Regina recieves ramming from Dinos football

By Britany Bingham

On Fri., Oct. 8, the Dinos faced the University of Regina Rams at McMahon Stadium in front of over 1,700 screaming fans. Regina had defeated the University of Calgary in four of the last five games between the teams. The Dinos were due for a win since the last time they defeated Regina was in the 2001 regular season. That’s just what they did under the Friday night lights.


The game began with kicker Stephen Hughes striking a 59-yard punt into Rams territory, showing Regina that our boys meant business. Soon after, defensive back Ryan Saurette kicked a 23-yard field goal which resulted in the Dinos pulling three points ahead. Hughes was named special teams player of the game along with Saurette.


Unfortunately, the Rams responded with two touchdowns by Regina receivers Chris Bauman and Ryan Anderson. Luckily, defensive player of the game Damony Simmonds was able to finish the first quarter with a miraculous interception at the 50-yard line, leading to a touchdown run.


“I didn’t have time to think about it. All of a sudden the ball was just there and somehow I was able to make it into the end zone,” Simmonds said of his run.


This brought the score to 10-14 at the end of the first quarter.


The second quarter was fairly uneventful with the exception of the Rams receiver Mike Thompson running the ball in for a quick touchdown, increasing Regina’s lead to 11 points. Soon after this touchdown, the Rams fumbled the ball in their own end zone, which resulted in a safety for the Dinos. The first half ended with the Rams leading 12-21.


“The fire we had from the win against [the University of] Alberta obviously didn’t continue over into our first half. We were struggling to get into our groove but only found it after half time,” said starting receiver David Holowaychuk.


And that they did.


In the second half, the Dinos picked up their feet and decided to play like men instead of boys. The action began with second year wide receiver Drew Hogan catching a beautiful 21-yard pass, putting the Dinos into good field position. The men in red continued to march down the field, concluding with offensive player of the game Charles Guedo running into the end zone for a touchdown. Five minutes later, the Rams scored their last points of the night–a short field goal that brought the score to 19-24 for Regina at the end of the third quarter.


The fourth quarter saw Dinos running back Aneel Brar light up the Regina defense. Brar rushed for 119 yards with only 13 carries! Brar, a fourth year player, was named outstanding player of the game.


“We had some trouble in the first half but got our act together for the second. It was my first 100-yard game and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the o-line getting people out of my way. They played a really great game,” said Brar.


Thanks to Brar’s efforts, Saurette was able to score another field goal and running back Jesse Butterfield was able to score a touch down. Exceptional receiver Joel Ford then caught the two-point conversion attempt, bringing the Dinos ahead by six points. The game ended with Simmonds grabbing another timely interception, securing the win for Calgary.


“We definitely came out stronger in the second half. All we needed to do was re-group. All it took was one big play and that just led to another big play which was what we needed to fire us up. We knew we were a better team, we just needed to prove it,” said Simmonds.


The Dinos are now 3-2 and tied for third place in Canada West with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Calgary goes to Saskatoon to play the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Sat., Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. Their next home game is Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. against Simon Fraser University.


Between the uprights:


On a side note, the Dinos had a special visitor in the stands. Freelance sports writer and well known football fanatic Craig Burrow was in from the United States for the weekend and decided to watch the game. Burrow is close to finishing his 15-year quest of watching every division one football team in North America. Burrow has seen about 90 per cent of all the teams he set out to see.


When asked about his mission he replied, “Nobody’s ever paid me to do this. It’s just a passion I have. I love the atmosphere on campuses. Everyone’s always so excited and has , ., ,. ,. so much fun. It’s an atmosphere like nothing else.”


I asked him what he thought of our Dinos, especially in comparison to all the other teams he’s seen and he replied, “The facilities you have here are unbelievable! This is one of the nicest stadiums I’ve ever seen. The team themselves seem to be a close knit group of guys that really work hard to win their games. I’ll admit they started slow but they seemed to show their true colors once they got going. You [as a university] are really lucky to have such a great team to cheer for.”

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