Photograph by: Liam Richards , The StarPhoenix
Coaches expected this to be a rebuilding season for the Saskatoon Valkyries, with new players filling almost half their roster.
Instead, the Valkyries wrapped up the most dominant season in league history, winning a fourth straight Western Women’s Canadian Football League championship with a 53-0 thrashing of the visiting Lethbridge Steel at Griffiths Stadium on Saturday night. The Valkyries were a perfect 7-0 this year, outscoring opponents 339-28. It was the third straight year the Valkyries defeated the Steel in the league final.
“I think we put together a complete game,” said Valkyrie starting quarterback Candace Bloomquist. “Our defence scored a touchdown, our special teams scored a touchdown. It’s when you get those types of situations where everybody’s scoring, you feel like everybody’s playing as a team. It really feels nice to see that fourth one in a row.”
Bloomquist, who has led the Valkyries in passing all four of their WWCFL seasons, announced her retirement following the game. She saved her best performance for her final one, passing for a career high 347 yards and adding two touchdown tosses. She was named the game’s most valuable player.
The strong-armed quarterback distributed the ball to six different receivers, going 21 for 30. The performance was the first time she had thrown for more than 300 yards in a single game while the passing attempts and completions were also a career high. She threw fearlessly into double and triple coverage, hitting the bull’s-eye on several throws.
“It’s the best game I’ve seen Candace play as a quarterback,” said Valkyries head coach Jeff Yausie. “We know she’s a great quarterback, but lots of times we run the ball and get up early and we don’t let her go. But today we let her be Candace.”
Leading rusher Julie David, who had 140 yards on the ground, added, “There aren’t enough good words to say about Candace as person, and as an athlete. For this to be her last game, it was a great performance on her part to go out on and she really, really deserved the MVP award.”
David herself got the scoring going, running back a Steel punt 62 yards for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the game. Samantha Matheson added a nine-yard rushing score while Rienna Rueve had a 65-yard kickoff single. The Valkyries were up by 15 after the first quarter in front of about 1,000 people on an ideal weather night for football. They led 29-0 at the half with David scoring on a 58-yard romp and Stacey Boldt on a three-yard pass from Bloomquist.
Steel head coach Jamie Fisher gave full credit to the Valkyries for their dominant performance, saying, “We knew going into this that it would take an absolutely flawless game. Clearly in the first two quarters that wasn’t the case and there’s no way we could climb back into the game after that.”
In the second half, Matheson added a two-yard run and Marci Kiselyk, who led all players with 151 yards receiving, a 17-yard touchdown catch. Gillian Allen capped the scoring with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown. Rueve converted all seven touchdowns and added a 27-yard field goal.
Becky Heninger, who was named the game MVP for the Steel, starred on both offence and defence, leading all players with both seven tackles and three on special teams. She also rushed for 37 yards and completed a 14-yard pass.
THE FIFTH QUARTER: Bloomquist finishes her Valkyries career with 2,869 passing yards, going 181 for 327 (55 per cent) with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions (based on available statistics) … This season was Bloomquist’s only 1,000-yard passing season as she went 65 for 113 (58 per cent) for 1,073 yards with 12 TDs and one interception … Stacey Boldt started one game as quarterback this season and will likely take over for Bloomquist next year.
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