CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos football team outscored the reigning Canada West champion Regina Rams 26-12 in the second half to force overtime, but fell just short in a 43-36 loss in Friday night's season opener in front of 5,388 fans inside McMahon Stadium.

The Dinos got on the board first with a 15-yard patient run from Matthieu Clarke in the first quarter, but Marshall Erichsen ran in three of his four touchdowns on the afternoon in during the first half alone to help the Rams build a 24-10 lead at the break.

Calgary's defence came up with some timely stops and the youthful Dinos' offence started to find some rhythm after the break, ultimately tying things up by scoring 10 points with just six seconds left on the clock.

Austin Sladek hauled in his first U SPORTS touchdown on a 28-yard pitch and catch to keep hope alive, before Matt Sibley caught the two-point conversion to make it 36-35 with six seconds still showing on the clock. 

The never-say-die Dinos lined up on the ensuing kickoff in an onside formation that seemed to confuse their opponents, only to see kicker Vince Triumbari send the ball barreling toward the endzone where it took a favourable bounce and continued over the end line to tie things up.

In the extra frame, Erichsen added his fourth score of the day on a six-yard burst, while the Dinos offence couldn't connect as the Rams walked away with the win in a wild one from McMahon.

"I was really proud of the way that they played and the way that they fought, but in this conference with the competition being so good, you have to try to eliminate errors around every turn," Calgary head coach Ryan Sheahan said postgame. "Unfortunately, we were the ones that made a critical error here or there that caused us to the stay on the field a little too long on defence, or two-and-outs on offence. We have to eliminate those things against really good football teams. 

"That's a really good football team. They're the defending conference champs for a reason and it was evident tonight."

Noah Pelletier commanded the Rams' attack by going 25-of-36 for 358 yards and one score – a 55-yard bomb to Nicholas Sirleaf. 

Erichsen finished the day with 113 yards on the ground on 27 carries and four scores – a new program record for rushing touchdowns in single game for the Rams.

First-year Dinos' QB David Jordan settled in nicely as the game went along and finished his first start connecting on 23 of 38 attempts for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those came from Sibley, who finished the day with eight catches for 132 yards and two scores.

Clarke showed why he's one of the best backs in the country, closing out Game 1 with 109 yards on just 15 carries and his early TD.

Calgary linebacker Osasere Odemwingie led all players with 12 tackles. Connor Jones came up with a big blocked punt, with Kaleb Conn recovering and helping set up a short field.

Triumbari went 2-for-2 on field goals, while adding the dramatic rouge to close out the scoring.

The Dinos are right back at home next weekend as they host Manitoba Friday night for a 7 p.m. contest from McMahon. Meanwhile, Regina hosts its home opener as Alberta comes to campus, also Friday night.

-UC-