VANCOUVER – In the midst of an unrelenting deluge of heavy rain from kickoff until the final whistle, the banged up Calgary Dinos football team dropped a 21-5 decision to UBC Friday night from Thunderbird Stadium.
Calgary turned the ball over seven times in the miserable conditions – three of them on downs during desperation time in the fourth quarter.
Given the conditions, both teams relied heavily on the ground game while offence in general was hard to come by. UBC put up 269 total yards of offence while limiting Calgary to just 180.
UBC quarterback Garrett Rooker handed off the ball 37 times between Knight, Dane Kapler and Caleb Yang. The fourth-year pivot threw for just 30 total yards to Calgary quarterback
Dom Britton's 106 – numbers which also tell much of the weather story at Thunderbird Stadium.
On UBC's third drive of the opening quarter, Kieran Flannery-Fleck expanded UBC's early lead to 5-1 with a 34-yard field goal.
The start of the second frame saw the two sides trade blunders with the ball. Rooker was intercepted by
Gideon Agyei at the Dinos 54, giving the visitors terrific field position to start a new drive of their own. But on their first play from scrimmage, Calgary gave the ball right back when Britton fumbled, pounced on by rookie linebacker Deacon Sterna making it first down UBC near midfield.
Back-to-back big gains by Isaiah Knight and Kapler put the 'Birds well inside Calgary territory. UBC kept the ball on the ground the rest of the way, inching closer to the end zone before Kapler rushed in from two yards out for his fourth major score of the year, expanding the T-Birds' lead to 12-1 with the convert.
Calgary fumbled the ball for the second time when Britton was strip sacked by Ronan Horrall, recovered by Taaj Jhooty at the Dinos' 41. Given the intense rain, once again UBC offensive coordinator Stevenson Bone kept the ball on the ground with a mix of Knight, Kapler and Yang – along with a completed pass to Brad Hladik – to once again work inside the Dinos' five yard line. This time it was Knight who finished off the drive, a three yard rush through a perfectly protected gap by the offensive line for his seventh touchdown of the season and a 19-1 UBC lead heading into the break.
A Flannery-Fleck rouge served as the lone point scored by either team in the third quarter with a combined five punts within the frame.
Trailing by 19 and with the clock quickly becoming their biggest enemy, the Dinos put together a solid drive with a visit to the red zone. But, facing third and goal at the UBC four, the T-Birds defence once again came up clutch, Aiden Bertuzzi wrapping up Dinos running back
Matthieu Clarke for a loss as Calgary turned it over on downs.
Holding the 'Birds to a two-and-out with UBC electing to concede a safety, the Dinos went back to work on offence.
Given the waning clock, Britton elected to go to the air and managed a couple big gains on completed passes to
Matteo Civitarese and
Evan Smith. Another third and short gamble, however, once again took the wind out of Calgary's sails. Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown led a gang tackle to halt Clarke well short of the first down marker, putting the ball back in UBC's hands just shy of the three minute warning.
Friday night's victory ensure the T-Birds will finish at least second in the conference and the right to host a Hardy Cup semifinal at Thunderbird Stadium.
The final week of the regular season sees the T-Birds fly to Winnipeg to face the first place Manitoba Bisons. Should the Bisons lose to Alberta in their week seven game Saturday, it sets up a potential winner take all for first place, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Dinos now return home for their regular-season finale, hosting Saskatchewan next Saturday for a 2 p.m. game from McMahon Stadium.
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