The University of Regina Rams clinched second place in the Canada West standings and a home playoff date in the first round of the playoffs after holding off the previously unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Calgary Dinos for a 12-9 win on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.
BOXSCORE
BOXSCORE
Regina Sports Info:
A play by Justin Edralin put an end to Calgary’s final drive, as Dinos quarterback Andrew Buckley threw one deep under heavy pressure but the third-year halfback picked off the pass deep in Rams territory. Two first downs by the home side on the ensuing drive put the Rams into victory formation.
Despite the loss, Calgary (6-1) clinches first place in the Canada West standings for the second consecutive season. Regina (5-2) nails down second place with the victory and will host a playoff game for the first time since 2007.
Calgary took an early lead with a Johnny Mark rouge off the opening kickoff, and the score stayed 1-0 in favour of the Dinos until late in the first quarter when the Rams recorded one of the few big plays in the game. Joey Dwyer – who has taken over as the team’s starting halfback with Kirby Kezama injured – intercepted a tipped Eric Dzwilewski pass and returned it 54 yards to the house, scoring what would turn out to be the U of R’s only touchdown.
The Rams added a 33-yard field goal by Taylor Wandler to take a 10-1 lead into halftime.
The defensive struggle continued into the second half, as the only points of the third quarter were a pair of rouges by the Rams following missed Wandler field goals. The second Wandler rouge was set up by Jamir Walker, who returned a missed Johnny Mark field goal 84 yards before finally being taken down in Calgary territory.
Calgary finally scored its first major of the game just under four minutes into the fourth quarter when Buckley connected with Brett Blaszko from 12 yards out. Mark added a rouge three minutes later to pull the Dinos to within three points, but that was the final scoring of the game.
Dwyer also had two pass breakups and seven total tackles to go along with his interception. Alex Meldrum led all players with 11 total tackles and a sack, while Chris Sciog also recorded a sack for the Rams. Daniel Knaus had a fumble recovery for the Rams following a massive midfield hit and forced fumble by Brady Aulie.
Mark Coons came in at running back for the Rams late in the third quarter and ended up rushing 10 times for 50 yards. Zach Oleynik was 8-for-18 for Regina and had 55 passing yards.
Calgary – which had a 383-189 edge in total yards in the loss – was led offensively by Chris Dobko and Blaszko, who each had seven receptions. Dobko had a game-high 83 receiving yards, while Blaszko had 74. Steven Lumbala had 60 rushing yards for the Dinos.
Michael Klassen led the Dinos defence with seven total tackles, while Brian Hagen had a sack and Jamahl Knowles and Doctor Cassama both registered interceptions.
The Rams will close out the Canada West schedule with a home game against Alberta (0-6) next Friday, while the Dinos will host Manitoba (3-3) on Saturday.
NOTES: Walker’s 84-yard effort was the second longest punt return in University of Regina history, trailing only a 95-yard punt return by Steve Ryan back in 2006.
Source: Calgary Sports Info
REGINA – The No. 2 University of Calgary Dinos had their worst performance of the season and fell 12-9 to the No. 8 Regina Rams Friday night – but still managed to clinch first place in Canada West.
The Dinos earned the top spot for the second season in a row after winning the points for/against battle against the Rams in the season series thanks to a 16-point win back on Week 1 in Calgary. With just one week remaining, the Dinos (6-1) hold the tiebreaker over Regina (5-2) and will enjoy home field advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs.
But it clearly wasn’t the way the Dinos wanted to clinch their second straight first-place finish. It was an ugly night all around – the offence sputtered and gave up three turnovers that each had an impact on the game, special teams struggled to battle the Regina wind, and for the seventh consecutive game penalties were a major concern for the Dinos with 15 flags for 112 yards – and most of those at inopportune times.
It was a game in which the Dinos had every chance to succeed – and head coach Blake Nill pointed to an across-the-board lack of execution talking to QR77 radio after the game.
“It really came down to our inability to generate any kind of offence in the first half and the turnovers, one that resulted directly in seven points,” said Nill. “There’s no question we were in a tough football game, one we circled on the calendar at the beginning of the season, and one we wanted to win. We figured this would be our toughest game of the year, and we just weren’t able to get it done. There were just too many mistakes tonight for us to be successful.”
The story of the game can be told in the three Calgary turnovers. The first came late in the first quarter with the Dinos driving when Joey Dwyer picked off an errant Eric Dzwilewski pass and returned it 54 yards to the end zone on what turned out to be the only Rams touchdown of the night.
Minutes later, the Dinos were driving again but a big gain turned into a turnover. Dzwilewski completed a 32-yard strike to Richard Snyder – but Snyder was blindsided by Dwyer, the ball popped loose, and the Rams recovered – leading to their only offensive points of the night, a 33-yard Taylor Wandler field goal.
With Dzwilewski pulled in favour of backup Andrew Buckley late in the third, the Dinos started to move the ball. Buckley led the Dinos on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown toss to Brett Blaszko – and a punt single pulled the Dinos within a field goal at 12-9.
It looked like that field goal was within reach as the offence again began marching downfield. With the Dinos first-and-10 at the Regina 27-yard line and 90 seconds to play, Buckley was picked off by Justin Edralin – sending the Rams into victory formation.
Calgary’s defence did its job on the night, allowing just 189 yards of offence to the Rams – but the top-ranked offence in the country managed just one touchdown, despite moving the ball reasonably well most of the night.
The Dinos quarterbacks combined for 24 completions on 40 attempts for 256 yards, with 143 of those going to Dzwilewski. Chris Dobko was his top target with seven catches for 83 yards, while Blaszko equalled those seven catches for 74 yards – all of those from Buckley. Calgary’s ground game had a rough night against a resolute Regina run defence, with Steven Lumbala managing just 64 yards on 13 carries on the night. As a team, Calgary put up 147 rushing yards – 50 of those from Buckley.
Michael Klassen was Calgary’s leading tackler on the night with seven total, followed by Josh Symons with six and Mike Edem with 5.5.
The loss snaps a 16-game regular season win streak for Calgary and a 10-game win streak over the Rams. Calgary closes the season next Saturday with a home date against the Manitoba Bisons. Kickoff goes at 5 p.m. MT at McMahon Stadium.
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