SASKATOON – The No. 2 University of Calgary Dinos claimed their second straight Canada West football championship, the school's 11th overall, with a classic 39-38 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday afternoon at Griffiths Stadium.

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The Dinos (9-1) head east next week to face the Saint Mary's University Huskies in the Uteck Bowl, the national semi-final, on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT at Huskies Stadium in Halifax. The winner of that game will advance to the Desjardins Vanier Cup a week later in Quebec City.

After the Dinos scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter, the Huskies drove the length of the field and were poised to kick the game-winning field goal, but after a bobbled snap Grant Shaw sent his 35-yard attempt short and wide, and Nathan Coehoorn was able to run it out of the end zone to preserve the one-point win.

“What a football game,” said an emotional Calgary head coach Blake Nill after the contest. “It was a rough day for our defence, but I was so proud of how our players stayed in it and kept playing their hearts out, even when we were down by nine points in the fourth quarter.”

It was the third time in four meetings in history Calgary has defeated the Huskies in the Hardy Cup. In 1988, the Dinos won 46-33 in overtime, followed by a 1995 32-30 overtime victory. Saskatchewan won 34-17 in 1994.

Dinos quarterback Erik Glavic, who was named the Canada West Football MVP earlier this week, was impressive in the victory completing 28 of 36 passes for 479 yards and three touchdowns – a season high and the third best single-game total in school history. He also had 106 yards and one touchdown rushing and was named the game's MVP.

Glavic's top target was Richard Snyder, who had a spectacular outing with seven catches for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The entire game was back and forth between the No. 2 and No. 3-ranked teams in the country that both finished 7-1 on the season. Saskatchewan was the first to score when Shaw hit from 27 yards and by 37 yards to give the Huskies a 6-0 lead in the opening quarter. He added another to begin the second quarter from 38-yards putting the Huskies up 9-0.

Calgary finally found the end zone when Glavic found an open Anthony Parker for a 19-yard touchdown to cap off a four-play, 73-yard drive. The added another touchdown roughly six minutes later when Snyder caught a 14-yard pass in the end zone after the Dinos marched 107 yards down the length of the field.

Saskatchewan quickly answered back on the next possession with a Rory Kohlert 37 yard pass from Huskies quarterback Laurence Nixon. Shaw then added another field goal from 40 yards to give the Huskies a 19-14 lead. To end the frame, Dinos kicker Aaron Ifield missed a 12-yard field goal but was given a single on the play, and Saskatchewan led 19-15 heading into halftime.

The Dinos quickly restored their lead to open the second half on a six-play, 85-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard Matt Walter rushing touchdown to gain a three point lead at 22-19. But Saskatchewan gained momentum at the halfway mark of the third quarter when defensive back Keenan McDougall blocked an Ifield punt, taking it 20 yards into the end zone to put the Huskies up 26-22. Shaw added another eight-yard field goal at 3:37 to make the lead 29-22.

Calgary tied it up on the very next drive, when Snyder caught a 60-yard bomb from Glavic and took it to the end zone for his second major.

Faced with a punting situation deep in their own end at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Dinos elected to give up the safety, giving Saskatchewan the lead at 31-29. The move backfired when Nixon led the Huskies down the field, finding Braeden George for a 10-yard major to go up by nine.

Ifield kicked an 18-yard field goal, the Dinos got a key defensive stop, and Glavic led the Dinos 68 yards to the house, capping the drive by calling his own number to score the winning touchdown from four yards out.

The teams combined for an amazing 1,243 yards of total offence as both defences struggled to limit their opponents' high-powered passing attack. Nixon finished 24-for-35 for 422 yards and two touchdowns, while veteran running back Tyler O'Gorman had 24 carries and 162 yards on the ground for the Huskies. Two Huskie receivers finished with more than 100 yards in the game – Kohlert had 166 with one touchdown and George had 104 with one touchdown.

Calgary responded with Snyder's 222 yards, while Coehoorn had five catches for 78 yards and Taylor Altilio had four grabs for 63 yards. Glavic's 106 along the ground led the Dinos' rushing attack, with Matt Walter adding 96 yards on 19 carries.

Defensively, Andrea Bonaventura led the Dinos with 8.5 tackles and one breakup. Nico Higgs led the Huskies with seven tackles, followed by Jonathan Krahenbil with 6.5 tackles, one interception and one break up.

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