Things are getting a little crowded atop the Canada West football standings.
On Friday night the No. 8 Saskatchewan Huskies did just enough to topple the No. 2 Calgary Dinos 36-17 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
A stingy defence that scored a major and kept the Calgary offence out of the end zone, coupled with 271 passing yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Laurence Nixon was enough to power the Saskatchewan side.
The Huskies and Dinos, both now 4-2, are tied for second in the conference standings. The Regina Rams (4-1) are alone at the top and play Manitoba (1-4) on Saturday.
Saskatchewan holds the tiebreaker over Calgary having beaten the Dinos on both occasions this season. In the teams’ season opener the Huskies beat the Dinos 34-13.
Friday’s tilt marked the first game back for Erik Glavic, the Dinos’ two-time Hec Crighton trophy winning quarterback who suffered a knee injury in the season opener. Glavic started the second half for Calgary and threw for 86 yards on 6-7 passing..
Nixon wasted little time getting Saskatchewan on the scoreboard Friday.
To finish the Huskies’ eight-play opening drive, Nixon found receiver Jade Etienne from six yards out to jump ahead 7-0. However, that would be the only offensive flash in the first frame, as the pace slowed to a crawl for the rest of the half.
Saskatchewan went to the locker room with 13-5 advantage.
A conceded safety by the Huskies early in the third quarter teased the 4,450 in attendance with drama, before Huskies punt returner Luke Thiel blew the game wide open. With 5:47 remaining in the quarter Thiel returned a Calgary punt 74 yards for a major to put his side up 20-7.
Nixon padded the lead in the opening minutes of the fourth with a 12-yard touchdown toss to Mitch Stevens to make it 27-10. Only 32 seconds later Huskies linebacker Nico Higgs intercepted Glavic in the Dinos end, and rumbled 41 yards to make it 34-10 and effectively end the contest.
Nathan Coehoorn ran back a Huskies punt for 98 yards to give Calgary their only major on the night.
Kicker Aaron Ifeld kicked two field goals for the Dinos on the night, while four other points came from two conceded safeties by Saskatchewan punter Denton Kolodzinski.
Saskatchewan heads on the road next weekend to take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Meanwhile, Calgary is in Regina to play the Rams.
NOTES: Huskies running back Dathan Thomas ran for 73 yards on 11 carries in his first game since suffering a knee injury in 2008.
Photo Credit: Ivan Tam By Jordan Hartshorn
Scoring Summary (Final)
2010 UC Dinos Football
Calgary vs Saskatchewan (Oct 15, 2010 at Saskatoon, SK) Calgary (4-2) vs. Saskatchewan (4-2)
Date: Oct 15, 2010 • Site: Saskatoon, SK • Stadium: Griffiths Stadium • Attendance: 4450
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| Calgary | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| Saskatchewan | 7 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 36 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | CGY -SASK | |||
| 1st | 02:56 | SASK | Jade Etienne 6 yd pass from Laurence Nixon (S. McDonald kick) | |
| 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:56 | 0 – 7 | |||
| 13:52 | CGY | Aaron Ifield 35 yd field goal | ||
| 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 1:25 | 3 – 7 | |||
| 2nd | 02:02 | SASK | S. McDonald 27 yd field goal | |
| 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:10 | 3 – 10 | |||
| 13:49 | CGY | TEAM safety | ||
| 5 – 10 | ||||
| 14:58 | SASK | S. McDonald 28 yd field goal | ||
| 7 plays, 45 yards, TOP 0:44 | 5 – 13 | |||
| 3rd | 07:18 | CGY | Wyatt Getty safety | |
| 7 – 13 | ||||
| 09:13 | SASK | Luke Thiel 74 yd punt return (S. McDonald kick) | ||
| 7 – 20 | ||||
| 12:28 | CGY | Aaron Ifield 32 yd field goal | ||
| 5 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:11 | 10 – 20 | |||
| 4th | 00:18 | SASK | Mitch Stevens 12 yd pass from Laurence Nixon (S. McDonald kick) | |
| 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:50 | 10 – 27 | |||
| 00:50 | SASK | Nico Higgs 41 yd interception return (S. McDonald kick) | ||
| 10 – 34 | ||||
| 04:54 | CGY | Nathan Coehoorn 98 yd punt return (Aaron Ifield kick) | ||
| 17 – 34 | ||||
| 09:13 | SASK | TEAM safety | ||
| 17 – 36 |
| Kickoff time: 7:07 • End of Game: 10:05 • Total elapsed time: 2h58m Referee: Al Mitchell • Umpire: Bob Klein • Linesman: Mike Thorson • Line judge: Mark Bodnarchuk • Back judge: Rick Berezowski • Field judge: Randy Warick • Side judge: Steve Chisolm • Temperature: 7 C • Wind: W 24km/h • Weather: Partly cloudy |
| Team Statistics |
Team Statistics (Final)
2010 UC Dinos Football
Calgary vs Saskatchewan (Oct 15, 2010 at Saskatoon, SK)
| Team Totals | CGY | SASK |
| FIRST DOWNS | 12 | 26 |
| Rushing | 7 | 7 |
| Passing | 5 | 18 |
| Penalty | 0 | 1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 164 | 156 |
| Rushing Attempts | 30 | 26 |
| Average Per Rush | 5.5 | 6.0 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 0 | 0 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 166 | 168 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 2 | 12 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 191 | 271 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 13-22-1 | 24-37-1 |
| Average Per Attempt | 8.7 | 7.3 |
| Average Per Completion | 14.7 | 11.3 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 0 | 2 |
| TEAM LOSSES | -15 | -17 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 340 | 410 |
| Total offense plays | 56 | 65 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 6.1 | 6.3 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 4-1 | 1-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 15-182 | 13-83 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 11-370 | 9-328 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 33.6 | 36.4 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 22.6 | 23.8 |
| Inside 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 1 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Fair catch | 0 | 0 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 2-86 | 6-301 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 43.0 | 50.2 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 30.5 | 29.7 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 6-114-1 | 10-121-1 |
| Average Per Return | 19.0 | 12.1 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 6-123-0 | 2-25-0 |
| Average Per Return | 20.5 | 12.5 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 1-19-0 | 1-41-1 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Possession Time | 29:21 | 30:04 |
| 1st Quarter | 8:09 | 6:51 |
| 2nd Quarter | 5:33 | 9:22 |
| 3rd Quarter | 8:09 | 6:51 |
| 4th Quarter | 7:30 | 7:00 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 2 of 2 | 1 of 1 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Touchdowns | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Field goals | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 2-17 | 4-15 |
| PAT Kicks | 1-1 | 4-4 |
| Field Goals | 2-2 | 2-2 |
| Individual Statistics |
Individual Statistics (Final)
2010 UC Dinos Football
Calgary vs Saskatchewan (Oct 15, 2010 at Saskatoon, SK)
| Saskatchewan | ||||||||||
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