For the third straight season, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies will finish first in the Canada West football standings.
The No. 3 ranked Huskies solidified the top spot with a 52-29 victory over provincial foe the University of Regina Rams Friday night in Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park. It also marks the fifth time in eight years the Huskies have been on top of the standings.
Saskatchewan finishes the season with a 6-2 record and will now face the fourth-place University of Alberta Golden Bears Saturday, November 6 in a Canada West Semifinal game. Regina, who drops to 5-3 with the loss, will face the University of Calgary Dinos in the other conference semifinal in Calgary.
The Huskies jumped out offensively scoring 35 points in the first half with three touchdowns from fifth-year running back Dathan Thomas. Thomas scored from 14-yards and two yards in the first quarter and added a 26-yard dash into the end zone in the fourth frame.
Together the Huskies combined for 416 total offensive yards in the first half including 311 in the second quarter when they scored 21 points.
After Thomas scored his first on a 14-yard dash into the end zone on the Huskies first drive of the game, the Rams quickly answered. Marc Mueller set up his own touchdown from the one-yard line with a 54-yard pass to Brenden Owens.
But from there, the Huskies took over the scoring and the Rams didn’t find the end zone again until 4:35 into the third quarter when Mueller found Jared Janotta for a 35-yard touchdown.
Thomas’ touchdown at 9:14 in the first started a string of five straight Huskie touchdowns. Running back Alex Balogun scored on a four-yard pass 40 seconds into the second, followed by Owen Geier on a 44 yard pass at 6:58, Jade Etienne on a 48-yard pass at 13:56 and finally Mitch Stevens on a 16-yard pass at 2:30 in the third. The Stevens’ touchdown sealed the deal for the Huskies at 42-7.
After Janotta’s touchdown for the Rams, Jamir Walker snared his fifth interception of the season and ran it to the end zone 58-yards to make the game 42-14 at 1:12 in the fourth quarter. It was the third time this season Walker has found the end zone after an interception. Before the frame was up, Saskatchewan would add a 35-yard Stephen McDonald field goal and the third touchdown from Thomas.
Connor Haas also scored added the Rams final touchdown at 6:53 in the fourth.
Saskatchewan was able to hold the conference leading-rusher Adrian Charles to just 37 yards, so Mueller was forced to use his arm completing 29-of-44 passes for 437 yards. Owens tallied 110 yards, while Janotta added 107 for the Rams. Defensively, Benton Gieni led the Rams with 6.5 tackles in the game.
Nixon completed 23-of-32 passes for the Huskies for 424 yards with four touchdowns. Etienne was his main target racking up 204 yards in the game. Thomas finished with 105 yards. Linebacker Nico Higgs finished the game with 7.5 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Mitch Friesen and Bryce McCall each had interceptions for the Huskies.
Game time for the semifinal on November 6 will be 1 p.m. in Griffiths Stadium.
Season ticket holders who did not purchase a playoff package are able to buy their seats for the playoff game until Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in person or by calling 306-966-1111. If these seats aren’t purchased by this time they will be released to the general public.
General seating can be purchased for the game starting Monday by calling 306-966-1111, visiting the PAC on College during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) or online at huskies.usask.ca
Game Notes: Huskie quarterback Laurence Nixon moved into second all-time on the Huskie career pass completions list with 535 – just two away from breaking the record held by Doug Siemens at 536… It’s not the first game running back Dathan Thomas has found the end zone multiple times against the Rams. He did so in 2008 scoring four touchdowns in Regina.
| Regina 29 |
Saskatchewan 52 |
| Saskatchewan (6-2) | 14 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 52 |
| Regina (5-3) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
| Saskatoon, SK | Griffiths Stadium |
| 1 | 10:38 | Saskatchewan – Dathan Thomas 14 yd run. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 2 plays, 26 yards in 0:48. |
0 – 7 |
| 1 | 09:46 | Regina – Marc Mueller 1 yd run. (Chris Bodnar kick is good). Drive: 2 plays, 55 yards in 0:46. |
7 – 7 |
| 1 | 05:46 | Saskatchewan – Dathan Thomas 2 yd run. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 8 plays, 61 yards in 3:54. |
7 – 14 |
| 2 | 14:20 | Saskatchewan – Alex Balogun 4 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 50 yards in 1:46. |
7 – 21 |
| 2 | 08:02 | Saskatchewan – Owen Geier 44 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 58 yards in 1:37. |
7 – 28 |
| 2 | 01:04 | Saskatchewan – Jade Etienne 48 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 77 yards in 1:09. |
7 – 35 |
| 3 | 12:30 | Saskatchewan – Mitch Stevens 16 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 5 plays, 58 yards in 2:24. |
7 – 42 |
| 3 | 10:25 | Regina – Jared Janotta 35 yd pass from Marc Mueller. (Chris Bodnar kick is good). Drive: 5 plays, 82 yards in 2:00. |
14 – 42 |
| 4 | 13:48 | Regina – Jamir Walker 58 yd interception return. (Chris Bodnar kick is good). | 21 – 42 |
| 4 | 12:06 | Saskatchewan – S. McDonald 35 yd field goal. | 21 – 45 |
| 4 | 08:07 | Regina – Connor Haas 17 yd pass from Marc Mueller. (2pt conversion pass by Zach Oleynik is good). Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards in 3:59. |
29 – 45 |
| 4 | 04:00 | Saskatchewan – Dathan Thomas 26 yd run. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 7 plays, 104 yards in 4:01. |
29 – 52 |
| 29 | FIRST DOWNS | 30 |
| 21 4 4 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
19 9 2 |
| 40% (2 of 5) | THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 2) |
| 0% (0 of 0) | FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 0) |
| 501 | TOTAL NET YARDS | 556 |
| 61 8.2 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
64 8.7 |
| 437 | NET YARDS PASSING | 424 |
| 29-44 9.9 2 for 12 2 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted |
23-32 13.2 3 for 17 1 |
| 64 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 132 |
| 17 3.8 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
32 4.1 |
| 6 for 175 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 5 for 200 |
| 29.2 | Average | 40.0 |
| 190 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 248 |
| 5 for 16 8 for 116 1 for 58 |
Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards |
5 for 107 5 for 126 2 for 15 |
| 18 for 156 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 11 for 132 |
| 3-2 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 2-2 |
| 29:33 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 30:27 |
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| 21 | Jared Janotta | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 8 | Chris Bodnar | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 11 | Aric Desmarais | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 15 | Kirby Kezama | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| 19 | Steve Famulak | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 4 | Jeff Lukomski | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 22 | Jamir Walker | 4 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 1-58 | 1 | |||
| 24 | Brady Aulie | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Mike Kerr | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | – | 1 | 1-0 | – | 1 | ||
| 29 | Daniel Knaus | 5 | 1 | 6 | – | 1-1 | – | – | ||||
| 31 | Dillon Dawson | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 35 | Austin Bates | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 40 | Bruce Anderson | 3 | 4 | 7 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 41 | Jorgen Hus | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 43 | Chris Sciog | 5 | 1 | 6 | – | 1-9 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 45 | Logan Brooks | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-2 | 1-2 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 68 | Benton Gieni | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1-7 | 1-8 | – | – | ||||
| 75 | Jas Dhillon | – | – | 1-0 | – | |||||||
| 80 | Rory Copithorn | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 90 | Stefan Charles | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1-8 | 1-10 | – | – | ||||
| 98 | Steve Arens | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TM | TEAM | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 51 | 18 | 69 | 3-17 | 5-31 | 2 | 2-0 | 1-58 | 3 | |||
| 10 | K. Macdougall | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 14 | Gregg Woytowich | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 17 | Cody Halseth | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Luke Thiel | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 21 | Garrett Burgess | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 1-0 | – | ||||
| 22 | Seamus Neary | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1-7 | 1-7 | – | – | ||||
| 24 | Mitch Friesen | 5 | 4 | 9 | – | – | – | 1-11 | 1 | |||
| 26 | Nico Higgs | 6 | 3 | 9 | – | – | 1 | 1-0 | – | |||
| 27 | Bryce McCall | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | 1-4 | ||||
| 29 | Brodie Rothe | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | |||
| 31 | Peter Thiel | 4 | 5 | 9 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 37 | Tony Michalchuk | 3 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 44 | Zach Hart | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | 1-3 | – | – | ||||
| 56 | David Rybinski | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1-5 | 1-5 | – | – | ||||
| 63 | Stephen Kovach | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 68 | Ryan Kemp | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 71 | Levi Steinhauer | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 77 | Joel Seutter | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 43 | 24 | 67 | 2-12 | 3-15 | 2 | 2-0 | 2-15 |
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