REGINA – Mercer Timmis ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns to lead the University of Calgary Dinos to a wild 34-27 win over the Regina Rams Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.
Timmis found the end zone once in each of the third and fourth quarters to give the Dinos 14-point leads both times – leads that Calgary nearly squandered as the Rams fought hard in the final moments. A last-ditch jump ball in the end zone went in and out of the hands of Regina receiver Addison Richards on the final play of the game as the Dinos held on to improve to 2-0 on the season.
A second-year tailback out of Burlington, Ont., Timmis now has five touchdowns on the season after a three-major performance Week 1 at UBC.
Playing for the injured Eric Dzwilewski, Dinos quarterback Andrew Buckley completed 11 of 25 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Buckley also scored the Dinos’ first major of the night on a one-yard plunge into the end zone.
“It’s not a classic win, but we’re 2-0 on the road with this young team, our backup quarterback, and some of our best receivers at home,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill. We had three first-year guys start on the offensive line, and it’s the same thing on the defensive line. And as for Andrew, it showed that it was his first start ever, and there were things that he could have done better. But he made enough plays to win, and I’m confident that he’ll get better each and every week as he gets more first team reps. His potential is huge.”
The offensive highlight for Calgary came late in the second quarter when Buckley found Elie Bouka in full stride across the middle. Bouka outran the Regina defence for an 89-yard touchdown to put the Dinos ahead for good. Bouka finished the night with 102 receiving yards on just two catches.
Calgary receiver Chris Dobko picked up five receptions for 43 yards on the night, moving him just seven catches back of Don Blair’s school record 138 career receptions. Dobko now sits alone in third on the Dinos’ all-time list, one back of former teammate and current Edmonton Eskimos wide-out Nate Coehoorn.
Regina pivot Cayman Shutter aired the ball out all night, setting a school record by tossing up 58 pass attempts and getting 27 completions for 404 yards. Kolten Solomon hauled in seven passes for 140 yards and a touchdown, picking up a second major on a one-yard run after recovering a teammate’s fumble.
Solomon’s first touchdown came early in the second quarter to end a wild sequence. It opened with Bouka returning a Regina punt 80 yards to the end zone, but the score was called back due to a late roughing the kicker call. The Rams kept the ball with a first down and, after a pass interference call in the end zone, Regina took a 13-6 lead after the teams had traded a pair of field goals each in the opening quarter.
Johnny Mark split the uprights on both his attempts from 20 and 33 yards.
Defensively, Michael Schmidt picked up 6.5 tackles to lead the way for Calgary, while Regina native Brett Wade picked up 2.5 sacks in his return to Mosaic Stadium.
After three straight weeks on the road, the Dinos finally play a home game when they host the Saskatchewan Huskies next Saturday, Sept. 14 at McMahon Stadium in what should be the team’s toughest challenge yet.
“We made enough plays to win tonight,” said Nill. “Now, we’ll get better with another week of practice and get ready for our toughest game of the year.”
Next Saturday’s game is KICKOFF, the University of Calgary’s annual homecoming football game. The Dinos have teamed with the Calgary Stampeders to provide a full Stamps in-game experience, while a pre-game tailgate will have free Spolumbo’s sausages while supplies last.
The tailgate starts at 3 p.m. in the east parking lot at McMahon Stadium, with the game kicking off at 5 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Johnny Mark 20-yard FG, 2:39, 3-0 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 33-yard FG, 5:53, 6-0 CGY
REG – Taylor Wandler 32-yard FG, 7:23, 6-3 CGY
REG – Taylor Wandler 26-yard FG, 11:27, 6-6
2nd Quarter
REG – Kolten Solomon 1-yard TD run (Taylor Wandler convert), 4:22, 13-6 REG
CGY – Andrew Buckley 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 8:10, 13-13
CGY – Elie Bouka 89-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 11:57, 20-13 CGY
3rd Quarter
CGY – Mercer Timmis 2-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 7:21, 27-13 CGY
REG – Kolten Solomon 9-yard TD catch from Cayman Shutter (Taylor Wandler convert), 15:00, 27-20 CGY
4th Quarter
CGY – Mercer Timmis 3-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 3:52, 34-20 CGY
REG – Jared Janotta 6-yard TD catch from Cayman Shutter (Taylor Wandler convert), 13:17, 34-27 CGY
Photo Credit: Kim Quist
Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information
REGINA – For the second consecutive week, the University of Regina Rams weren’t able to complete a fourth-quarter comeback as they dropped a 34-27 decision to No. 5-ranked Calgary on Friday night in their Canada West home opener at Mosaic Stadium.
The Rams (0-2) trailed by 14 points late in the fourth quarter before a long 61-yard completion by Cayman Shutter to Kolten Solomon led to a six-yard touchdown reception by Jared Janotta with 1:43 left on the clock. The U of R failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, but forced a two-and-out and got the ball back with 1:23 remaining. Shutter led the Rams on a last-minute drive all the way down to Calgary’s 30, but his pass to Addison Richards in the end zone on the last play of the game fell incomplete to seal the victory for the Dinos (2-0).
Calgary running back Mercer Timmis was a thorn all night long, rushing 25 times for a total of 139 yards and scoring twice on the ground for the Dinos. Quarterback Andrew Buckley was 11-for-25 for 210 yards including an 89-yard touchdown pass to Elie Bouka late in the second quarter. The Dinos were led defensively by 2½ sacks from Brett Wade, while Michael Schmidt had a game-high 6½ tackles for the visitors.
The Rams almost completely abandoned the run game, as Shutter was 27-for-58 to set a new University of Regina record for most pass attempts in a game. Shutter ended up with 404 passing yards and fired touchdown passes to both Solomon and Janotta. Richards ended up with a game-high eight catches for 82 yards, while Solomon had seven receptions and led all players with 140 receiving yards. Landon Buch also had three catches for 79 yards, most of which came on a 50-yard connection early in the game which led to the team’s first field goal of the contest.
Brady Aulie and Logan Brooks both led the Rams with 5½ tackles, while safety Ryan Filyk notched his first career interception late in the third quarter to set up the Solomon touchdown. Tevaughn Campbell had a sack for the U of R with Brooks, Calvin Smith, Tyler Perkins, and Connor Ketchen all earning credit for half sacks.
The Dinos took an early lead with field goals on both of their first two possessions before Buch’s long reception put the Rams into position to get on the board with a 32-yard Taylor Wandler field goal. After the Rams put an end to Calgary’s next drive, Campbell fielded a punt at his own six-yard line and weaved his way 75 yards downfield to notch the fourth-longest return in school history. That set up another Wandler field goal as the teams headed into the second knotted at 6-6.
The Rams took their first – and, what would turn out to be their only – lead after a 14-play, 94-yard drive took over six minutes off the clock and led to an odd touchdown. With the Rams on Calgary’s five-yard line, Jens Johnson rushed to the Calgary one where he was met by the Dinos’ Hunter Turnbull. The hard hit on Johnson knocked the ball loose, but Solomon scooped up the ball and took it across the line to put the Rams up 13-6.
Calgary finished the first half strong, first taking advantage of a short field following a long Rashaun Simonise punt return and an untimely drive-extending penalty to tie the game with a one-yard plunge by Buckley. The Dinos didn’t take long to score on their next possession, as they took over the ball on their own 21 after a third-down gamble by the Rams and Buckley found Bouka on a crossing pattern for an 89-yard major to give Calgary the lead.
Timmis scored the first of his two touchdowns midway through the third to make it a two-possession game for the first time, but the Rams pulled back to within seven when Shutter found Solomon from nine yards out on the final play of the quarter. Calgary responded immediately with a second Timmis rushing touchdown early in the fourth, and the score stayed 34-20 in favour of the Dinos until Janotta’s touchdown late in the contest.
The Rams will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 14 with a road game against the Alberta Golden Bears (0-1) in Edmonton, while Calgary will prepare to host No. 8-ranked Saskatchewan (1-0) next weekend.
NOTES: Shutter’s 58 pass attempts were also the second most in a Canada West game, trailing only the 61 recorded by Saskatchewan’s Chase Bradshaw last season … Shutter is also the first University of Regina quarterback to throw for at least 400 passing yards since Marc Mueller had 437 at Saskatchewan on Oct. 29, 2010 … Janotta collected his 100th career reception and moves past Chris Getzlaf into 10th place on the school’s all-time receiving yards list (1315) … Brooks pulls into a tie with Sean Brimacombe for second place on the U of R’s career sacks list (11) … Mark McConkey had two receptions and is now tied for second on Canada West’s career receptions chart (162).
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