Regina Thunder wins tough battle against Edmonton Huskies

The Regina Thunder overcame a 10-0 deficit to punch its ticket to the Prairie Football Conference final.

Regina beat the Edmonton Huskies 20-17 on a windy Sunday at Leibel Field, where the home team didn’t score a touchdown until 20 seconds were left in the first half.

“I think we have a bunch of gritty players and a bunch of guys that show no quit and stuff. We caused ourselves some adversity — we had a bunch of dropped balls and missed plays,” said Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay. “We will have to make sure we correct that going into the next game.”

“We have the utmost faith in ourselves and each other to come back and play anybody,” said quarterback Ethan Hugg, who had nine completions for 96 yards. “We just had each other’s backs and came in and came back.”

Hugg came in for starter Carter Moberg, who completed three of 10 pass attempts for 24 yards and two interceptions.

It was the second week in a row these two teams have met, with the Thunder winning 33-10 in the regular-season finale.

But things were different to start Sunday’s game, with the Huskies jumping out to a lead thanks to a rushing touchdown from Ife Adebogun.

Regina Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay and his team have punched their ticket to the 2023 Prairie Football Conference Finals. (Wanda Harron Photography)

Regina had its best drive of the game, which was punctuated by a two-yard touchdown run by running back Justin Reiger with only 20 seconds left in the first half. Regina converted on the two-point try to tie things up after Edmonton conceded a safety earlier in the quarter.

In the third quarter, Thunder running back Sadik Sadik scored a rushing touchdown of his own.

Edmonton’s other touchdown in the game came from running back Nolan Baragar.

Thunder kicker Shawn Green scored the only points for either team in the fourth quarter, connecting on a 19-yard field goal which proved to be the game-winner.

Regina will now travel to Saskatoon to take on the Hilltops next week. Saskatoon won its contest over the Calgary Colts 53-2. Earlier in the year when the Thunder and Hilltops met, Saskatoon won 19-10.

“(We have to) show up and be super physical and make sure our guys are executing and playing at a high level,” MacAulay said.

Listen to coaches ahead of PFC final on Behind the Headlines