Another week, another win for the Varsity Interlake Thunder, as the Rural Manitoba Football League leaders rolled to their sixth straight victory.
The Thunder blanked the Virden Golden Bears 42-0 in their home regular-season finale Saturday afternoon in Stonewall, leaning on a sharp passing attack in milder conditions than a week earlier.
Starting quarterback Jessie Batenchuk led the way, throwing touchdown passes to AJ Nadon and Dylan Maclean and adding a rushing major of his own. Interlake also got impact plays on special teams and defence: Marlo La Pierre took a punt back for a touchdown, while Mark Stroppa returned an interception for a pick-six.
Up 35-0 by the second quarter, the Thunder worked in their non-starters, who managed the game the rest of the way en route to the lopsided final.
“Overall it was a good game,” head coach Christof Hasselfield said. “A little bit of sloppiness towards the end there, but the thirds went in there and did their job and did it pretty efficiently, so coming away with the win, being 6-0, is a pretty good feeling going into the final week of the season for sure.”
Saturday’s result, combined with a Moosomin Generals loss the same day, clinched first place for Interlake. The Thunder will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed with home-field advantage throughout.
However, there’s one piece of regular-season business left: a Week 7 showdown with Moosomin on Sunday — a measuring-stick game as Interlake chases a perfect campaign.
“It’s going to take maybe some of the things that we were a bit sloppier with in the second half in this game that led to some stalled drives — obviously wouldn’t want that,” Hasselfield said. “It’s that time of year, too, where it’s starting to play a bit more of a mental game of getting those guys up and ready for playoff football, which is a different beast and a different mentality, and a little more intense.”
Hasselfield added the roster is “pretty much back to full strength” heading into the matchup.
Kickoff Sunday is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Moosomin Armoury Hall in Moosomin, Sask.
