Rifles knock off another top team

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This article was published 11/09/2022 (1469 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a game that had the makings of a rout early on but wound up being a nail-biter, the Winnipeg Rifles prevailed over the Calgary Colts 31-28 at East Side Eagles Field on Sunday.

The Rifles (2-2), coming off a bye, have now beat a top-10 nationally ranked team in consecutive games after edging the Saskatoon Hilltops in Week 3.

The Colts ranked eighth in the CJFL entering the matchup.

“At the end of the day, they don’t ask how, they just ask how many, right? So we’ll take the win, but we have a lot to fix,” said head coach Geordie Wilson.

“One of the things we talk about all the time is resilience … If we play to our standard, the only team that beats us is us and we had moments of playing to the standard. We had a lot of moments we didn’t so we gotta get more consistent on a snap-by-snap basis.”

The Rifles continued their string of recent success over the Colts (2-2) and are now 5-1 in the last six regular-season meetings between the clubs.

Winnipeg looked dominant out of the gates, opening the game with an eight-play 80-yard drive that was capped by a rushing touchdown by running back Brady Meeks. It was one of his two majors in the opening frame to go with his 21 carries for 75 yards in the game.

The momentum shift was so large in the first frame, it drew an early gamble for the Colts, who went for it on a third down while on their own 30-yard line.

The Rifles ended all three of their first-quarter possessions in the end zone, one coming off the arm of quarterback Bryson McNeil, who found veteran receiver Luke McMillan for a 20-yard strike to take a commanding 21-3 lead.

McMillan, who spent time on the Bombers’ practice roster this season, also finished what may have been the highlight of the game. The wideout caught a short pass at the Colts’ 5-yard line before scrapping his way through a defender that was hanging off him, ultimately dragging him into the end zone.

McNeil found six different pass-catchers throughout the game and stretched the Colts’ defence vertically early and often, connecting on three passes over 20 yards and drawing a pass interference call in the first half. The second-year gunslinger, who entered the week with the most passing yards in the Prairie Conference, finished his impressive day 16-26 for 304 yards and two touchdown passes.

“The first quarter, it was nice to see that. We were rolling, put up some scores — we didn’t really do that in the first couple of games — so it was good to get it rolling,” said McNeil, who added five carries for 39 yards to his stat line. “We just gotta clean some stuff up and put it all together, but we’re getting better and better every week.”

The good times slowly but surely stopped, however, as the Colts began to show why they were a top-10 team. A second-quarter touchdown by running back Roy Outh sparked the defence, which got a sack on the ensuing drive and went on to shut down the Rifles’ surging offence for much of the remainder of the game.

Outh’s major was a sign of what was to come, as starting back Alan Xiang, who set up the score with a 40-yard gain earlier in the drive, took over in the second half, ultimately carving the hosts for 186 yards on the ground off 19 carries and punching in a crucial touchdown in the fourth quarter to draw the visitors within three points.

The Rifles defence stepped up in several big moments in the second half, intercepting Colts quarterback Nick Kennedy twice. One pick, courtesy of Tyson Bennett, happened in the endzone as Calgary threatened to take their first lead of the game. The other, at the hands of Brandon Kamenz, sealed the victory for Winnipeg.

“It shows we can bear down and get it done at the end of the day,” McNeil said about the team overcoming several moments of adversity in the game. “Defence went out there, balled out, made the plays when they had to. Offence, same thing, made a couple of drives when we had to to close it out.”

The Rifles (2-2) will look to make it three-straight wins when they do battle with the Edmonton Wildcats (0-3) on Sunday at Emerald Hills.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam