SASKATOON, Sask. – What was billed as a battle between the top two teams in Canada West football lived up to the pre-game hype as the No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies dodged bullet after bullet in a 34-33 overtime victory over the third-ranked Calgary Dinos Friday night at a jam-packed Griffiths Stadium.

BOX SCORE

In front of a regular season-record crowd of 6,053, the Huskies claimed the victory when a two-point convert attempt by Calgary failed on the second overtime 'shootout' series – a gamble that would have won the game for Calgary had it been successful. On the final play of the game, Calgary quarterback Erik Glavic rolled to his left and looked to have a receiver open shallow in the end zone, but fifth-year Huskie defensive back Jon Krahenbil knocked the ball out of bounds to seal the Saskatchewan win.

While the season opener will be hard to top from an entertainment perspective, the Dinos return to Calgary to prepare for their home opener against Alberta next Saturday knowing that they just let one slip away.

Saskatoon native Aaron Ifield, in his fourth season kicking for the Dinos, looked set to repeat a little history as he lined up a 47-yard field goal attempt with less than 30 seconds remaining on the clock and the score tied at 20-20. It was almost an exact replica of the situation he found himself in back in October 2007, when his 51-yard game winning field goal toward the same north end zone at Griffiths Stadium shocked the Huskie faithful.

Ifield's kick this time around split the uprights with plenty of room to spare, but Calgary was called for a costly time count violation penalty, which backed the play up 10 yards and out of field goal range. The Dinos were forced to punt instead, and the Huskies ran out the clock to force the extra period.

“We let this one slip away,” said fourth-year Calgary head coach Blake Nill after the contest. “We had several opportunities, and there wasn't one specific play where we lost the game. It was our first game of the season and we played pretty well at times, but the mistakes really came back to hurt us.”

As for the gutsy call to go for the two-point conversion in the second overtime frame rather than kick the single-point convert and send the teams to a third shootout round, Nill stood by his decision.

“When you're that close, just five yards from the end zone to win the game in a very tough place to play, I think you go for it,” he said. “I thought we had the right play called, but unfortunately it just didn't work out for us.”

The teams traded touchdowns in both extra sessions, with Richard Snyder hauling in a five-yard pass for Calgary before Rory Kolhert returned the favour for the Huskies in the first round. Huskie pivot Laurence Nixon opened the second frame with a two-yard TD plunge before the Dinos converted a third-and-10 situation to set up a 14-yard touchdown by Anthony Parker, leading to the two-point convert attempt.

Almost lost in the thrilling overtime contest – Calgary's first since Sept. 6, 2002 when the Dinos dropped a 37-34 decision at home to Manitoba – was an entertaining football game that featured big plays and two quarterbacks slugging it out for 60 minutes. Glavic, in his first full game since injuring his knee in the 2007 Uteck Bowl while at Saint Mary's, completed 15 of 26 passes for 246 yards and two interceptions and succeeded in moving the ball effectively with both his arms and his legs. His scrambling ability kept several Calgary drives alive, and he finished with eight carries for 79 yards along the ground.

Nixon, his Saskatchewan counterpart, was 21-for-33 for 304 yards and one pick on the night.

The Huskies got on the board first with a single by Grant Shaw on a missed field goal – a single point that would come to haunt the Dinos later with the score tied 20-20 headed to overtime. Shaw made his next two field goal tries from 30 and 26 yards before Ifield responded with a 21-yarder for Calgary, and it was 7-3 for the hosts with just over five minutes to play in the opening half.

Ifield lined up for his first 47-yard field goal try of the night and missed it wide right. Eight yards deep in his own end zone, Travis Gorski grabbed the ball and returned it 118 yards to the end zone for the Huskies' only touchdown in regulation time.

Ifield sent a 76-yard punt sailing through the end zone for a single. The Dinos succeeded in forcing a Saskatchewan punt, but on the next offensive series Parker took a solid hit from Shaw and fumbled, with Saskatchewan recovering and in good field position late in the half. Three plays later Nixon fumbled and Calgary defensive lineman Carlos Guglielmi recovered, sending the Dinos on a five-play, 81-yard drive highlighted by a 44-yard Glavic pass to Nathan Coehoorn and capped off by a one-yard touchdown plunge by Matt Walter, the reining Canada West MVP.

Walter added a second major in the third quarter to give Calgary its first lead of the night at 18-14. The Dinos forced the Huskies to surrender a safety to make it 20-14 before Shaw rounded out regulation scoring with two more field goals.

Walter finished the night with 26 carries for 96 yards to lead all players, while Parker was the game's leading receiver hauling in eight passes for 117 yards. Saskatchewan was led by Tyler O'Gorman's 62 yards on the ground before he left the game with an apparent shoulder injury in the second half, while Scott McHenry had five catches for 106 yards.

The Huskies (1-0) remain at home to face the Regina Rams (1-0) next Friday night, while another provincial rivalry will follow on Saturday as the Dinos host the Alberta Golden Bears, who also lost a heartbreaking one-point game to open the season, at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

NOTES: The official final score of the game is 20-20 with Saskatchewan winning 34-33 in an overtime shootout. Saskatchewan receives two points in the standings for the victory, but both teams earn 20 points for and 20 against under Canada West overtime rules. Statistics and points scored in the two overtime sessions do not count toward team or individual totals.

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