Dinos clinch first in Canada West

By Justin Seward

The University of Calgary Dinos were victorious at Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4 with a 24–12 win over the hometown University of Saskatchewan Huskies. With the win, the Dinos not only improved to 6–0 on the season, but also clinched first place in the Canada West conference and guaranteed themselves home-field advantage for the duration of the 2013 Canada West playoffs, which start on Nov. 2 at McMahon Stadium.

The Huskies came out to an early lead, as Saskatchewan’s Charlie Power received a 15-yard throw to make it 7–0 for the Huskies just 3:29 into the game. The Dinos had a sluggish start and only managed to score two field goals as kicker Johnny Mark sent a couple through the uprights from 19 and 23 yards. The Huskies had an 11–6 lead at halftime.

The second half was a whole different story as some adjustments made by the Dinos paid off. After Huskies’s punter Denton Kolodzinski scored a punt single to make it 12–6, the Dinos scored 18 unanswered points to close the game out. The Dinos offence was kick-started by fifth-year receiver Chris Dobko, who scored a touchdown five minutes into the third quarter to make it 13–12 Dinos. Mark then kicked a 34-yard field goal to make it 16–12. A short time later, Mark punted 61 yards for a single to make it 17–12 at the end of three quarters.

The play of the night came from Calgary’s star running back Mercer Timmis, as he capped the game off with a 80-yard run for a touchdown. His 14th rushing touchdown of the season gave him a Dinos record for most rushing touchdowns in a season. Timmis was nominated for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport offensive player of the week award for his efforts.

The Dinos have a bye-week for the Thanksgiving weekend and are back at home on Oct. 18 against the Regina Rams.