REGINA – The University of Regina Rams scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to lift them to a 23-15 victory over the University of Calgary on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium.

The Dinos – who turned to first-year quarterback Xavier Vaillancourt for the first time in his career after an injury kept Dom Britton out of this one – jumped out to a 15-1 lead just before halftime, but a late surge by the Rams gave the home team the win.

The Dinos threw the first jab on the final play of the first quarter. Vaillancourt dropped back to his own 27 and fired, hitting a streaking Gob Deng at the opposing 45-yard line, with Deng eluding a defender and tip-toeing the sideline to just get past the pylon for the 71-yard score. Vince Triumbari added the extra point and Chris MacLean added another single with a rouge on the ensuing kickoff to give the Dinos an 8-1 lead one play into the second quarter.

The Dinos scored again three possessions later. On a drive that started at midfield, the Dinos got the ball down to the 30 when Vaillancourt found Ben Gagnon. The rookie wide out made a defender miss, cut up field and coasted into the end zone to make it 15-1 with just over three minutes left in the half.

But the Rams responded on the next possession on first-year quarterback Owen Sieben's first career drive. Sieben hit D'Sean Mimbs for a 38-yard gain, then found Emmett Steadman for 35 yards on the very next play to get the Rams inside Calgary's 10. Sieben then connected with Bennett Stusek for an 8-yard major to cut Calgary's lead to 15-7.

Neither team scored in the third, but the Rams got within one on a Brayden Wagg one-yard run with 12:03 left in the fourth, before an 18-yard field goal by Aldo Galvin with 6:02 left gave Regina a 17-15 lead.

With the Dinos pressing, the Rams came up with a big turnover in Calgary territory. Regina successfully milked the clock down and added another one-yard scoring run by Wagg with 1:28 left to close out the scoring.

Vaillancourt finished the day going 19-of-33 for 251 yard, two touchdowns and one interception. Deng had a game-high 91 yards receiving, while teammate Matt Sibley hauled in a career-best seven catches for 75 yards. Fifth-year transfer Nick Sua once again led the Dinos attack on the ground with 85 yards on 17 carries.

Sieben was the more efficient of the two QBs for the Rams on the day, finishing 13-of-20 for 187 yards and one score. Marshall Erichsen had a nice day running for Regina, carrying the ball for 123 yards on 17 carries.

Defensively, Sauce Odemwingie had a team-high seven tackles for Calgary, while Liam Reid recorded his first career sack.

The Rams improve to 1-2 on the year, while the Dinos fall to 0-3.

After two weeks away from home, the Dinos finally return to McMahon Stadium next weekend for a Friday night contest against Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, the Rams start a two-week stretch on the road with a trip to Manitoba next Saturday.

-UC-