Thunder ready to roll in semifinal with Rifles

The Regina Thunder’s off-seasons haven’t been very off-season-like in recent years.

Receiver Isaac Foord says the players not only work out diligently, but they also hold leadership meetings during which they talk about the PFC team’s culture and ways to improve the way they do things.

“We put in five days a week a couple hours every day in the off-season just working on improving mental aspects off the field or preparation or working out,” Foord told The Green Zone’s Jamie Nye on Friday, two days before the Thunder is to begin the 2022 post-season in a semifinal against the visiting Winnipeg Rifles.

“(Head coach Scott MacAulay) makes us work pretty hard for sure, but he makes sure that he lets us know why we’re doing the things we are (and) how it’s going to help us. It really keeps guys focused, especially in the off-season, which can be a hard thing to do.”

Whatever MacAulay has done, it seems to be working. The Thunder has won 20 straight regular-season games and has finished in first place in back-to-back seasons.

That certainly got the players’ attention.

“Everybody is going in the right direction now because we’ve had these results,” Foord said. “Over COVID (in 2020), there was a lot of uncertainty, but the one thing Scott said is, ‘We really want to make sure that we come out of this better.’

“Everybody bought into that without really knowing how things were going to shake out with the season or even just with how we were going to look. With the results, it has definitely helped — and with how things ended last year, it’s that little extra motivation to keep working and stay focused.”

“Last year” sticks in the collective craw of the Thunder players.

Regina finished 8-0-0 in the regular season, with two victories over the Saskatoon Hilltops. But the Hilltops got their revenge in the PFC final, downing the Thunder 29-9 to win their seventh straight conference title.

Regina, which hasn’t won the PFC championship since 2013, went back to the drawing board.

“We worked out really hard this off-season and were able to keep most of our guys, which was pretty awesome for us,” Foord said. “A lot of people could have gone to U Sports or things like that if they chose to do so, but everyone kind of felt like we had some unfinished business here.

“We worked really hard in the off-season to make sure that we could improve on what we did last season. (We went) 8-and-0 again this year and now we’re just taking it week by week and making sure we get it done every week. Hopefully we get a better result at the end this year.”

The Thunder and Rifles are to play Sunday, 1 p.m., at Leibel Field. The Hilltops are to entertain the Edmonton Huskies on Sunday, 1 p.m., at SMF Field in the other semifinal.

The game in Regina could be a shootout, based on the regular-season statistics.

Three Thunder receivers — Rylan Sokul (first, 669 yards), Foord (third, 638) and Isaiah Woodley (fourth, 593) — finished in the top seven in the league in receiving yards. The other four players in the top seven were Winnipeg receivers Jake Roger (second, 651 yards), Everrett Findley (fifth, 528), Adam Fast (sixth, 515) and Luke McMillan (seventh, 405).

Foord led the league with eight receiving TDs, three more than Woodley and McMillan.

Regina’s Carter Shewchuk led the league with 2,351 passing yards, with the Rifles’ Bryson McNeil next at 2,269. Thunder quarterbacks threw 20 touchdown passes, while Winnipeg’s pivots threw 12.

The Thunder rushing attack was second in the league in yards (1,577) and third in TDs (11). The Rifles were last in the league with 703 yards and five majors along the ground.

Foord said Regina’s receiving corps is loaded with talented players, and even the backups could start for other teams. The entire group could be a factor Sunday if the weather doesn’t limit passing.

“We have a lot of very unselfish guys on the team and we all are just looking to win over anything else,” Foord said.

“It’s fun to have games where you get a lot of yards and get a lot of catches, but I would rather have zero yards and zero targets in a game and get a win than go for 200 (yards) and lose. That’s the mentality our group has on offence.”