CALGARY – Breydon Stubbs scored on a five-yard run with 35 seconds left to pull Manitoba within one, but their two-point attempt failed as the Calgary Dinos overcame a slow start for a 15-14 win from McMahon Stadium Friday night.

With the win, Calgary moves to 1-1 on the year, while the Bisons fall to 0-2.

The Dinos scored all of their points after halftime, including 12 in the third quarter to once again show their ability to make second-half adjustments.

"The most important thing is that Dinos football got a win at home for the first time since October of 2023," Calgary head coach Ryan Sheahan said postgame. "The fellas showed that they can be resilient. They demonstrated tremendous grit and hung on until the very end."

"Our defence really started to respond in that second quarter and contain the reigning conference MVP. They (Manitoba) have talent and a big O-line, but on defence we just settled down. On offence, it's kind of going to go like that here and there. We've got an American quarterback, two freshmen quarterbacks, rookies in various spots...it takes a little while to kind of click and find the flow to the game that is necessary for what those guys see and do well."

It was a quiet first half for both teams. Vaughn Lloyd ran it in from six yards out late in the first quarter to cap a methodical drive by the Bisons to make it 7-0 in what proved to be lone score of the first 30 minutes.

The Dinos owned the third. After a rouge on the second half kickoff, Vince Triumbari drilled a 32-yard field goal to make it a 7-4 game 5:27 into the third. 

A Bisons' safety made it a one-point game before the best drive of the night from Calgary. David Jordan started things with a 16-yard connection to Matt Sibley before a pair of nice runs from rookie Eri Olarubofin to put the ball on the Manitoba 33. Another catch and run from Sibley put the Dinos on the goal line, where rookie QB Jet Zakrzewski capped the drive with his first U SPORTS touchdown and give Calgary its first lead at 12-7.

In the fourth, Manitoba tallied a single off the foot of Robert Lasebnik and Triumbari added another field from just 13 yards out to give Calgary a 15-8 lead before things got interesting late.

The Bisons got the ball at midfield with just 1:39 left to play and down by seven. Tachinski was able to find Nathan Udoh for a 41-yard pass down the sideline to give Manitoba a chance. Three plays later, it was Stubbs rumbling in from five yards out to make this a one-point game. With just 35 seconds left on the clock, Manitoba elected to try to take the lead and went for two but the pass was ruled incomplete to keep the score at 15-14.

Rookie Zion Grant successful recovered Manitoba's on-side kick for Calgary to finish this one off.

The Dinos finished the night out gaining the Bisons, 304-256 in total offence. Jordan finshed 16-of-30 passing for Calgary for 170 yards, while Tachinski was limited to 187 yards completing 17 passes of 24 attempts.

Sibley led all receivers with 62 yards on six catches for Calgary. It was a nice night for Olarubofin, who came off the bench for a dinged up Matthieu Clarke with 56 yards on the ground on eight carries.

"He (Olarubofin) played really well," Sheahan said. "He really responded to the call. When you lose your senior running back in the middle of a contest, typically the gasp can suck the air right out of McMahon Stadium. But, Eri answered the bell, and so did the offensive line."

Defensively, Crown Otoro tallied two of the four sacks for Calgary on the night, while Jack Shaffer also recorded a pair of sacks on the night for the Bisons.

Up next, Calgary hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Edmonton for a Friday night Battle of Alberta from Foote Field.

-UC-