Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg is proving to be a favourite for Regina-based football teams.
A week after the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Blue Bombers 55-10 on their home turf, the Regina Thunder scored 31 points in the third quarter Sunday en route to a 52-19 win over the host Winnipeg Rifles.
The win clinched a playoff berth for Regina (4-2) while ensuring the Rifles (1-5) would miss the Prairie Football Conference's post-season.
"The third quarter was set up by the second quarter," said Thunder head coach Erwin Klempner. "In the second quarter, we took the ball and drove it I don't know how far against the wind (which was whipping up to 50 kilometres per hour) and we settled down and made some great plays. That gave us some confidence."
Regina quarterback Reid Quest went 26-for-32 for 426 yards and four touchdowns -- three of which went to third-year slotback Jay Smith -- in the win. Running back Brennan Kasbrick added 175 all-purpose yards (64 on the ground and 111 through the air).
Regina's defence, meanwhile, held Winnipeg to just 159 net yards, including only 102 passing yards.
"Our defence really held in there well," said Klempner. "We gave them a couple gifts, but our defence played well the whole time. Plus we've got a great set of receivers. They tried to take away Kolten (Solomon, who had five catches for 80 yards) and the other guys were open. Reid is getting a lot more confident and sees things that much better so he's going to see those guys."
While it was Quest's arm that did the bulk of the damage, he used his legs to open the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Ben Koot's convert attempt went wide in the wind, but Winnipeg was forced to concede a safety on its next possession to give the Thunder an 8-0 lead.
The Rifles got on the board after blocking a Koot punt, which Drew Oleksewicz recovered and took 42 yards to the end zone.
While that convert, too, was missed, Winnipeg took the lead a little over three minutes later on a three-yard touchdown run by Kienan Lafrance, who finished the contest with 109 yards on 23 carries. John Szilagyi added a 17-yard field goal and a single to up the lead to 17-8 before Smith caught the first of his touchdowns, a 10-yarder, to pull Regina within three. A two-point convert attempt failed.
With the wind at its back in the third quarter, Regina pulled ahead for good as Smith got his second touchdown grab from five yards out, Clayton Cooke turned a short pass into a 62-yard touchdown, Kasbrick ran for a 12-yard major, Mike Schienbein hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass and Koot kicked three singles.
Smith picked up his third major on a three-yard pass in the fourth quarter. Szilagyi added two singles to round out the scoring.
In other PFC games on the weekend, the Saskatoon Hilltops (5-1) maintained their grip on first place with a 27-13 win over the Calgary Colts (4-2). On Saturday, the Edmonton Wildcats (4-2) scored the sixth-most points in league history during a 72-0 win over the Edmonton Huskies (0-6).
The Thunder plays host to the Wildcats on Sunday (1 p.m.) at Mosaic Stadium.
