‘We’re in a good spot’

The Winnipeg Rifles have a seat at the table, something they would’ve certainly taken a few weeks ago.

A solid three-phase performance in a 25-13 win over the Edmonton Huskies on Sunday kept the junior football club’s playoff hopes alive as the team heads into the final week of the regular season in the Prairie Football Conference.

The path to punching their ticket isn’t easy, however. The Rifles must travel to a perennially difficult environment in Saskatoon to face the Hilltops (4-3) on Sunday (1 p.m.), a contest that only matters if the Huskies beat the Edmonton Wildcats on Saturday.

But after starting the season 0-4, it’s a deal that the Rifles will happily take.

“It’s not reflected sometimes in results and stuff, but we’ve been trending in the right direction, and they do believe the messaging that we’re giving them because I can see it on the tape, and I can see it in stats and penalties and different things,” said Rifles head coach Geordie Wilson.

“I think we’re in a good spot.”

Sunday’s victory was perhaps one of the best collective efforts of the season from the Rifles, who led from start to finish.

Standout receiver Jarome Penner repeatedly ran free in the defensive secondary, hauling in seven passes for 129 yards and a score. Quarterback Riley Element tossed two touchdown passes and one interception while completing 20-of-28 passes for 296 yards. Element found Ayden Bone Amann (five catches for 55 yards) on his other touchdown pass.

Meanwhile, the defence was led by some good ol’ fashioned grit displayed by fourth-year linebacker Cohen McCluskey, whose impact was felt all game despite him playing through a sprained ankle.

McCluskey was rolled up on earlier this month in a game against the Regina Thunder. Determined to play, he went hard at the rehab twice per day but didn’t practise in hopes he’d be ready to go for game day.

“I think that helped a lot, helped bring the swelling down a little bit. My ankle, I just got it to where it would be okay to be able to play,” McCluskey said.

“It was pretty tough. I couldn’t really run full speed. I could do just enough to play and perform good.”

And play he did. McCluskey, who has spent this season on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ practice roster, accounted for nine tackles and one of the defence’s four interceptions against Edmonton.

“He’s the only guy on our team that would ever even consider playing with the injury he had,” said Wilson.

“He’s also a fiery guy. He’s smart, he doesn’t take penalties, but if something needs to be said, he says it. And they’re all kind of a bit scared of him, too, because he’s the ultimate throwback guy.

“Like he was that throwback, tough old school guy, and he really led by example,” the head coach added.

The 21-year-old leads the PFC with 44 tackles and is tied for first in tackles for loss with four.

He was particularly helpful in an encouraging performance by the Rifles’ run defence, which has struggled mightily this season. In that game, however, the club tamed Wildcats’ running back Darien Currie — who has rushed for the second-most yards in the conference this year (675) — to 73 yards on 14 carries.

“It was probably our best defensive performance of the season, for sure. We did as much as we needed to do. We got turnovers, made a lot of plays. It wasn’t my best individual game of the season, but it’s up there for sure,” McCluskey said. “We’ve put together some decent games; we just haven’t had too many consistent ones.”

Consistency is exactly what Wilson is looking for from his group this weekend, and it’s something that has been tough to come by in when playing in Saskatoon in recent years.

No current player on the Rifles’ roster has won in Saskatoon. Regardless of their standing entering Sunday, the goal will be to change that trend.

“When I say this, this might sound crazy to you, but this is the easiest team to prepare for in our league because they don’t change, man. And why would they? They’ve been successful. That’s where everybody aspires to be is them,” Wilson said.

“I believe this: if we play our best game and they play their best game, I think we win. I really do. We just got to play our best game, and when I say play our best game, it means we have to be consistent throughout the whole game. Because if we’re not, this is a team that punishes you.”

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