Rifles win the battle, but lose post-season push

The Winnipeg Rifles huddled around a television in their hotel meeting room in Saskatoon on Saturday, hoping for an outcome that would lend them control of their fate come Sunday afternoon.

The junior football club had scratched and clawed to give itself a fighter’s chance at the playoffs entering the final week of the Canadian Junior Football League regular season, but needed some help to set up a win-and-in scenario.

That wouldn’t come to fruition. The Rifles held their collective breath in suspense for the better part of three hours as the Edmonton Huskies pushed the Edmonton Wildcats to the brink before ultimately falling 35-31, ending Winnipeg’s season.

“It was a very anxious feeling. I think everyone was on edge the whole time, throughout the dinner, throughout the day. But that’s just kind of normal travel days in general, in the (Prairie Football Conference), it’s just such a tight conference,” said Rifles fifth-year right tackle Jaden Sawatzky.

“Lots of students, especially in our O-line group, lots of us are in school, and lots of us had homework to do, but none of us could focus on that the night before. It was just thinking about that game and then the game the next day.”

Sawatzky watched the Huskies control much of the contest before the Wildcats scored a go-ahead touchdown with 27 seconds left. It’s the harsh reality that can ensue when your destiny is in someone else’s hands.

“I think once we saw the Wildcats had won, it was definitely like a sense of disappointment that we were eliminated at that point from the playoffs,” Sawatzky added.

“But I don’t think it really changed our mindset going into Saskatoon.”

Head coach Geordie Wilson rallied his troops ahead of kickoff to remind them they were still playing for something. The Rifles had not won in Saskatoon in 20 years, and their collective focus needed to be on ensuring that trend did not continue.

“You have an opportunity here to go do something — payback time for all the kids that have ever played for the Rifles, the coaches that have ever been involved, board members, etcetera. To go and get this thing done,” Wilson told his group.

Saskatoon scored quickly to take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Rifles would control the remainder of the contest in convincing fashion, earning a stunning 27-11 victory over the Hilltops at SMF Field.

Winnipeg’s standout receiver Jarome Penner had a massive performance that included 10 receptions for 190 yards and one touchdown. Running back Nate Malcolm toted the ball 13 times for 125 yards. Quarterback Riley Element tossed two touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 344 yards.

Meanwhile, fourth-year linebacker Cohen McCluskey once again demonstrated exceptional perseverance while playing through a high-ankle sprain for the second straight game. McCluskey had to leave the contest for a short time as his injury inhibited him, but returned in the fourth quarter to slay a perennial giant from the neighbouring province for the first time since 2006.

Fifth-year right guard Tyler Sierhuis called it a huge moment for the future of the Rifles’ program.

“The Rifles have not been the most winning organization, and it kind of has a bit of that reputation. And I know we put so much work into last season, so to end with a stomp of Saskatoon like that… people are going to be forced to look at that and say, ‘Hey, they actually beat the Hilltops, they got something going on.’ I think it’ll be good for the team,” said Sierhuis, who played his final game of junior football.

“I think it should help more players want to come play for the Rifles and show that we can hang with the Saskatchewan teams.”

It was nothing short of a roller-coaster season for a younger Rifles squad, which played its home games out of Dakota Collegiate while construction was done at Maple Grove Rugby Park. If that wasn’t unordinary enough, after their season-opening loss, the Rifles hit the road for three consecutive weeks and found themselves winless at the halfway mark.

During a team meeting last month, the club concluded that it wasn’t far off from winning games, and that the mistakes it was making were all correctable. That, and schematic changes on defence, galvanized the Rifles to three wins in their last four contests.

“You’re glad that we won, but I was sad that it was over because I just think it took us — particularly our defence — it took us about four games to figure it out,” said Wilson. “They actually, really down the stretch here, had played really well. So you’re going like, ‘Man, we’re too good not to be in there,’ but we did it to ourselves early in the year.”

The Rifles can now only look ahead to 2027, when they will need to overcome some natural turnover. Sawatzky and Sierhuis mark the departures on the starting offensive line, while the defence will move forward without starting safety Evan Guercio. Perhaps the most notable change will be under centre, as starting pivot Element ages out, paving the way for first-year Alex Balasko to take over.

Wilson is optimistic about the returning group, including Balasko, who he believes grew a lot in his rookie campaign and has the physical tools to be a successful signal-caller at this level.

“We always say to them: ‘If you want to get to where you want to go, you can’t go around things. You have to go through them,’” Wilson said. “I think they understand some of them now, and we’re in a pretty good spot coming back with our players next year.”

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