Saskatoon still finishes first in WWCFL’s Prairie
Conference
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| Morgan Turner kicks the winning field goal for the Riot. |
REGINA, Sask. - It was almost déjà vu for Regina Riot kicker
Morgan Turner, who is developing a habit of nailing game winning field goals
against the Saskatoon Valkyries.
On Saturday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Turner booted a
21-yard field goal with 2:10 to play in the fourth quarter to give the Riot a
27-26 edge over the Valkyries. That score held up as the final outcome of
Western Women’s Canadian Football League clash between these provincial rivals.
Last year, Turner hit a 12-yard field goal into a stiff wind
in the final seconds of the Prairie Conference championship game also at Mosaic
Stadium to give the Riot a 31-29 win over the Valkyries. Regina advanced on to
win the WWCFL title.
Turner was pumped to come through again in the clutch but
noted the circumstances around this winning kick were a lot different than the
one a year ago.
“It wasn’t as much pressure as last time,” said Turner. “We
had a little more time, and I have a little more confidence in myself, because
of the backing of my team.”
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| Samantha Matheson runs to daylight on a 56-yard TD score for the Valkyries. |
Both teams host conference semifinal games on June 12
against opponents that are still to be determined.
Saturday’s clash began in a downpour of rain that lasted for
about the first five minutes of the contest.
When the weather cleared up, the Valkyries surged out to a
19-0 edge on three rushing touchdowns by power running back Samantha Matheson,
who ran the ball in from two, 20 and 56 yards out. Her 56-yard romp was a thing
of epic beauty.
Regina was able to block two of Saskatoon’s conversion attempts,
which would haunt the Valkyries later in the game.
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| Valkyries DB Rienna Rueve tackles Rachelle Smith of the Riot. |
“We are very frustrated about the way that the game went
tonight,” said Valkyries special teams coordinator Chris Hengen-Braun. “(Give) all credit to the Riot, they did a really good job
of game planning for us.
“We saw a lot of new girls get in there and get a lot of
playing time. It was really cool to see. A lot of girls stepped up for us as
well too tonight.
“It was really cool to see a lot of players really fly
around and make some good plays. We had a couple of fumbles and a couple of
other turnovers that really swung the game for us.”
The Valkyries were without a number of regulars. Most of their
missing players were in Halifax, N.S., playing in the senior flag football nationals
including their two regular quarterbacks Alex Eyolfson and Reed Thorstad as
well as head coach Jeff Yausie. Stacey Boldt, who was the Valkyries starting
quarterback last season, moved back into the signal calling role in Saturday’s
loss.
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| Riot RB Celeste Schnell tries to pull away from the Valkyries defence. |
In the third quarter, the Valkyries lead shrank to 19-17
after they conceded a safety and Riot powerback Carmen Agar ran in a score from
three yards out.
On the ensuing series after Agar’s score, Boldt hit receiver
Carly Dyck on a deep route resulting in a 54-yard major for the Valkyries. The
score put the visitors up 26-17 going into the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Riot running back Celeste
Schnell powered in from a yard out for a touchdown to cut the Valkyries lead to
26-24. That helped set the stage for Morgan to nail her winning field goal.
Saskatoon’s final drive fizzled out at about the Regina 42
yard line.
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| The Valkyries defence sets up during a downpour of rain in the first quarter. |
“The players that we asked to step up today did step up,”
said Hengen-Braun. “The girls that did play today they did a really good job
for us.”
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