Like the Riders did with their home win against the Hamilton Tiger Cats on June 29, the Thunder got their 2014 championship defence off to a great start with a 19-16 overtime victory against their arch rivals the Saskatoon Hilltops on Aug. 17.
Stats-wise, the game was as close as the score indicated — albeit with a big difference between the two teams. On offence, the Hilltops and Thunder gained 369 and 407 yards respectively. But whereas the Toppers had 254 yards rushing the Thunder only had 44. But they more than made up for it through the air, with QB Jaeden Marwick going 29-42 for 363 yards and two TDs while Saskatoon QB Jared Andreychuk was 6-20 for 115 yards.
Today at 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium the Thunder play their second game of the 2014 Prairie Football Conference season. Their opposition isn’t likely to be as formidable as last week, although the Wildcats are coming off a 36-16 road victory against the Colts in Calgary on Aug. 16. On the face of it, that’s impressive. Although the Colts were winless in 2013 at 0W-8L so they’re by no means an elite PFC team.
After today’s game the Thunder get a bye, then they journey to Saskatoon on Sept. 6 for what’s sure to be a much hyped rematch against the Hilltops.
