WINNIPEG — The University of Calgary Dinos gave up 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to fall 28-20 to the Manitoba Bisons Saturday afternoon at IG Field.
The loss drops the Dinos to 1-2 at the midway point of the season, while Manitoba moves to 3-0, alone in first place.
After their rally started with two passing touchdowns from first-year pivot Jackson Tachinski to Kai Madsen, then Macho Bockru, Manitoba went ahead on a Cole Sabourin field goal with 3:01 left in the fourth. They would build on that 21-20 lead with another touchdown with 44 seconds left — a Breydon Stubbs scamper to the outside post — to go up 28-20.
While the game ended in the win column for Manitoba, it didn't look like things would go that way for the first half. Coming in after a loss to Regina, the No. 4 ranked Dinos were clearly motivated to succeed — rushing the ball relentlessly on No. 6 ranked Manitoba to the tune of 138 yards, while the Bisons had just 95 yards of total offence. Fourth-year
Alessandro Molnar was the biggest weapon, tallying 131 yards on 15 rushes in the game, while third-year Dino
Ben Abrook had 77 yards on ten carries.
Calgary scored the game's first touchdown two minutes in on a 36-yard pass from
Josiah Joseph to
Tyson Philpot, who made a ridiculous catch in triple coverage in the end zone.
They followed that up with another major early in the second, as Joseph connected with
Nathanael Durkan for a 23-yard score. The Bisons' secondary dialed in after that, though, keeping the Dinos' deadly aerial attack out of the end zone for the rest of the game.
While their offense still lagged behind, the Bisons got a shot in the arm when SAM linebacker Stefan Conway intercepted Joseph deep in the Dinos' own territory. After returning the ball down to the six, the Bisons paid off the defensive effort with a six-yard pass from Tachinski to Madsen to make it a one-score game.
The Dinos return home to face the Alberta Golden Bears next Sunday, Oct. 24, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. MT at McMahon Stadium.
-30-
