Edmonton Wildcats Come Up Short in Season Opener

The Edmonton Wildcats and the Calgary Colts squared off on Sunday with the Colts coming out on top by a score of 9-5 and handing the Wildcats their first defeat of the young season in front of approximately 600 fans.

To say this game was a defensive battle would be an understatement as both teams were hard pressed to get their offenses on track. A rash of injuries heading into the game on the Wildcat squad and a depleted veteran core on both sides of the ball were keys factors in determining the outcome of the contest. The first half saw both teams struggle to more the ball, but the Colts opened the scoring midway through the half with a 35 yd field goal from Andrew Fabian to put the Colts up 3 -0.

The second half continued to see the offenses sputter, but with help from their defense the Wildcats were able to gain field position and post a 29yd field goal late in the 3rrd quarter to tie the game at 3. With less than 2 minutes remaining in the quarter the Colts answered back with another Andrew Fabian field goal of 43yds that just squeaked over the bar to put the Colts back on top 6-3.

The 4th quarter saw much of the same where midway through the quarter Fabian kicked his third field goal of the day from 25yds out to increase the lead to 9-3. With time winding down the Wildcats defense held the Colts deep in their end and forced a 2 point safety to cut the Colts lead to 9-5. The Wildcats had one final opportunity to come back to win it with backup QB Jordan Olson at the controls, putting their best drive of the game together marching the ball from their own 32 yd line to the Colts 23, but on 3rd and 2 the Wildcats fell short as Olson slipped trying to eluded the rush, bring an exciting finish to the game, with the Colts escaping with at 9-5 win.

On defense Kevin Hanson and Steven Giang had solid games, while the secondary had a strong outing from Kael Schryver, Zack Brown and Kris Gibson limiting the Colts offense to 3 field goals.

The Wildcats posted 159 yds of net offense with Andrew Johnson completed 3 of 13 attempts for 41 yds while Jordan Olson was 3 for 5 for 22yds. The ground game saw Taylor Souster carry most of the load carrying 24 times for 79 yds. The Colts had 207 yds of net offense with Jeremy Long completing only 1 of 4 for 18yds, while Clayton Masikewich completed 3 of 11 for 70yds. The Colts running game racked up 179 yds with D.J Whetton picking up a good portion of the yds carrying the ball 12 times for 99yds

Next game sees the Wildcats heading next door to Saskatchewan to take on the Regina Thunder at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Sunday August 21st at 1:00pm.

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) 718-3447
www.edmontonwildcats.com