipeg Rifles and the Regina Thunder for the fourth and final playoff spot, with the Saskatoon Hilltops hosting the Wildcats next weekend at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

The first quarter saw the Wildcats jump out to an early 14-0 lead courtesy of Jerit Lamberts 41yd scamper for the first major followed by a 47 yd catch for his second major of the contest. The Huskies answered back with running back Akeem Brown punching it in from three yds out late in the quarter to cut the lead to 14-7 after 1.

Halfway through the second quarter the Huskies narrowed the gap to 14-10 with a Mattias Hencke field goal from 30yds out. With time running out in the half the Wildcats started to put the pedal to the metal with a 2 yd Jerit Lambert run into the end zone for his second rushing TD and third on the night followed by running back Kendall Kennedy pounding it in from 4yds out to up the score to 28-10 for the Cats heading into the locker room.

The Wildcats came out in the third quarter, guns a blazing with a 74yd boom to Mitch Richter from Andrew Johnson for the TD, putting the home team up 35-10. The Huskies tried to mount a come back with a 24 yd TD run by Akeem Brown to shrink the gap to 35-16 after a missed 2 point conversion. The Cats answered back late in the 3rd with a Donavin Kavich 25yd field goal to up the lead to 38-16 after 3. Midway through the fourth quarter Wildcats running back Shiane Runcie punched it in from 5 yds out to increase the lead to 45-16. The Huskies score a late TD with a 66 yd strike to Mallan Roberts but was two little to late as the Wildcats took their second straight win 45-24 over their cross town rivals.

The Wildcats defense had a strong outing picking off Huskies QB Ben Gorniak 3 times in the contest and holding the Huskies to 326 yds of total offense in the game. Travis Hnatiuk had a huge game leading all defenders with 18 points on 7 tackles and 1 interception. Kevin Hanson had a solid night as well racking up 5 tackles, a QB sack and a forced fumble for 16.5 points.

The Wildcats offense got off to a quick start scoring twice in the first quarter on route to a strong performance with a balanced attack using the running and passing game effectively against the Huskies. The Cats accumulated 252 yds rushing while passing for 235 yds and a total offensive production of 468yds on the night. Jerit Lambert rushed for 61 yds on 5 carries and 2 TDs, with support from Taylor Souter who ran for 61 yards on 10 carries. The Wildcats posted 468 total net yds on the evening with QB Andrew Johnson completing 6 of 10 for 183 yds and 2 TD’s while Adam Senik was 3 of 6 for 24yds. Mitch Richter led with 2 catches for 83yds, while Jerit Lambert snagged 2 for 71yds. The Huskies were held to 326 total net yds with 168yds on the ground and 175 passing yds. QB Ben Gorniak was 10 of 23 for 104 yds while Kevin Allen was 2 of 5 for 71 yds. Huskies Receiver Mallan Roberts had 7 catches for 130 yds with Sam Schwab grabbing 2 for 26 yds.

Next game sees the Wildcats hit the road to face the Saskatoon Hilltops at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on Sunday October 10th at Noon.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field at around 7:30 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 221-3671
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats head into Clarke Parke looking for their second win of the season and their second straight win over the cross town rival Huskies this Saturday night at Clarke Park

The Wildcats are coming off a dominating second half performance last weekend over the Huskies and will be looking to continue that success heading into this weekend’s rematch.

The Wildcats are trying to claw their way back into the play-off race while the Huskies are still search for that first win in more that 3 years. The Wildcat offensive line had a great game creating holes in the Huskies defense and allowing the running game to rack up over 450 yds on the ground this past weekend. The Wildcats will need to continue that focus and momentum going into the matchup on Saturday against their cross town rivals.

Defensively the Cats had a very strong outing last week controlling the line of scrimmage, while allowing the Huskies offense to post just 205 total yds, and holding them to just one field goal in the contest. More of the same this weekend on both sides of the ball will be the recipe for success for the Cats in their quest for a playoff spot.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field around 7:00 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 718-3447
www.edmontonwildcats.com

The Edmonton Wildcats trounced their cross town rival Edmonton Huskies 49-3 putting themselves in the win column for the first time this season with an impressive offensive performance Saturday night at Clarke Park in front of approximately 550 fans.

The weekends contest was seen as the battle of the basement dwellers as both teams were searching for their first win of the 2010 campaign. The first quarter saw each team sputter on offensive while the defenses held tight heading into the 2nd quarter with the score 3-1 for the Huskies after 1.

In the second quarter the Wildcats started to show life on offense with a 32 yd Donavin Kavich Field Goal to jump into the lead 4 -3 before scoring one of their 6 rushing touchdowns on the night with Kendal Kennedy punching it in from 3 yds out to send the Cats into the half up 11 -3.

The Wildcats exploded in the second half scoring 38 unanswered points with five more rushing touchdowns as they took advantage of a tired Huskies defense. Donavin Kavich added a late field goal to finish off the scoring as the Wildcats manhandled the Huskies 49 -3.

The Wildcats defensive came to play on this night as they held the opposition to just 205 total net yds in the game while holding the ground game to just 73 yds and QB Ben Gorniak to just 140 yds in the air. After the Huskies opened the scoring in the game with a field goal early in the first quarter the defense tighten up and didn’t allow another point in the game as the secondary created three turnovers on the night on route to a dominating performance.

Coach Durchik was quoted as saying “I’m ecstatic. We haven’t played the greatest…..and yet our guys rallied. There’s a lot of bragging rights involved, a lot of pride.”

The Wildcats offense got off to a slow start in the game but picked up the pace in the second quarter and didn’t look back racking up 455 yds on the ground using a dynamic running attack of Taylor Souster, Jerit Lambert , Shiane Runcie, Jeremy Townsend and QB Andrew Johnson. All five gained more that 60 yds on the ground with Lambert leading the way with 125 yds on 8 carries. The Wildcats posted 519 total net yds on the evening with QB Andrew Johnson completing 6 of 15 for 56 yds and Kyle Dunlop 1 of 1 for 33 yds. Jerit Lambert led with 2 catches for 25 yds, while Sean Goos snagged 1 for 33yds. The Huskies were held to 205 total net yds with 73 yds on the ground and 140 passing yds. QB Ben Gorniak was 13 of 28 for 125 yds while Trevor Erdmann was 2 of 10 for 15 yds. Huskies Receiver Mallan Roberts had 4 catches for 37 yds with John Gooding grabbing 3 for 26 yds.

Next game sees the Wildcats in a rematch with their cross town rivals the Edmonton Huskies at Clarke Park on Saturday October 2nd at 7:00pm. The Wildcats will be hosting the game this weekend.

All Edmonton Wildcat practices are at Rundle Park and the players take to the field at around 7:30 pm nightly.

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Stuart Gibson
Edmonton Wildcats Media Coordinator
media@edmontonwildcats.com
Phone (780) 221-3671
www.edmontonwildcats.com