EDMONTON – Adam Sinagra tossed for 426 yards and four touchdowns to lead the fourth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos to a 55-26 win over the Alberta Golden Bears Friday night at Foote Field.
Sinagra, a third-year pivot from Pierrefonds, Que., completed 27 of 33 passes in an efficient performance, helped out by an offensive line that gave him plenty of time to work through his reads. He sparked the Dinos to a string of 30 unanswered points through the second and third quarters as Calgary stretched its dominance over its provincial rival, which has dated back to the 2008 season. It was the 10th straight game where the Dinos scored more than 50 points against the Golden Bears.
"We knew it was going to be a tough start for both teams, the first game of the year," said Dinos Head Coach
Wayne Harris. "We got a big stand from the defence and the offence really kept rolling after that. It was great to see the guys execute and respond inI thought the offensive line had an outstanding game tonight, it reminded me of how much time they used to give Andrew Buckley a couple years ago. That's a huge difference-maker, and Adam was able to continue to find receivers that worked hard to get open."
Sinagra's target on the night was
Dallas Boath, who hauled in 142 yards on eight catches before sustaining a leg injury in the third quarter. Boath had a couple of highlight-reel catches, including a 40-yard major late in the second quarter as Calgary broke the game open.
Michael Klukas scored a pair of TDs for the Dinos on a three-yard end-around run in the second along with a 40-yard catch in the third.
Jeshrun Antwi had a 12-yard TD reception, while
Hunter Karl and
Jacob Izquierdo also pulled in majors for the defending Canada West champion Dinos.
The Bears' scoring came largely from a pair of big plays: Ed Ilnicki found a hole and ran for an 83-yard touchdown to end Calgary's 30-0 run in the third qurater, while Nathan Rowe caught a Ben Kopczynski pass and took it 109 yards to the end zone, tying the longest reception in U SPORTS history. Alberta quarterback Brad Baker completed 14 of 31 passes for 196 yards in a losing cause.
The Dinos open their home schedule next Friday night, Sept. 8, when they host the Regina Rams for KICKOFF, wrapping up UCalgary's fall Orientation Week. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at McMahon Stadium, live on TELUS Optik TV.
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