Wildcats Get Topped at Home

The Edmonton Wildcats suffered their second defeat in as many games at the hands of the Saskatoon Hilltops as they avenged their loss in last years PFC final by a score of 27-13 in front of approximately 700 fans.

The first quarter saw the Hilltops open the scoring with a 14 yd TD run by Regan Schuler to put his team up 7 -0 with 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter. After a Wildcat stalled drive the Cats punted the ball away only to have Kit Hillis run the ball back 68yds for the major and increase the Hilltops lead to 14-0 at the end of the first. The Wildcats got on the board in the second quarter after putting a 6 play 51yd series together finishing it off with a 14yd field goal by Donavin Kavich cutting the lead 14-3 heading into the half.

The Wildcats came out firing in the third quarter racking up 57yds on 8 plays and capping it off with Shiane Runcie pounding it in from 3yds out for the Cats first major of the contest, closing in on the Hilltops lead 14-10.

The defense played tough in the third quarter which enabled the Wildcats offense to put another solid drive together of 36yds on 7plays, with Jean Luc Bugeaud finishing it off with a perfect 35yd field goal to put the Cats within one point of the Hilltops. The Wildcats offense continued their success putting another lengthy drive together only to have the Hilltops defense come up huge in the quarter stopping the Wildcats 5 times on the Hilltops 1 yd line preventing them from putting any points on the board.

The Hilltops took the momentum away from the Cats in the fourth quarter with a 19yd TD reception to Ian Miller putting the Toppers up 21 -13. On the ensuing kickoff the Wildcats wanted to regain the momentum as David Berg returned the ball 95yds for the major only to have it called back for a blocking infraction. The Wildcats defense as strong as they were could not hold the Hilltops back in the 4th as the Hilltops put another series together to finish off the drive with an 18yd field goal by Zack Schmitt to increase their lead to 24-13. The final scoring came last in the game as the Hilltops kicker Zack Schmitt put a 24yd field goal through the uprights and close out the game with Hilltops topping the Wildcats 27-13.

On defense Kevin Hanson and Mike Podloski once again had solid games both picking up 12 points on 6 tackles with Hanson snagging a fumble recovery. Steven Rae also had a strong game picking up 10 points on 5 tackles.

The Wildcats put up 321 yds of net offense with Adam Senuik having a better outing completing 16 of 25 for 145 yds, while the ground game improved over last week picking up 184 yds. Running Back Shiane Runcie had 65yds on 13 carries and 1 TD. The Hilltops had 371 yds of net offense with Chase Bradshaw completing 14 of 19 for 170 yds and 1 TD. The Hilltops running game racked up 201 yds with Regan Schuler picking up 160yds on 24 carries.

Next game sees the Wildcats on a bye week followed by a road trip to Calgary to face the Colts at McMahon Stadium on Sunday September 12th at 3:00pm.

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) 221-3671 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (780) 221-3671      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.edmontonwildcats.com