CALGARY – The third ranked Calgary Dinos built up a big lead and then gave it all back before rallying late for a 35-24 victory over the Manitoba Bisons Saturday at a cold and windy McMahon Stadium.

BOX SCORE

The win moves Calgary back into first place in Canada West at 5-1 as they head into their bye week, while Manitoba falls to 2-3 after losing their third straight game away from Winnipeg.

After jumping out to a 23-0 lead midway through the second quarter, Calgary fell victim to turnover woes as the Bisons scored 18 straight points to end the half. Manitoba took the lead late in the third on a 34-yard touchdown catch by Jeremy Botelho, but on the ensuing drive Erik Glavic found Nathan Coehoorn for a six-yard major to re-take the lead for Calgary and the Dinos added a late final score to seal the victory..

“I think this was a character win for us,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill after his team improved its home-field win streak to 11 games. “We turned the ball over five times, but we were able to recover from those mistakes. Credit to all the kids on the team for picking it up in the fourth quarter and doing what we needed to to compensate for those mistakes.

“We can't expect complete dominance every week of the season,” Nill went on. “The other teams work very hard in practice to stop what we're doing, and you have to remember Manitoba is just a year removed from winning a national championship. I'm happy we were able to persevere through some inconsistent play and get the win.”

After Botelho put the Bisons up on the only scoring play of the third quarter, Anthony Parker made one of several big plays on the day with a 43-yard kickoff return to set off a nine-play, 69-yard drive by the Dinos that ended with Coehoorn's second major of the afternoon to put Calgary back on top for good. Steven Lumbala added a late 17-yard touchdown to cap off a four-play, 100-yard drive that was highlighted by a 52-yard completion to Coehoorn.

Calgary came out guns blazing and jumped out to a 23-point lead in just 21 minutes of play. Parker opened the scoring with a 32-yard run to the end zone, with Coehoorn following up with a spectacular one-handed grab in the back corner of the end zone for a 33-yards score. After the Bisons gave up a safety, Parker added his second major of the day and eighth of the season on a 35-yard reception from Glavic, but that's where the wheels fell off for the Dinos as the Bisons took full advantage of their opportunities.

On the first Manitoba drive after Parker's score, Nathan Friesen found Matt Henry out of the backfield for a 56-yard completion, setting up a 10-yard TD toss to Julian Hardy on a third-and-three gamble in the red zone.

Uncharacteristically, Glavic began to struggle. He threw an interception to Teague Sherman led to the second Bison touchdown of the afternoon, a 35-yard Friesen pass to Schollaardt. A Glavic fumble on the next possession led to a 38-yard Scott Dixon field goal as the Bisons closed the gap to just five points at the half.

He fumbled again in the third quarter near midfield after gaining more than 20 yards and bobbled a snap near the goal line late in the fourth but was able to recover. Despite the struggles, however, he still managed to complete 17 of 25 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns while racking up 78 yards along the ground on six carries and leading the Dinos offence to 574 total yards.

Coehoorn and Parker traded positions as his favourite target throughout the afternoon, with Coehoorn finishing with 157 yards on eight catches while Parker had 128 yards on five catches, adding 43 yards along the ground to finish with 234 all-purpose. The Calgary running game was spread out more evenly as it racked up 267 yards, led by Steven Lumbala's 87 in relief of Matt Walter, who was pulled for precautionary reasons after taking a hit. Walter finished with 62 yards and maintains a 140-yard advantage atop the Canada West rushing chart heading into the bye.

Defensively, the Dinos were led by Chudi Nzekwu's 7.5 tackles, with Deji Oduwole pitching in with six.

Manitoba, meanwhile, benefitted from a season-best performance from Friesen. He completed 21 of 36 attempts for 264 yards and a trio of TDs while adding six carries for 52 yards rushing. The Bisons became just the second team in six games to run for better than 100 yards against the Calgary defence, totalling 143 yards largely on the back of Matt Henry's 86. Schollaardt was the key receiver for the Bisons, hauling in eight passes for 103 yards in a losing cause.

Everton Black was a one-man wrecking crew on defence for the Bisons, finishing with eight tackles and a pair of sacks.

“We played a good football team today,” Nill summed up. “We did make mistakes, but we also made more big plays than they did. This is an important win heading into the bye week, and now we have a chance to heal up those bumps and bruises after playing seven straight weekends.”

The Dinos will watch the scoreboard very closely next weekend with a keen eye on the Bisons, who entertain the Saskatchewan Huskies at University Stadium in Winnipeg next Saturday. The Huskies still hold the tiebreaker over the Dinos in the Canada West standings thanks to their season-opening overtime victory over Calgary in Saskatoon, and they will make up their game in hand over the Dinos next week.

Calgary closes out the regular season with a home tilt against Regina on Saturday, Oct. 24, followed one week later by a trip to Edmonton to face the Alberta Golden Bears.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Parker 32-yard TD run (Ifield convert), 11:55, 7-0 CGY
CGY – Coehoorn 33-yard TD catch from Glavic (Ifield convert), 00:29, 14-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
CGY – TEAM safety, 14:38, 16-0 CGY
CGY – Parker 35-yard TD catch from Glavic (Ifield convert), 08:42, 23-0 CGY
MAN – Hardy 10-yard TD catch from Friesen (Dixon convert), 5:21, 23-7 CGY
MAN – Dixon 75-yard kickoff single, 5:21, 23-8 CGY
MAN – Schollaardt 35-yard TD catch from Friesen (Dixon convert), 00:51, 23-15 CGY
MAN – Dixon 38-yard FG, 00:08. 23-18 CGY

3rd Quarter
MAN – Botelho 34-yard TD catch from Friesen (Friesen pass failed), 01:54, 24-23 MAN

4th Quarter
CGY – Coehoorn 6-yard TD catch from Glavic (Parker run failed), 13:37, 29-24 CGY
CGY – Lumbala 17-yard TD run (Altilio run failed), 2:31, 35-24 CGY

-UC-