The University of Saskatchewan Huskies seem to have a flare for the dramatics. For the second time in three weeks they used a late touchdown to seal a victory — this time over the University of Regina Rams.

Quarterback Drew Burko was excellent once again as he engineered the late drive that would end up being the winning points in a hard fought 21–16 Dogs victory.

Burko was relied on heavily and he didn’t disappoint, as the Huskies couldn’t establish a running game all afternoon. Of his 46 passes, Burko completed 30 of them for 343 yards and two touchdowns. He has been the key to the Huskies offence thus far as he is second in the Canada West conference in passing yards and is tied for first in passing touchdowns.

Mitch Hillis opened the scoring on a five-yard touchdown pass from Burko, it was Hillis’ third touchdown of the year. Then after a Denton Kolodzinski single stretched the Huskie lead to eight, Rams leading receiver Addison Richards scored a nine-yard touchdown to make the score 8–7 after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, Rams kicker Andrew Fabian hit a pair of field goals — one from 29 and another from 21 yards out. Kolodzinksi would answer for the green and white with a 35-yard field goal of his own to make the score 13–11 in favour of the Rams at halftime. The third quarter would also be a defensive affair as Fabian scored the lone points of the frame with a 29-yard field goal to give the Rams a 16–11 cushion after 45 minutes of action. 

Kolodzinski connected on a 33-yard field goal and then tacked on a single point to cut the Rams lead to just 16–15, setting the stage for Burko’s late heroics. 

Burko guided them on a nine-play drive, 74-yard drive where he completed seven passes capped off with a five-yard touchdown by running back Shane Buchanan. Veteran linebacker Richard Zacharias would seal it with an interception on the very next play for the Dogs. 

Defensively, Geoff Hughes led the way with 6.5 tackles. Rookie defensive end Adam Morrison chipped in with a sack and defensive backs Chris Friesen and Keegan Arynek recorded interceptions. The Huskies defence was strong against the run, allowing just 59 yards along the ground. The secondary, however, gave up 355 passing yards to Noah Picton in his first ever Canadian Interuniversity Sport start. They used the “bend but don’t break” philosophy as they gave a substantial chunk of yardage, but held the Rams to just 16 points — a season best for the Huskies. 

In other Canada West action, the University of Calgary Dinos remained undefeated as they snuck past the University of Manitoba Bisons 42–41 and the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds picked up their first win of the season as they downed the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears 49–13.

The U of S win and the Bisons loss means the Dogs take over sole possession of second place in the Canada West with a 3–1 record. Next week they are home to the 1–3 Thunderbirds and finish their season by playing the 1–3 Golden Bears and then a rematch with Manitoba.

If the Huskies close out their season like they should, they would likely finish at 6–1 and that would be good enough for second place and hosting a playoff game in the Canada West. A likely matchup would be with the third place Bisons, whom the Huskies disposed of 44–24 in week one.

There is a lot of football left to be played, but the Huskies have put themselves in a good position to compete for the Canada West championship. 

The Huskies will host the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in the annual Blackout Game.