COLLEEN MARTYN
Sports Writer
Thousands of cheering voices and a sea of green and white streamers celebrated the Huskies football team’s 53-23 win against the Regina Rams in the Canada West semi-final game on Nov. 7 at PotashCorp Park.
On the two occasions that the Huskies and Rams met this season, Saskatchewan was victorious. First, on Sept. 11 in Saskatoon, the Rams and Huskies stayed neck and neck until the Huskies won 10-9. The teams met again on Oct. 30 in Regina and the Huskies were not willing to let the Rams get as close as they did in the first contest. The Huskies battled out a 42-17 win on Regina turf and prepared for the semi-final game.
“That 10-9 game (against Regina) we weren’t hustling, we weren’t being physical, we weren’t working very hard,” said quarterback Laurence Nixon in comparison to the low offensive output against the Rams in the second game of the season.
“Working hard and how physical we were going to be with them I think dictated how we ended up playing. The ground game really opened things up for us with passing the ball and I think our whole line were unsung heroes today and I’ll give them all the props,” said Nixon.
Due to Manitoba defaulting their wins because of an ineligible player, the original game plan had to be changed to a match up against Regina.
The Huskies began their domination of the Rams by scoring touchdowns on four of their first six drives, scoring a consecutive 33 points.
Nixon threw three touchdown passes and defensive back and kicker Grant Shaw completed a touchdown on an interception, a field goal and two singles — all before the midpoint of the second quarter. At the end of the game, Nixon completed 19 out of 28 passes for 284 yards and five touchdowns.
At the start of the second quarter, Shaw intercepted a pass from Marc Mueller and ran it back 69 yards for a touchdown. The field goal brought the Huskies to a score of 26-0. On the next drive, Nixon’s eight-yard pass to Jones brought the score to 33-0 for the Green and White.
Regina saw points on the board after Jordan Sisco’s first of three touchdowns of the game.
In the second half, Cory Jones made his third touchdown putting the Huskies up 39-8. The Rams came back with a one yard run from Sisco. Regina then added a single, followed by a touchdown from Braeden George, bringing the score to 46-15.
Trevor Barss, Huskies backup quarterback finished the game and began the fourth quarter with a 99-yard drive to the end zone. Soon after, George had his third touchdown of the game with a 79-yard catch. The Rams’ next possession resulted in their last touchdown of the game, an 81-yard drive caught by Sisco.
By the end of the afternoon the Huskies added their first post-season win in two years with a final score of 53-23.
Not only was this a huge achievement because the Huskies defeated their provincial rivals in every game they met in this season, but the win against the Rams secured the Huskies place at the Canada West Hardy Cup finals. The No. 3 ranked Huskies have not participated in a Hardy Cup final since 2006.
The Huskies will match up against the No. 2 ranked Calgary Dinos who defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 45-13 in the other semi-final this weekend. The Hardy Cup will take place on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. at PotashCorp Park.
“We got some weapons and they’re all healthy,” said Huskies head coach Brian Towriss.
“Anytime you can run the ball and the play-action pass going makes all the difference in the world. Hassler was good, Nixon was good. Lots of guys on defence played well, we had lots of good pressure — it was Hart, Seutter and those guys. It was a good overall team win.”
Elaborating upon next weekend’s Hardy Cup game, Nixon knows a week of preparation is in order before taking on Calgary.
“They’re a good team (Calgary) and we’re going to get a look at the film and prepare like we always prepare. It’ll be another week for us to get better and take some personal strides forward. They’re a good opponent; they’re going to be ready for us but we just have to prepare.”
If the Huskies pull off a Hardy Cup victory they will travel to play the Atlantic conference champion in the Uteck Bowl in the CIS semi-final on Nov. 21
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photo: Matt Smith