CALGARY – The third-ranked University of Calgary Dinos clinched a playoff spot for the 12th straight season as they defeated the No. 6 University of Saskatchewan Huskies 33-13 Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.
The Dinos improve to 5-0 on the season heading into the bye week, while Saskatchewan falls to 3-2 – with both of those losses coming at the hands of Calgary.
Calgary quarterback
Adam Sinagra overcame a slow start to throw for 432 yards and four touchdowns on the day while the Calgary defence allowed just three points in the first half and held Saskatchewan to just one touchdown.
"It was a tough battle, like we knew it would be," said Dinos Head Coach
Wayne Harris. "We need to be a little bit sharper, a little crisper, but anytime you're over 500 yards of offence you've had a good day. In that first half we only gave up three points – bent a little bit but made some good defensive stands and they made some great plays down by the goal line. The defence stood in tall all day, and I was pleased with their effort."
Two promising Saskatchewan drives were snuffed out in the first quarter by turnovers. Calgary's
Deane Leonard intercepting Kyle Siemens inside the 10-yard line on the Huskies' first drive; then, after a missed 43-yard field goal try by Sean Stenger,
Grant McDonald popped the ball out of Tyler Chow's grasp and
Blake Gau jumped on it to give the Dinos great field position. One play later, Sinagra found
Jalen Philpot for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Dinos a 6-0 lead after a bad snap on the convert.
Saskatchewan got on the board early in the second with a 17-yard field goal, and the Dinos offence went to work from there. Calgary scored on three of its next four drives – a 35-yard touchdown to
Justin Julien, a 13-yard
Niko DiFonte field goal, and a 26-yard
Hunter Karl TD grab – to take a 23-3 lead into the break.
The Huskies scored the only points of the third quarter on a 39-yard Stenger field goal and a one-yard Mason Nyhus touchdown plunge, bringing the game within 10 points as the game moved into the fourth quarter. The game turned on the next Calgary drive, though: after being forced into a punting situation, the Dinos kept possession of the ball on a roughing the kicker call and, again, made Saskatchewan pay for the error right away. This time, it was Sinagra finding
Alex Basilis for a 53-yard touchdown on the very next play, snuffing out any momentum the Huskies had built and re-establishing their comfortable lead.
Siemens went to the air often, completing 21 of 40 passes for 297 yards and one interception. Jesse Kuntz was his top target with six catches for 87 yards, while Carter Dahl yad 93 receiving yards on just three receptions.
For the Dinos, Basilis and
Dallas Boath each had five catches for 116 and 55 yards, respectively, while Karl and Julien each had four receptions on the day.
Nick Statz led the way defensively with eight tackles, followed closely by
Sterling Taylor IV with 6.5.
Neither team was able to establish much on the ground, with Saskatchewan picking up just 97 rushing yards and the Dinos 87.
The two teams join the rest of Canada West in the Thanksgiving bye next week before returning to action Friday, Oct. 12 when the Huskies visit UBC while the Dinos host Manitoba.
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