Thunder, Huskies meet in important PFC showdown

It’s still the regular season, but the Regina Thunder is treating Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Huskies as a playoff showdown in the Prairie Football Conference (PFC).

“This is the most important game that we’ve had (so far),” Regina head coach Scott MacAulay said. “This is a game that’s going to allow us or (the Huskies) to have a home playoff game and hopefully finish (in) second place in the league.

“This is a big-time game, this is our first playoff game. This is an opportunity for us to really see where we’re at and we want to get back to hosting playoff games as an organization.”

The Thunder enters the game with a 2-2 record with both losses coming against the undefeated Saskatoon Hilltops. Meanwhile, the Huskies currently sit at 3-1 and in second place, with their only loss coming against the Hilltops as well.

Kickoff for Sunday’s game is set for 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

MacAulay said the Huskies are playing with a lot of confidence right now, which make them a tough test.

“Guys are willing to put their body on the line and fly around and play fast and aggressive,” MacAulay said. “They go for the big hits.”

The Huskies’ defence has been among the league’s best, allowing a league-low 53 points in four games. Edmonton has also taken the ball away from opposing offences 21 times, also tops in the PFC.

The Thunder will rely on first-year starting quarterback Blake Scherle. He currently leads the PFC with 11 touchdown passes and has thrown for 1,323 yards. He also has tossed six interceptions.

“He’s really composed, he’s a great leader in the locker room with the guys,” MacAulay said. “We have thrown a lot and earlier in the year I think we had some problems with interceptions but right now he’s making the proper reads and we have full confidence in him.”

Approaching the fifth game of the franchise’s 20th season, MacAulay said he feels the year has been positive so far. While the team has a number of fifth-year players, MacAulay said there’s a big gap between the number of players in their final year and players in their first and second years.

“Sometimes it appears that we have an older team but we actually have a fairly young team,” MacAulay said. “We’ve been pretty happy with the growth we’ve seen from the players over the last four weeks.”