Wildcats Capitalize in Ottawa to Win the Intergold Cup

The Edmonton Wildcats dominated on defense in the National Semi Final game in Ottawa as they went on to beat the Ottawa Sooners on their home turf by a score of 31- 3 in a lop sided affair taking the Intergold Cup back to Edmonton and a berth in Canadian Bowl against the Vancouver Island Raiders to be held in Nanaimo BC on Saturday November 14th at 1:00pm.

Neither team moved the ball well in their initial possessions & the game was scoreless until the 8-minute mark when Wildcats quarterback Andy Pilon utilized a short field, capping off a 7-play, 45-yard drive, finding Jerit Lambert for a 16-yard touchdown grab that vaulted the Wildcats into a 7-0 lead, the only score of the opening quarter.

Edmonton drove downfield late in the 1st, upping their lead to 10-0 as Ben Hnidan, the CJFL’s scoring champion found the mark from 14 yards away, 2:04 into the middle frame, wrapping up a 9-play, 52 yard drive.

After another frustrating two-and-out, the Sooners offense would rouse themselves as Ottawa quarterback Zack White hooked up with Danny Mullins on a 44-yard pass & run, ending up at the Wildcat 27. The Sooners drive finished on the 21-yard-line as Tyler Crapigna was good on a 28-yard attempt to cut the Wildcats lead to 10-3.

A 37-yard Lambert punt return would put Edmonton on the Sooner 25 and they would capitalize 5 plays later as Liam Dow scored on a 3-yard dash with 2:05 left in the half to make it 17-3 at the break.

Hnidan would hit a 38-yard field goal, his second of the day to make it 20-3 & the defense would force Crapigna to concede a safety making it 22-3 after 45 minutes.

The Sooners were trying what they could to rally, including Crapigna passing from deep in his territory on a 3rd down out of punt formation, but was sacked by the Wildcat defense which came up big all day long, limiting Ottawa to a mere 5 first downs & 77 yards of offense in the contest.

Wide receiver Kevin Wuthrich took a pass in the second half from Pilon in the flats & danced 56 yards for the game’s final major. Rory Connop would drop a Sooner back in the end-zone for a safety to make the final 31-3 to advance to the Canadian Bowl November 14th in Nanaimo.

The Wildcats will play the BCFC Champions Vancouver Island Raiders who routed the South Surrey Big Kahuna Rams 50-14 in the Cullen Cup Final on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats had 17 first downs with 239 yds rushing, 106 yds of which came from offense player of the game Justin McEvoy on 29 carries. Andy Pilon passed 173 yds on 11 of 21 for 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s with Kevin Wuthrich snagging 4 for 79 yds and a TD. The Wildcats had a net offense of 403 yds. The Sooners on the other hand had 5 first downs with 36 yds rushing and 90 yds passing with Zack White of Ottawa completing 10 21 and 1 INT. Net offense for the Sooners amounted to just 77 yds.

In the contest the Wildcats took all three player of the game honors as follows:

Outstanding Offensive Player of the Game
Justin McEvoy – Running back – Edmonton Wildcats
Justin was the offensive workhorse on this day as the Wildcats defeated the Ottawa Sooners 31-3 to claim the Intergold Cup and a trip to the Canadian Bowl. He had 106 yards on 20 carries. His longest romp was 13 yards.

Outstanding Defensive Player of the Game
Matt Lalande – Linebacker – Edmonton Wildcats
Matt claimed the defensive honors as the Wildcats defeated the Ottawa Sooners 31-3 to claim the Intergold Cup and a trip to the Canadian Bowl. The veteran from Wetaskiwin recorded 17 defensive points on 5 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles and an interception.

Outstanding Special Teams Player of the Game
Ben Hnidan – Kicker – Edmonton Wildcats
Ben received the special teams nod as the Wildcats defeated the Ottawa Sooners 31-3 to claim the Intergold Cup and a trip to the Canadian Bowl. The rookie scored 9 points, enough for the win, converting the 3 Edmonton touchdowns and booting 14 and 38 yard field goals. His 9 punts travelled 378 yards, the longest 56 and his 4 kick offs totaled 196 yards with the longest being 57 yds

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