Timmis leads the way as Dinos crush Bears

EDMONTON – Another week, another multi-touchdown night for Mercer Timmis as the University of Calgary Dinos improved to 5-0 with a 76-21 win over the Alberta Golden Bears Saturday night at Edmonton’s Foote Field.

BOXSCORE

The sophomore running back carried the ball 16 times for 214 yards and a whopping four touchdowns, averaging better than 13 yards per carry in just over two quarters’ work, leading the Dinos to a whopping 848 yards of total offence in the game.

It was Timmis’ second consecutive four-touchdown game, bringing his total to 14 all-purpose majors on the year – just three shy of the school record of 17 set by Don Blair in his Hec Crighton-winning season of 1995. He also tied the Dinos record of 13 rushing touchdowns in a season and sits just one back of the conference record in that category.

“It was a big win, and I was happy with the tempo,” said Dinos head coach Blake Nill. “My concern all week was that we would play down to their level, so I was happy with that. I’m a little disappointed we couldn’t close the game quickly, but overall it was a great effort by the Dinos.

“Mercer has shown us that he’s the every-down back that we require,” Nill went on. “He runs with power, and he’s a threat. We pulled him after the first series of the second half tonight, otherwise you would have seen him run for a lot more yards.”

The game was tight through much of the first quarter, with Alberta tying it 7-7 11 minutes into the contest. But from there, the Dinos exploded en route to their 10^th consecutive victory over the Golden Bears. After the first it was 21-7, and that lead had extended to 47-14 at the half.

Reigning CIS offensive player of the week Andrew Buckley had another solid outing, completing 22 of 29 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns to receivers Anthony Anderson, Chris Dobko, and Kyle Brick before being pulled in favour of Jimmy Underdahl with the outcome secured midway through the third quarter. Buckley improves to 4-0 as a starting quarterback in his CIS career.

Underdahl added a pair of rushing touchdowns of his own in the third quarter and opened the fourth with a 39-yard TD strike to Brett Blaszko.

Alberta would add a late touchdown by Curtis Dell midway through the fourth, adding to Ryan Schwartz’s 8-yard major in the second. The Bears managed 430 offensive yards in the game, with Schwartz accounting for most of them: the Alberta starting quarterback threw for 135 yards and ran for another 101 on 10 carries.

Things got heated in the final quarter, with pieces of orange nylon littering the field throughout the fourth. With just under four minutes remaining, the Dinos’ Adam Laurensse and the Bears Tyler Greenslade were ejected from the contest for rough play. The penalty parade was 14 flags in the final 15 minute of the game, totalling 95 yards between the two teams.

Rashaun Simonise was the Dinos’ leading receiver with 162 yards on 10 catches, while Dobko added six catches for 112 yards. Dobko, who broke Blair’s career catches record last week in Manitoba, becomes just the fifth 2000-yard receiver in school history with 2,061 to his credit and three games left in his career. He currently sits fourth on the Dinos’ all-time receiving yards list.

Blaszko neared the 100-yard mark with just three receptions for 92 yards. In relief of Timmis, Cuong Thai Lieu picked up an even 100 yards along the ground on 15 carries as the Dinos gained 428 rushing yards on the night.

Johnny Mark had a solid night punting, recording a 47.1-yard average. He added a 46-yard field goal, the longest of his career.

The win sets up a huge match-up next weekend in Saskatoon as the 5-0 Dinos take on the 4-1 Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night at Griffiths Stadium. The Dinos defeated the Huskies 36-24 in the teams’ previous meeting Sept. 14 at McMahon Stadium, and a victory Friday night would give Calgary the inside track to a third-straight first place finish in Canada West.

Following the Saskatchewan game, the Dinos enjoy the bye week before wrapping up the regular season with home games against Regina and UBC.

SCORING SUMMARY

1^st Quarter

CGY – Anthony Anderson 6-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 5:49, 7-0 CGY

ALB – Tylor Henry 13-yard TD catch from Ryan Schwartz (Stephen Fabian convert), 11:00, 7-7

CGY – Mercer Timmis 63-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 12:27, 14-7 CGY

CGY – Chris Dobko 23-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 15:00, 21-7 CGY

2^nd Quarter

CGY – Johnny Mark 46-yard FG, 3:24, 24-7 CGY

ALB – Ryan Schwartz 8-yard TD run (Stephen Fabian convert), 5:41, 24-14 CGY

CGY – Mercer Timmis 33-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 6:05, 31-14 CGY

CGY – Mercer Timmis 5-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 12:23, 38-14 CGY

CGY – TEAM safety, 13:10, 40-14 CGY

CGY – Kyle Brick 7-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 14:36, 47-14 CGY

3^rd Quarter

CGY – Mercer Timmis 8-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 2:29, 54-14 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark punt single, 5:10, 55-14 CGY

CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 11:31, 62-14 CGY

CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 25-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 14:56, 69-14 CGY

4^th Quarter

CGY – Brett Blaszko 39-yard TD catch from Jimmy Underdahl (Johnny Mark convert), 1:51, 76-14 CGY

ALB – Curtis Dell 1-yard TD run (Stephen Fabian convert), 8:25, 76-21 CGY

Photo credit:  Kim Quist

Source:  Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information