The University of Saskatchewan Huskies had a furious comeback late in the fourth quarter and then pulled out the victory in overtime over the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Trailing by eight points with 1:45 left in the game, quarterback Drew Burko led the charge that resulted in a 10-yard touchdown for Mitch Hillis. Then receiver Andre LaLonde caught the two-point conversion to tie the game.

In overtime, it was Kit Hillis who scored the touchdown that would give the Huskies the lead for good. Alberta would actually score, but their two-point conversion would be denied and the Dogs hung on for the improbable 42–41 win.

The normally strong Huskies defence wasn’t up to the challenge of stopping the Bears. Alberta racked up 572 yards of offence, including 419 passing yards from quarterback Curtis Dell.

Burko continued his sizzling start to the season as he threw for four more touchdowns and totaled 382 yards, giving him eight touchdown passes in two games to start the season. Once again, Burko spread the wealth with seven different players recording a reception.

Kit Hillis led the way with four catches for 91 yards and his touchdown. Also recording major scores were John Trumpy, LaLonde and Mitch Hillis. Shane Buchanan headed the rushing attack with 13 carries for 58 yards.

Mid-way through the first quarter, Denton Kolodzinski opened the scoring for the Huskies at 3–1 while running back Jeremy Long would punch in a two-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 10–1 on the final play of the first frame.

In the second quarter, Dell hooked up with Adam Zajdel for a nine-yard touchdown to cut the Dogs lead to 10–9 at the half. The third quarter saw more seesaw action as LaLonde and Trumpy opened it to a 24–9 lead, before Dell ran in a one-yard major to it 24–16 after three.

After Alberta added a punt single, the teams would trade field goals early in the fourth stanza. Then with time running out, Dell and Golden Bear receiver Jimmy Ralph connected on a 40-yard bomb that gave Alberta the 35–27 advantage. Then the late Huskie heroics took place.

Next week the Huskies will challenge the University of Calgary Dinos. Both teams find themselves with 2–0 records to begin the season and the winner takes over sole possession of first place in the Canada West conference.

Five-time reigning Canada West champions, the Dinos have been completely dominant to start the season. They began by hammering Alberta 71–3 and then on Sept. 13 beat the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 59–11.

Calgary is led by a very powerful running game and are averaging 308 yards along the ground a game, which is a completely ridiculous number. The Huskies are second in the conference, averaging a strong 152 yards per game, but not even half of the Dinos’ remarkable number. To add to their impressive yardage totals, they have scored five rushing touchdowns each game.

Mercer Timmis is the key to Calgary’s offence as he leads the Canada West in rushing yards and touchdowns. The Dogs will have to step up their defence as they allowed a solid 90 yards to the University of Manitoba Bisons and were then abused by Alberta for 174. Stopping the very potent Dinos offence will be a challenge for Huskies if no adjustments are made.

On the Huskies side of the ball, Burko leads the conference in passing touchdowns and is third in passing yards. The Dinos defence is allowing just 118 passing yards a game, so it could be difficult for the Huskies to move the ball effectively.

The game will ultimately come down to whether the Huskies can shut down the high-powered Dinos rushing game and find ways to exploit their proven secondary.

The pivotal first-place showdown takes place on Sept. 19, 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.