MAX CRANSTON & COLE GUENTER

The Rams took down the Huskies 35-26 at the annual homecoming game.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell 35-26 to provincial rival Regina Rams Sept. 21 in front of a record-setting 9,033 fans who flocked to Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon with blankets and cushions in tow.

The Huskies, who were only down by two points at halftime, couldn’t keep up with the Rams. Regina put up 21 points in the third quarter and took a 23-point lead going into the final quarter of play.

Regina running back Kolten Solomon put the Rams on the scoreboard early in the first quarter following a missed field goal attempt by Huskies kicker Cole Samson on the Dogs’ opening drive. After Regina quarterback Marc Mueller connected with slotback Jared Janotta to put the Rams on the Huskies’ one-yard line, Solomon rumbled in for the touchdown to give his squad the early 7-1 lead.

Saskatchewan responded quickly as rookie quarterback Drew Burko found receiver Kit Hillis in the end zone on an 11-yard pass.

It would be the Huskies last lead of the match as Solomon scored again for Regina late in the second quarter, this time on an 18-yard toss from Mueller.

The Dogs added a field goal to trail 14-12 at the half.

Burko, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 131 yards, left at halftime with a hand injury. This led the way for backup quarterback Chase Bradshaw to enter the game.

“It’s unfortunate what happened to Drew, but I came in and whether it’s me or Drew at quarterback we have a lot of guys who can make plays and we just have to get them the ball,” Bradshaw said following the game.

Solomon kept up his strong play in the second half with a long 28-yard touchdown grab just over two minutes into the third quarter. Two drives later Mueller led the Rams 66 yards down the field on seven plays and Michael Kiapway finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

On the Huskies’ next possession, Bradshaw was intercepted by the Rams and the ball was brought back to the Huskies 14-yard line, where Kiapway would later run into the endzone for his second of the night. The score put Regina up 35-12 going into the fourth quarter.

“I just made a bad decision when I threw that ball and it resulted in a 14 point swing within two minutes,” Bradshaw said. “You can’t turn the ball over… especially against the Rams.”

Bradshaw regained his confidence and showed off his throwing arm, going deep to Hillis for two touchdowns in the final quarter. The first, a 47-yard pass completion, and the next, a 27-yard catch, combined with a Samson field goal to bring the score to 35-26 with over nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

The Rams defense put a stop to any Huskie comeback, however, by only allowing Bradshaw to complete one pass in the final nine minutes. Rams defensive tackle Ryan Wellman finished in a big way by sacking Bradshaw and forcing him to fumble the ball on the Dogs last play of the game.

Wellman, who finished with seven tackles and a pass breakup in addition to the sack and forced fumble, was named the Canada West defensive player of the week. He was helped by the Rams’ Daniel Knaus and Chris Sciog who shut down the Huskies offence with 9.5 and nine tackles, respectively.

Hillis, who recorded three touchdowns and 115 yards receiving on seven catches, found little solace in his individual stats.

“It sucks losing in front of our fans,” said Hillis who was proud to play in front of over 9000 cheering fans but was clearly disappointed with the loss. “I’d rather have zero catches and minus yards for that win. We’ll learn and we’ll get better, but it’s definitely a blow.”

“We were undisciplined. We didn’t execute the fundamentals and we left points on the field in the first half,” head coach Brian Towriss said following the game.

“We really needed one more first down with five minutes left in the game to get it within one score. But they got first downs and kept us off the field.”

Bradshaw finished the game 14-for-23 with 204 yards in the air, two touchdowns and one interception.

Mueller completed 29 of 37 attempts for 330 passing yards and two touchdowns while Solomon, who racked up 113 all-purpose yards in the game, recorded three touchdowns. Their squad moves to 3-1 on the season with the win.

The Huskies now hold a 2-2 record.

This was the only game the Rams and Huskies will play against each other this season. The Dogs, who will look to make up for the loss this week, have a tough test as they play the undefeated Calgary Dinos on Sept. 29.

The number-two ranked Dinos are coming off a 62-7 routing of the UBC Thunderbirds and are heavy favourites against the U of S Huskies.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf