The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football team is back on the field for fall training camp and getting ready to return to regular season play. Although the regular season does not start until Sept. 2 when the University of Regina Rams visit Griffiths Stadium, Huskies fans were nonetheless able to enjoy a good football game during the preseason.

On Aug. 20, the University of Alberta Golden Bears arrived at Griffiths Stadium to face off against the Huskies in a controlled scrimmage match.

Huskies getting ready for this season.

The scrimmage commenced with a few drills. On the north side of the field, the offensive and defensive lines from each team squared off against one another, alternating between protecting their quarterbacks — or coaches, who were in place of the quarterbacks  — and going on the offensive to sack the other team’s quarterback.

Meanwhile, the receivers, quarterbacks and defensive backs lined up at centre field to complete and defend against passes.

After warming up with a few drills and short scrimmage games, a full four-quarter game took place with the Huskies defeating the Golden Bears by a score of 27-17.

Huskies head coach Brian Towriss was pleased with the scrimmage, adding that the game allowed coaches to evaluate players and revealed what aspects of the game the Huskies need to focus on during the remainder of fall camp.

“I think that both teams probably got out of it what they wanted. It’s hard when you’re playing 85 people on both sides of the ball to know what kind of matchups are going to be, so I don’t think it’s any indication at all of what the regular season has to bring, but we got some good film on some young kids,” Towriss said. “We saw some good things, saw a lot of mistakes and I think [the Golden Bears] are going to say the same thing.”

Despite winning the game, Towriss said that there is still plenty of work to do before the season starts.

“They took it to us running the ball pretty good in the start, and we threw the ball pretty well on them which is really no different than last year. Now we’ll look at the film and we’ll evaluate and start to narrow it down a little bit,” Towriss said. “Everybody has had equal reps until this point, so we’ll get people into units and maybe start focusing on our starting group a little bit more now. We’re not far from our roster.”

Towriss added that the big offensive play makers did not see much field time. In particular, wide receivers Mitch Hillis and Julan Lynch sat most of the game out in order to let the coaching staff observe some of the new offensive players.

“Now we move on. We’ve got a couple of days off to regroup. We have another two weeks of camp and we’ve identified some things we’ve got to do,” Towriss said.

The Huskies may have lost some key offensive and defensive players from last year, but 2016 still boasts a strong roster full of veteran players.

On offence, quarterbacks Drew Burko and Kyle Siemens return to guide the Huskies from the pocket. Burko — who enters his final year of eligibility — completed 117 of 206 attempts for 1725 yards and nine touchdowns, and played in a preseason game with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes in June. Siemens went 76-for-127 for 1099 yards and six touchdowns in his rookie year.

Wide receivers Hillis and Lynch will return to the field and joined by running backs Jarvis James and Tyler Chow. Tackle Evan Johnson will lead the offensive line.

On defence, fifth-year defensive lineman Donovan Dale will lead the charge on the Huskies defence. Dale transferred to the Huskies from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in 2015 and was named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport All-Canadian for the third time after recording 36 tackles, eight sacks and three forced fumbles. Joining him on the defensive line are Brayden Twarynski, Tristan Koronkiewicz and Evan Machibroda.

Sean Stenger will return for special teams.

Ben Whiting — who was an all-star at the 2016 International Federation of American Football World Junior Championship — and Eric Thakerdeen will anchor the linebacking corps.

Key Recruits or Transfers (O):

Colton Klassen (RB)

Chad Braun(Rec)

Evan Kopchynski (Rec)

Mike Palumbo (OL)

Nick Summach (OL)

KEY LOSSES:

John Trumpy (Rec)

Matt Leung (OL)

Mat Czerniak (C)

Andrew Lalonde (RB)

KEY RECRUITS OR TRANSFERS (D):

Matt Kozun (DL)

Nathan Cherry (DL)

Quinn Pierce (LB)

Joel Seiferling (DB)

KEY LOSSES:

Chris Friesen (DB)

Dane Bishop (LB)

Geoff Hughes (LB)

Brenden Palmer / Sports & Health Editor

Photo: Electric Umbrella / Supplied