CALGARY β The University of Calgary Dinos will get a shot at a seventh consecutive Canada West title after dominating the University of Regina Rams 56-0 Saturday in the second of two conference semi-finals.
The Dinos (7-2) will meet the Manitoba Bisons (5-4) in the 78th Hardy Cup next Saturday at 2 p.m. MT, live on Shaw TV, in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game at McMahon Stadium.
Andrew Buckley completed 23 of 31 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns β all of which came in a 33-point second quarter β to lead the Dinos back to the conference title game. He found Brett Blaszko and Rashaun Simonise for two touchdowns each in the second frame, and three of those were bombs: Blaszko had 36- and 72-yard scores, while Simonise ran a 58-yarder into the end zone. Blaszko’s first touchdown was a 36-yard beauty as he tiptoed down the sidelines into the end zone 82 seconds into the second quarter, sparking the 33-point outburst.
Buckley added a one-yard score of his own early in the fourth, while Eric Dzwilewski tossed a 9-yard TD pass to Austen Hartley in the fourth quarter. Johnny Mark rounded out the scoring with field goals from 23, 21, 40, and 21 yards, along with a pair of kickoff singles.
With Regina keying on the run from the very early stages of the game, the Dinos went to the air early and often, with Buckley tossing for 393 yards in the first half alone. By contrast, Mercer Timmis saw just five carries for a total of 19 yards, and Buckley ended up as Calgary’s leading rusher with 56 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Blaszko’s 160 yards paced the Dinos receiving corps, while Jake Harty hauled in eight balls for 112 yards as the Dinos racked up 617 yards of total offence.
“We kind of thought it might happen because our first game against them we rushed for 400 yards so they had to do something to stop our run game and they tried doing that,” said Buckley. “They just packed the box β we did try to establish the run early on, but it wasn’t working for us as much as we would have liked, so we went to the pass after that.”
“Offensively we had a good game plan,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill. “We were able to throw the ball basically at will in the first half, and they gave us that opportunity. The kids played well on all aspects of the game, and probably it was one of our best 60-minute efforts that we’ve had this year.”
Defensively, the Dinos held the Rams to just 239 yards and pitched the shutout β their first goose egg on defence in the Blake Nill era β and forced the Rams into eight turnovers: four on downs, along with four interceptions β to each by defensive backs Elie Bouka and Adam Laurensse. Tanner Doll was Calgary’s leading tackler with 7.5 tackles.
The game was the final contest in the career of Regina head coach Frank McCrystal, who announced his retirement effective the end of the 2014 season.
For the Rams, Noah Picton completed 14 of 24 passes for 147 yards and two interceptions before giving way to Cayman Shutter in the Regina backfield. Shutter fared no better, completing six of 18 passes for 74 yards β and two more interceptions. Jared Janotta was Regina’s top receiver with four catches for 86 yards, while Mitch Thompson hauled in seven for 76 yards.
The Dinos now turn their attention to the Manitoba Bisons, the only team to have defeated them on the field this season: a 50-31 win at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg last Saturday on the final day of the regular season.
“That’s the way it should be,” said Nill. “They’ve given us the toughest games of the year, and they’ve earned the right to be in that final. We’ve just got toacome out and play well, and hopefully learn from what we experienced last week, and improve on it.”
Calgary and Manitoba played a classic earlier in the season at McMahon, with Calgary squeaking out a 42-41 win. The Dinos knocked off the Bisons 43-28 in the 2013 Hardy Cup, also at McMahon Stadium.
| Regina vs. Calgary at Calgary, AB 11/8/2014 at 3:07 pm |
|
| Regina 0 |
Calgary 56 |
| SCORING | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regina (3-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Calgary (7-2) | 6 | 33 | 7 | 10 | 56 |
| Calgary, AB | McMahon Stadium | |||||
| PRD | TIME | SCORING SUMMARY | REGINA – CALGARY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11:34 | Calgary – Johnny Mark 23 yd field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 43 yards in 3:26. |
0 – 3 |
| 1 | 04:39 | Calgary – Johnny Mark 21 yd field goal. Drive: 9 plays, 85 yards in 3:54. |
0 – 6 |
| 2 | 13:38 | Calgary – Brett Blaszko 36 yd pass from Andrew Buckley. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards in 4:31. |
0 – 13 |
| 2 | 13:35 | Calgary – Johnny Mark rouge point. | 0 – 14 |
| 2 | 09:45 | Calgary – R. Simonise 58 yd pass from Andrew Buckley. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards in 0:57. |
0 – 21 |
| 2 | 09:45 | Calgary – Johnny Mark rouge point. | 0 – 22 |
| 2 | 06:43 | Calgary – Johnny Mark 40 yd field goal. Drive: 5 plays, 30 yards in 1:57. |
0 – 25 |
| 2 | 05:14 | Calgary – Brett Blaszko 72 yd pass from Andrew Buckley. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 1 plays, 72 yards in 0:25. |
0 – 32 |
| 2 | 00:20 | Calgary – R. Simonise 4 yd pass from Andrew Buckley. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 46 yards in 0:35. |
0 – 39 |
| 3 | 10:57 | Calgary – Andrew Buckley 1 yd run. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards in 3:08. |
0 – 46 |
| 4 | 14:08 | Calgary – Austen Hartley 9 yd pass from Eric Dzwilewski. (Johnny Mark kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 28 yards in 1:27. |
0 – 53 |
| 4 | 01:53 | Calgary – Johnny Mark 21 yd field goal. | 0 – 56 |
| REGINA | STATISTICS | CALGARY |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | FIRST DOWNS | 31 |
| 12 2 1 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
22 7 2 |
| 258 | TOTAL OFFENSE | 628 |
| 63 4.1 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
70 9.0 |
| 221 | NET YARDS PASSING | 474 |
| 20-42 5.3 2-17 4 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked: Number-Yards Had intercepted |
31-42 11.3 1-10 0 |
| 37 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 154 |
| 21 1.8 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
28 5.5 |
| 7-278 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 6-282 |
| 39.7 | Average | 47.0 |
| 136 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 66 |
| 6-27 6-109 0 0 |
Punt Returns: Number-Yards Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards Interception Returns: Number-Yards |
5-25 1-41 4-0 |
| 11-132 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 10-64 |
| 4-1 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 1-0 |
| 1-10 | SACKS: Number-Yards | 1-7 |
| 0 0 | INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards | 4-0 |
| 26:28 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 33:32 |
Regina |
Calgary |
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| DEFENSIVE STATISTICS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | REGINA | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
| 14 | Patrick MacDonald | 8 | 3 | 9.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 10 | Jeff Propp | 6 | 3 | 7.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 40 | Dylan Minshull | 5 | 2 | 6 | – | 1 – 2 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 44 | Michael Stefanovic | 5 | 1 | 5.5 | 1 – 10 | 1 – 10 | – | – | ||||
| 39 | Connor Ketchen | 3 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 9 | Jordy Kibamba | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 41 | Zack McEachern | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 49 | Tyler Perkins | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 34 | Ryan Serbu | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 1 – 6 | – | – | ||||
| 21 | Jared Janotta | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 16 | Korey Greene | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | |||
| 27 | Joey Dwyer | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Robbie Avram | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 47 | Danny Nesbitt | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 69 | Bryce McKinnon | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 98 | Dean Viena | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TM | TEAM | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 48 | Mitch Morrison | – | – | – | – | 1 | ||||||
| TOTALS | 44 | 18 | 53 | 1 – 10 | 3 – 18 | 1 | 0-0 | – | 2 | |||
| # | CALGARY | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
| 40 | Tanner Doll | 6 | 3 | 7.5 | – | 0.5 – 1 | – | – | ||||
| 27 | Tom Spoletini | 4 | 2 | 5 | – | 1 – 5 | – | – | ||||
| 4 | Robert Woodson | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Hunter Turnbull | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 93 | Jack McEwen | 1 | 5 | 3.5 | – | – | 1-0 | – | ||||
| 32 | Brad Friesen | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 13 | Michael Schmidt | 2 | 1 | 2.5 | 1 – 7 | 1 – 7 | – | – | ||||
| 22 | Carson Stambene | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | |||
| 25 | Doctor Cassama | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 1 – 2 | – | – | ||||
| 98 | Joel Van Pelt | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 1 – 4 | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Adam Laurensse | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | 2-0 | 1 | |||
| 34 | Iyanu Ojekale | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 42 | Micah Teitz | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 77 | Cory Robinson | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Elie Bouka | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 2-0 | 2 | |||
| 47 | Brady Olsen | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 52 | Brett Wade | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 85 | Mac Sarro | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 10 | Adam Konar | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 36 | Bryce Harper | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 70 | Tyler Langlais | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | 0.5 – 0 | – | – | ||||
| 75 | Connor McGough | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 88 | Austen Hartley | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 33 | 28 | 47 | 1 – 7 | 5 – 19 | 1 | 1-0 | 4-0 | 4 | |||
| OTHER INFORMATION | |
|---|---|
| Location: Calgary, AB Stadium: McMahon Stadium Attendance: 1379 Weather: Sunny, a few clouds Temperature: 10C Wind: NW14km/h |
Referee: A. Oleksyn Umpire: R. Hendry Head Linesman: J. Titosky Line Judge: C. Shortt Back Judge: I. Cropper Field Judge: S. Kerr Side Judge: A. Demaniuk |
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