Thunder’s Boersch beams as a member of two teams

Peter Boersch, the Prairie Football Conference’s leading ground-gainer in 2025, demonstrated a different kind of rushing prowess on Friday evening.

Boersch practised with the Regina Thunder before hurrying over to Mosaic Stadium to watch his other team — the Saskatchewan Roughriders — put the finishing touches on a 42-20 CFL victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

It was a hectic night but Boersch, a junior-eligible member of the Roughriders’ practice roster, would not have it any other way.

“I couldn’t be luckier,” Boersch said. “I get to play more football than anybody.

“I’m practising twice a day and I get to be blessed to be a part of two teams, two families.

“It’s nothing but a gift.”

Boersch, to customize a phrase favoured by Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace, would like to go 2-and-0 this week.

The Thunder is to open its 2026 regular season on Sunday against the host Edmonton Wildcats. Boersch hopes to build on a 2025 season in which he rushed for 1,436 yards in 10 games, playoffs included, and averaged 7.3 yards per carry.

“I can’t wait for the first game,” Boersch said with a smile. “I’ve learned so much here (with the Roughriders).

“I feel like everybody here has given me so many tools to succeed in the CJFL. I’m hoping to bring that back to help my teammates on the Thunder and have a great season.”

Boersch and a Thunder teammate, receiver Ben Walz, have been with the Roughriders since Coors Light Training Camp began in Saskatoon three months ago.

Although two-a-day workouts are no longer part of the CFL camp regimen, a pair of practices in one day is not uncommon for Boersch or Walz.

On weekdays, they routinely practise with the Roughriders and the Thunder. That has been the drill since the Thunder opened training camp at Scotty Livingstone Field on July 16.

“Something Ben Walz and I talk about frequently is that it doesn’t seem like that long ago when we were driving up to Saskatoon together for training camp,” Boersch said. “We were wondering, ‘What is this going to be like?’

“Now we’re comfortable with the team and they’ve done nothing but embrace us. It has been such a good experience. Time has flown by.”

That could be said of Boersch’s overall experience as a follower of the Roughriders.

The former O’Neill Titans standout remembers watching the team in person at its current and previous venues.

“I remember going to Taylor Field first and then coming here,” Boersch said following a recent practice at Mosaic Stadium. “It’s such a crazy feeling to be practising here.

“This is my place of work and I’ve got a locker and everything like that. That is mind-blowing and I have to pinch myself.”

The key, however, is to improve himself by absorbing as much as he can during his time with his beloved Roughriders.

“Day to day, I obviously want to settle in and I want to come here with an attitude that I’m ready to work and earn my keep,” Boersch said.

“But there are ‘pinch me’ moments all the time. Every day, I get a moment where I’ve got to remember that this is my job.

“It’s amazing, though.”