BOX SCORE CALGARY – Mercer Timmis became Canada West's new single-season touchdown king as the University of Calgary Dinos eliminated the Regina Rams from the playoffs with a 46-27 win Friday night.

Timmis, who entered the game needing two touchdowns to break Don Blair's (1995) conference and school single-season touchdown record of 17, got three of them in the second half as the Dinos improved to 7-0 on the season while dropping the Rams to 2-5.

The sophomore tailback from Burlington, Ont. had a rough go of things in the first half but came alive in the second and, despite being held to his first sub-100 yard game of the season still managed to score three touchdowns from six, five, and 18 yards out.

"Regina's defence played really well tonight, especially in the first half," said Timmis, a student in the Haskayne School of Business. "I had completely forgotten about the record, but when it happened my teammates all came up to congratulate me. It feels great to be up there with a name like Don Blair, and it's an honour for sure."

"The thing about Mercer is that he's the kind of guy that'll keep coming at you," said Dinos head coach Blake Nill. "He's a downhill runner, and eventually he's going to make some plays."

It was a weird game under a full moon at McMahon Stadium with wacky plays on special teams by both sides, but in the end the Dinos proved too powerful for the Rams, who will miss the playoffs after falling to the same Dinos in last year's Hardy Cup.

Calgary scored all nine points in the first quarter, thanks mostly to a 32-yard touchdown run on third-and-one by backup quarterback Jimmy Underdahl, in with the team's short-yardage unit. In the second, the Rams brought it close making the score 12-10 just over nine minutes in when quarterback Cayman Shutter plunged in from a yard out.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams decided to squib and Taylor Wandler's 11-yard kick landed right in the hands of Calgary defensive back Michael Schmidt. Schmidt ran untouched 56 yards into the end zone to restore a nine-point lead for Calgary, and Johnny Mark's second field goal of the night made it 22-10 for the home side at halftime.

The Dinos pulled out some special teams magic on the first play of the second half. With the team seemingly huddled preparing to kick off, Mark approached the ball as if to take a practice swing and instead kicked it onside, where Brad Friesen pounced on it to give the Dinos possession. Three plays later, Timmis was in the end zone with his first major of the night, seemingly blocking the game open at 29-10.

The Rams came back in the third on the strength of an 82-yard bomb from Shutter to Kolten Solomon, and after the Dinos conceded a late safety it was an eight-point game heading into the fourth quarter. But Timmis' second and third TDs of the night put it out of reach, and a last-minute score by the Rams' Richard Sindani made the final 46-27.

Timmis ran the ball 19 times for 92 yards and the three scores, the only time this season he has been held under 100 yards. Andrew Buckley completed 20 of 34 passes for 235 yards, with Jake Harty catching seven of those passes for an even 100 yards on the night.

Shutter tossed it up time after time, picking up 430 passing yards on 31 completions and 56 attempts. He was picked off three times by Adam Laurensse, Thomas Spoletini, and Adam Ballingall, but he threw for a pair of touchdowns: the 82-yarder to Solomon and a late 25-yarder to Sindani. Solomon had 164 receiving yards for the Rams in the loss.

Calgary will try to complete a first in school history – an undefeated regular season – when the Dinos host the UBC Thunderbirds in a likely preview of their first-round playoff match-up next Friday night at McMahon Stadium.

"We played a lot of young kids and sat some veterans and we gutted out a win tonight, so that's good to see," said Nill. "We want to go 8-0 – it's something to motivate the guys this week. UBC is peaking at the right time, and we're going to have to be ready to play a very good football team."

"We just have to stay hungry and try to keep getting better each week," said Timmis. "If we do that we can keep moving and keep excelling."

Regina wraps up its 2013 season next weekend hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 26.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Johnny Mark punt single, 1:36, 1-0 CGY
CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 32-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 9:58, 8-0 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark missed FG single, 13:50, 9-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
REG – Taylor Wandler 34-yard FG, 0:29, 9-3 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 23-yard FG, 7:01, 12-3 CGY
REG – Cayman Shutter 1-yard TD run (Taylor Wandler convert), 9:20, 12-10 CGY
CGY – Michael Schmidt 56-yard kickoff return TD (Johnny Mark convert), 9:29, 19-10 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 25-yard FG, 14:49, 22-10 CGY

3rd Quarter
CGY – Mercer Timmis 6-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 1:23, 29-10 CGY
REG – Team Safety, 6:45, 29-12 CGY
REG – Kolten Solomon 82-yard TD catch from Cayman Shutter (Taylor Wandler convert), 9:23, 29-19 CGY
REG – Team Safety, 14:47, 29-21 CGY

4th Quarter
CGY – Team Safety, 3:49, 31-21 CGY
CGY – Mercer Timmis 5-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 11:42, 38-21 CGY
CGY – Mercer Timmis 18-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 12:48, 45-21 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark kickoff single, 12:48, 46-21 CGY
REG – Richard Sindani 25-yard TD catch from Cayman Shutter (Michael Kiapway rush failed), 14:11, 46-27 CGY

-UC-