REGINA – Aaron Ifield became the all-time Canada West field goal leader while the University of Calgary football program grabbed its 200th all-time conference win as the seventh-ranked Dinos held ton to defeat the first-place, No. 3-ranked Regina Rams 35-27 Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.

BOX SCORE

Ifield booted four field goals to bring his career total to 69, passing the conference mark set by Jamie Boreham in his stints with three different teams (UBC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) from 1996-2003. With just one game remaining in his regular season career, Ifield sits just one away from the CIS national record of 70, currently held by Frank Jagas of the Western Ontario Mustangs.

Records aside, however, the win was of vital importance to the Dinos' hopes of securing a home playoff date in 2010 – and they did it the hard way, fending off a furious Regina comeback late in the fourth quarter after nearly squandering a 21-point halftime lead.

With a secondary missing three starters out with injuries, however, Dinos head coach Blake Nill was pleased with his team's play.

“We gutted it out with what we had for a tough win on the road,” said the reigning Canada West coach of the year after his team improved to 5-2 on the season. “I'm very proud of our effort tonight. We had a lot of key players out and still managed to come out with the win.”

The Rams (5-2) mounted a comeback that saw them score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to draw to within eight points. Quarterback Marc Mueller engineered a drive that brought the Rams all the way to the Calgary five in the game's final minute, but a third-down throw to Connor Haas fell incomplete in the end zone as the drive came up short.

Calgary quarterback Erik Glavic was questionable to start for the Dinos after being injured for the majority of the season, but played the whole game and ended up 17-for-34 for 275 yards and a touchdown. Running back Matt Walter was spectacular in the win, rushing 16 times for 158 yards and a touchdown. Nathan Coehoorn caught six balls for a team-high 125 yards, while Anthony Parker had seven catches for 69 yards.

Mueller completed 32 of his 49 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns. Jared Janotta, Brenden Owens, and Mark McConkey each caught nine passes for the Rams. Making his first start as a Ram, Janotta ended up with a game-high 129 receiving yards and caught the first two touchdown passes of his career. Adrian Charles rushed 10 times for a season-low 46 yards for the Rams.

Chris Folk led Calgary defensively with nine tackles, while Tye Noble had five solo tackles and six assisted tackles. Akiem Hicks was a force for the Rams on the defensive line, recording three solo tackles, three assisted tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.

The two teams combined for just one point in the first quarter, a single by Ifield on the team's first possession of the game. The Dinos dominated ball possession in the opening quarter, holding it for just under 12 of the first 15 minutes of the game.

Calgary turned the statistical advantage into points on the scoreboard in the second quarter. Ifield hit a 14-yard chip shot to cap a 13-play, 97-yard drive that took six and a half minutes off the clock, then Walter finished off a drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge on the ensuing possession. After Chris Bodnar and Ifield traded field goals, Calgary's Richard Snyder had a 46-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown and Ifield hit another as time expired to give the Dinos a 24-3 lead going into halftime.

The Dinos controlled the first half in every aspect. Calgary had 21 first downs to Regina's five, gained 302 yards of total offence to the Rams' 115, and was penalized just three times while Regina was whistled 15 times.

The Rams finally scored their first touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter. Janotta hauled in an 18-yard pass for the first touchdown of his career, capping a 15-play drive that was extended after a Calgary player ran into Bodnar on a punt. Though the Rams controlled the third quarter, they could only muster an additional point on a missed Bodnar field goal. Ifield also added a single at the 12-minute mark of the quarter as Calgary led by 14 after three.

Steven Lumbala's touchdown for the Dinos early in the fourth quarter restored the visitors' 21-point advantage. The Rams scored two points off a safety after Ifield kicked the ball through his own end zone after a fumbled long snap, then added a touchdown thanks to Janotta's second touchdown catch of the night. Ifield hit a 23-yard field goal that was almost immediately answered by the Rams with an Owens touchdown with three minutes left, setting the stage for Regina's last-minute drive that fell short.

Calgary closes out its Canada West schedule at home against Alberta next Saturday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at McMahon Stadium. A win would guarantee home field advantage for the Dinos in the playoffs, while a win and a Regina victory in Saskatoon would lock up first place for Calgary.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Ifield single, 3:16, 1-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
CGY – Ifield 14-yard FG, 1:08, 4-0 CGY
CGY – Walter 1-yard TD run (Ifield convert), 11-0 CGY
REG – Bodnar 17-yard FG, 6:15, 11-3 CGY
CGY – Ifield 39-yard FG, 11:39, 14-3 CGY
CGY – Snyder 46-yard TD pass from Glavic (Ifield convert), 13:25, 21-3 CGY
CGY – Ifield 27-yard FG, 14:58, 24-3 CGY

3rd Quarter
REG – Janotta 18-yard TD pass from Mueller (Bodnar convert), 7:18, 24-10 CGY
CGY – Ifield single, 12:09, 25-10 CGY
REG – Bodnar single, 15:00, 25-11 CGY

4th Quarter
CGY – Lumbala 4-yard TD run (Ifield convert), 1:09, 32-11 CGY
REG – TEAM Safety, 5:22, 32-13 CGY
REG – Janotta 26-yard TD pass from Mueller (Bodnar convert), 6:33, 32-20 CGY
CGY – Ifield 23-yard FG, 10:43, 35-20 CGY
REG – Owens 36-yard TD pass from Mueller (Bodnar convert), 11:49, 35-27 CGY

-UC-