CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos will get a shot at a seventh consecutive Canada West title after dominating the University of Regina Rams 56-0 Saturday in the second of two conference semi-finals.
The Dinos (7-2) will meet the Manitoba Bisons (5-4) in the 78th Hardy Cup next Saturday at 2 p.m. MT, live on Shaw TV, in a rematch of last year's conference championship game at McMahon Stadium.
Andrew Buckley completed 23 of 31 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns – all of which came in a 33-point second quarter – to lead the Dinos back to the conference title game. He found
Brett Blaszko and
Rashaun Simonise for two touchdowns each in the second frame, and three of those were bombs: Blaszko had 36- and 72-yard scores, while Simonise ran a 58-yarder into the end zone. Blaszko's first touchdown was a 36-yard beauty as he tiptoed down the sidelines into the end zone 82 seconds into the second quarter, sparking the 33-point outburst.
Buckley added a one-yard score of his own early in the fourth, while
Eric Dzwilewski tossed a 9-yard TD pass to
Austen Hartley in the fourth quarter.
Johnny Mark rounded out the scoring with field goals from 23, 21, 40, and 21 yards, along with a pair of kickoff singles.
With Regina keying on the run from the very early stages of the game, the Dinos went to the air early and often, with Buckley tossing for 393 yards in the first half alone. By contrast,
Mercer Timmis saw just five carries for a total of 19 yards, and Buckley ended up as Calgary's leading rusher with 56 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Blaszko's 160 yards paced the Dinos receiving corps, while
Jake Harty hauled in eight balls for 112 yards as the Dinos racked up 617 yards of total offence.
"We kind of thought it might happen because our first game against them we rushed for 400 yards so they had to do something to stop our run game and they tried doing that," said Buckley. "They just packed the box – we did try to establish the run early on, but it wasn't working for us as much as we would have liked, so we went to the pass after that."
"Offensively we had a good game plan," said Calgary head coach
Blake Nill. "We were able to throw the ball basically at will in the first half, and they gave us that opportunity. The kids played well on all aspects of the game, and probably it was one of our best 60-minute efforts that we've had this year."
Defensively, the Dinos held the Rams to just 239 yards and pitched the shutout – their first goose egg on defence in the
Blake Nill era – and forced the Rams into eight turnovers: four on downs, along with four interceptions – to each by defensive backs
Elie Bouka and
Adam Laurensse.
Tanner Doll was Calgary's leading tackler with 7.5 tackles.
The game was the final contest in the career of Regina head coach Frank McCrystal, who announced his retirement effective the end of the 2014 season.
For the Rams, Noah Picton completed 14 of 24 passes for 147 yards and two interceptions before giving way to Cayman Shutter in the Regina backfield. Shutter fared no better, completing six of 18 passes for 74 yards – and two more interceptions. Jared Janotta was Regina's top receiver with four catches for 86 yards, while Mitch Thompson hauled in seven for 76 yards.
The Dinos now turn their attention to the Manitoba Bisons, the only team to have defeated them on the field this season: a 50-31 win at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg last Saturday on the final day of the regular season.
"That's the way it should be," said Nill. "They've given us the toughest games of the year, and they've earned the right to be in that final. We've just got toacome out and play well, and hopefully learn from what we experienced last week, and improve on it."
Calgary and Manitoba played a classic earlier in the season at McMahon, with Calgary squeaking out a 42-41 win. The Dinos knocked off the Bisons 43-28 in the 2013 Hardy Cup, also at McMahon Stadium.
SCORING SUMMARY1st QuarterCGY –
Johnny Mark 23-yard FG, 3:26, 3-0 CGY
CGY –
Johnny Mark 21-yard FG, 10:21, 6-0 CGY
2nd QuarterCGY –
Brett Blaszko 36-yard TD pass from
Andrew Buckley (
Johnny Mark convert), 1:22, 13-0 CGY
CGY –
Johnny Mark 68-yard kickoff single, 1:22, 14-0 CGY
CGY –
Rashaun Simonise 58-yard TD pass from
Andrew Buckley (
Johnny Mark convert), 5:15, 21-0 CGY
CGY –
Johnny Mark 85-yard kickoff single, 5:15, 22-0 CGY
CGY –
Johnny Mark 40-yard FG, 8:17, 25-0 CGY
CGY –
Brett Blaszko 72-yard RD pass from
Andrew Buckley (
Johnny Mark convert), 9:46, 32-0 CGY
CGY –
Rashaun Simonise 4-yard TD pass from
Andrew Buckley (
Johnny Mark convert), 14:40, 39-0 CGY
3rd QuarterCGY –
Andrew Buckley 1-yard TD run (
Johnny Mark convert), 4:03, 46-0 CGY
4th QuarterCGY –
Austen Hartley 9-yard TD catch from
Eric Dzwilewski (
Johnny Mark convert), 0:52, 53-0 CGY
CGY –
Johnny Mark 21-yard FG, 13:07, 56-0 CGY
-UC-