BY CRAIG SLATER, LEADER-POST
There's one area in Carmen Agar's game that needs improvement - her touchdown dance.
She has just about every other aspect covered.
The Regina Riot's rookie running back reached the end zone on three occasions Sunday in leading her team to a 38-15 victory over the Winnipeg Nomads Wolf Pack. The Riot improved to 2-1 in the Western Women's Canadian Football League standings.
"Yeah, I really need to work on something," Agar said, referring to her touchdown celebration. "It's kind of boring right now. All I do is a little jump in the air and then toss the ball to the referee. Right now, we're just happy to be scoring. Maybe down the road we'll work on something."
Agar scored her first touchdown on Sunday in the first half and helped her team to a 25-7 advantage going into halftime.
She tacked on a 47-yard TD reception in the third quarter and a 42-yard run for a major to complete the scoring in the fourth stanza.
Agar brought her touchdown total to six in three games this season.
Her efforts helped the Riot secure a home playoff game.
"The girls have been giving her a hard time with the touchdown celebrations," explained Riot head coach Jon Baxter.
"But I keep reminding her that champions just flip the ball to the ref after they score."
The 19-year-old Agar is a graduate of Balgonie's Greenall High School. Football was foreign to her until this spring when she attended a Riot training camp.
She played flag football in elementary school, but never furthered her career. Her athletic career consisted of ringette, where she was a goalie.
According to Baxter, football might be Agar's calling.
"She's our workhorse," Baxter said. "She's so solid in her running and she drags a lot of tacklers with her after initial contact. She reads the field very well and there's no quit in her.
"Aimee (Kowalski, Riot quarterback) was the majority of our offence last year. She did everything for us.
"But this year we have more balance on offence. We have other girls that can contribute for us and help us get into the end zone. Carmen is one of those players for us."
Agar didn't expect a heavy workload and heavy praise from her coaches this season. In fact, she didn't really know what she was getting into.
During the team's training camp, she was moved around to a few different positions to see where her natural athleticism could best be applied.
Running back, her coaches felt, was where she was slotted.
"I just wanted to contribute however I could, whether it's blocking down the field or running up the middle and chewing up the clock," Agar said.
With three games under her belt, expectations haven't really changed.
"Our running game is really important to our offence ... we have a couple of different girls that step in too," she said.
"Whether I score or someone else scores, it doesn't really matter. We just want to win games. That's our main goal."
The next home game for the Riot is June 17 versus the defending WWCFL champion Saskatoon Valkyries.
cslater@leaderpost.com
