CALGARY – The second-ranked University of Calgary Dinos used a solid performance on both sides of the football to cruise into the Canada West bye week with a 59-7 win over the Regina Rams Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.

With the win, the Dinos improve to 4-1 on the season while Regina falls to 1-4 with the loss.
Despite losing the services of conference MVP Mercer Timmis just minutes into the game, the Dinos still managed to put up nearly 400 rushing yards against the Rams as backup Quentin Chown did the lion's share of the work along the ground. But the Calgary defence also stood tall, allowing just 350 yards of offence by the Rams – and 71 of those came on one play, leading to Regina's only score of the game. And Calgary was able to carry that play throughout the contest, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter with most of the backups in.

"I thought in the third quarter we stalled a little, but I told the kids at the end of the game that our ability to play the fourth quarter at that tempo was a good point of emphasis for us," said Dinos head coach Blake Nill after the game. "We don't have the big 'star power' that we've had in the past – but we have good, solid football players who are able to make plays when given the opportunity. Case in point, we lose Mercer right away and Chown takes over, and then at the end we give Jansher (Hundal) an opportunity. That builds the team and gets the guys all excited for one another, and it marvellous to see some of your young kids get a chance to finally contribute."

Timmis put up 77 yards on just four carries in the opening eight minutes before landing awkwardly following a 42-yard run that set up Brett Blaszko's first of two touchdowns on the day midway through the first quarter. In his absence, Chown rumbled for 95 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown in the fourth, and Hundal added 69 yards and his first career CIS touchdown in the final minute of the game.

Calgary pivot Andrew Buckley completed 18 of 26 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns, both to Blaszko. Buckley also ran in a pair of majors himself. Calgary's other scoring came courtesy a pair of field goals and two singles from Johnny Mark, a conceded safety, and an 18-yard Austen Hartley touchdown run in the waning moments of the game.

Rashaun Simonise had an efficient night receiving, hauling in two catches for 101 yards, while Blaszko added six catches for 59 yards and two scores.

Defensively, the Dinos shut down Regina all afternoon, limiting the second-best offence in the conference under 300 passing yards and 72 rushing yards – only 10 of which came in the first half as the Dinos built up a 35-7 lead at the break. Regina quarterback Noah Picton was sacked four times, completing 19 of 37 passes for 277 yards. The one fly in the ointment for the Calgary defence was a 71-yard play to Addison Richards in the second quarter, which set up Regina's only score of the game – a three-yard Picton-to-Jared-Janotta pass. Other than that, the Rams managed just 14 first downs in the game and didn't threaten.

Richards was the game's top receiver with 109 yards on five catches, while Atlee Simon was Regina's top rusher with 35 yards.

The game wraps up the pre-Thanksgiving portion of the schedule for both teams as Canada West takes the week off next week. Both sides will be on the road for their next action on Oct. 18 when the Rams visit UBC while Calgary heads north to take on the Alberta Golden Bears.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter
CGY – Andrew Buckley 5-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 3:26, 7-0 CGY
CGY – Brett  Blaszko 1-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 7:57, 14-0 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 46-yard FG, 14:36, 17-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
CGY – Johnny Mark 49-yard missed FG single, 4:20, 18-0 CGY
REG – Jared Janotta 3-yard TD pass from Noah Picton (Andrew Fabian convert), 5:24, 18-7 CGY
CGY – Andrew Buckley 5-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 10:29, 25-7 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 27-yard FG, 13:54, 28-7 CGY
CGY – Brett Blaszko 4-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 14:44, 35-7 CGY

3rd Quarter
CGY – TEAM safety, 6:05, 37-7 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 69-yard punt single, 7:38, 38-7 CGY

4th Quarter
CGY – Quentin Chown 31-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 1:51, 45-7 CGY
CGY – Austen Hartley 18-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 10:44, 52-7 CGY
CGY – Jansher Hundal 2-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 14:06, 59-7 CGY

-UC-