Wildcats Gunned Down By Rifles

The Edmonton Wildcats continued their losing streak as they were handed a 54-13 defeat and saw their record dropped to 0- 4 while the Rifles record improved to 3-1 this past weekend at Clarke Stadium in front of approximately 450 fans.

The Rifles got out of the gates fast as Quarterback Ryan Marsh hit Matt Lariviere for a 15yd TD on route to a 3 TD first quarter to put the Rifles up 21 -0 . The 2nd quarter didn’t fare much better for the Wildcats as Marsh posted three more TDs to go into the half up 41-1.

The third quarter saw QB Marsh toss his 6th TD pass of the day with a 31yd strike to Brett Carter to increase the Rifles lead to 47-1.The Wildcats couldn’t get their offense on track and struggled to make first downs and get any momentum going in the game. The only points the Wildcats could muster was a single point off a Ryan Smith kickoff early in the second quarter. The Wildcats would get a safety as Brad Mikoluff conceded a safety touch 2:52 into the final quarter. Kicker Ryan Smyth connected on a 24-yard field goal. Edmonton would find the end zone in the final three minutes with an impressive drive orchestrated by Rookie Quarterback Jordan Olson, moving the ball 89 yds before Justin McEvoy capped off the drive with a 1-yard run to make it a 47-13 game. Choe Sesay of the Rifles would round out the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown scamper on the final play from scrimmage.

Darcy Park was quoted as saying “We were unable to get first downs against them, that’s been the story of our season so far, not being able to get first downs.” “But there is no excuse for the way we played. We didn’t tackle, we didn’t catch the ball. It was an awful game of football”

Winnipeg had a season high 32 first downs and 622 yds of net offense. Ryan Marsch would complete 24 of 32 passes on the day for 392 yards with 7 majors and 2 interceptions. The 7 touchdown tosses gives him 20 on the season. Alex Vitt was the leading Rifles pass catcher with 6 grabs for 104 yards. Kurt Goodrich had 5 catches for 68 yards, while conference-leading receiver Matt Lariviere had 6 catches on the afternoon for 68 yards. Tailback Martin Hovi ran the ball for 129 yards on 17 carries. On defense, rookie linebacker Donovan Gregoire recorded 9 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle and a 7-yard interception return. The Wildcats posted 18 first downs and 360 yds of net offense. QB Andrew Johnson was 7 of 16 for 50 yds while Rookie QB Jordan Olson was impressive in relief racking up 15 of 22 for 154 yds. His favorite target, Rookie REC Ryan Smith, was equally impressive as he hauled in 13 catches for 134 yds. Defensively Jean-Luc Bugeaud led with 14 points, while Sam Badre and Kevin Hanson each picked up 12 points

Next game sees the Wildcats on a bye week with the following week at home to host their cross-town rivals the Edmonton Huskies at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton on Saturday Sept 17th game time 7:00pm

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

-30-

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