Justin Mackenzie; Dinos Communications
CALGARY – Adam Sinagra threw for 457 yards while the Calgary defence limited MVP candidate Ed Ilnicki to just 81 as the fourth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos knocked off the Alberta Golden Bears 39-22 Saturday at McMahon Stadium in a Hardy Cup semifinal.
With the win, the Dinos return to the Canada West championship game for the 10th consecutive season and will host the Hardy Cup for the ninth time in those 10 seasons when the 81st edition rolls into McMahon Stadium next Saturday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS AND POST-GAME REACTION
The Dinos put the game away late, but were in a position to do so because of a number of defensive stands early in the game.
"The old bend but don't break rule," Dinos head coach Wayne Harris explained. "When they got close to the end zone we were able to stand tall."
Alberta came out firing in the first with a drive that landed them deep into the Dinos zone, but were limited to only a field goal after being stopped on two occasions. The Dinos battled back after the early points and put up a touchdown courtesy Jeshrun Antwi, as Calgary led 7-3 after the first.
Alberta refused to give the Dinos the easy road to the Hardy Cup in the first half as they kept the game close, never being down by more than a touchdown. It was the kickers that dominated the first half scoring. Niko Difonte and Brent Arthur both kicked three field goals, and the Dinos took a 16-9 lead into half time.
The game turned midway through the third quarter. Alberta pivot Brad Baker found Colby Miller in the end zone to tie it at 16-16 – but the Dinos stole the momentum right back when Sinagra found Abdraman Abdel-Rahim for an 88-yard major on the very next play. Three more DiFonte field goals and a 41-yard Antwi touchdown off a short-yardage play rounded out the scoring for the Dinos as they salted it away late.
Sinagra had a bounce back game, completing 33 of 40 passes without throwing a single interception – tying a school single-game completions record in the process.
"You have to grind the whole game, this is playoff football," said Sinagra. "You just have to keep chipping away until you get that big play."
Antwi had a pair of touchdowns, coming in the rushing and receiving variety. He put together 106 yards on the ground and 63 in the air for an impressive 169 yards of total offence on the day.
DiFonte split the uprights six times in seven tries, tying a single-game school record jointly held by Bruce Parsons (1992) and Johnny Mark (2012), while Arthur connected on five of his six field goal tries.
The Dinos defence was also able to limit the new single season rushing record holder Illnicki to 85 yards, his second lowest total of the season.
For the Golden Bears, freshman Nathan Rowe started off his playoff career in a huge way with a couple of great grabs. He made six catches, most of which were under heavy coverage, for 116 yards. Tyler Henry also hit triple digits with 111 yards on five catches. Baker threw for 429 yards on 24-of-39 passing with one touchdown.
Defensively, Jakub Jakoubek had a monster day for the Dinos with 10 tackles, seven of the solo variety, as the Calgary front seven gave Ilnicki very little running room. Dylan Niedermaier led the way for Alberta with eight tackles on the day.
The road to the Vanier Cup continues next weekend when the Dinos host the winner of the UBC-Regina semifinal in the 81st Hardy Cup, live on SaskTel Max, TELUS Optik TV, and BellMTS.
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Photo by David Moll