WINNIPEG – As to further exemplify the crazy, Canada West football conference during the 2014 season, another stunning result occurred on the final regular season weekend of action as the Manitoba Bisons upset the #2 ranked Calgary Dinos by a 50-31 score on Saturday, November 1 at Investors Group Field (U of Manitoba campus) in front of 1,123 fans.
With the win, Manitoba completed the regular season at 4-4 and clinched a playoff spot. That spot was then determined when Regina defeated Alberta later in the day by a 35-31 score and now the Bisons will finish in third place and face the Saskatchewan Huskies on Fri., Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. CT. Calgary ends up with a 6-2 record and first place in Canada West regular season standings.
Manitoba was trying to reverse an earlier result in the 2014 campaign when Calgary defeated the Herd 42-41 at home on Sept. 26. And with the win, Manitoba also snapped a ten game conference reg. season losing streak (plus two more post-season losses) against Calgary that dated back to the last time the Bisons defeated the Dinos was during the 2007 Vanier Cup championship perfect season by the Herd.
On this day, the home side came out with some tricks up their sleeves as the first offensive play of the game had slotback Nic Demski take a handoff and instead of running, he threw a 43 yard dart to wide receiver Dustin Pedersen to put them deep in Calgary territory. Two plays later, Demski ended the drive with a catch in-between two defenders for a 26 yard TD reception and an early 7-0 lead.
After a Dinos field goal, a huge turning point early in the contest was a blocked punt by Alex Christie that ricochet off his hands and into defensive back Jayden McKoy's hands. McKoy promptly returned it 60 yards for an improbable Bison touchdown.
This would not be the last of Christie and blocking kicks.
At the end of the first quarter, Bison starting quarterback Theo Deezar found Demski down the middle for a quick 75 TD strike and a 21-6 margin.
Every time the visitors wanted to mount a comeback, Manitoba would respond. Calgary closed the gap to 21-13 on Dinos' starting quarterback Andrew Buckley 15 yard run but just before half, the Bisons had a short field and drove down with another touchdown by Kienan LaFrance. He capped the drive with a two yards TD plunge and at half; the number two team in the country was down 30-13.
Just like in the second, Calgary rushed out to a quick TD when backup QB Jimmy Underdahl scored on a one yard run but any lasting momentum for the Dinos was snuffed out at the end of the third when Demski found pay dirt again with a great tough grab in the end zone from eight yards out and a 37-20 lead by Manitoba.
The fourth quarter highlighted Christie with his ten yard TD run and then another block, which lead to Jordan Linnen recovery and a seven yard scamper into the end zone. Calgary completed the scoring when Underdahl found Rashaun Simonise for a 34 yard TD reception and a final 50-31 score.
Bison football head coach Brian Dobie commented afterwards, "Calgary has been the team of this conference for a long time and I am particularly proud of this team and how they responded today when everything was on the line. They know what they accomplished but they also know what is next and the team is focused for the playoffs."
There is a big possibility of conference player of the week honours to be swept by the Manitoba Bisons on this home performance. Demski hauled in three receiving touchdowns (tied a Bison record) with 126 yards on four catches for a whopping 31.5 average. McKoy scored a touchdown plus added two athletic interceptions and 4.5 total tackles to be a dominant player on the 'D' and Christie blocked two kicks to turn the tide in the game while also scoring once and rushed for 44 yards on seven carries.
In addition for Manitoba, Deezar was 10-18 for 210 yards and three TDs and 1 INT and LaFrance registered 57 rushing yards while Zack Regert had 77 receiving yards on four catches. Linebacker DJ Lalama had a game-high 11 total tackles, Mitchell Harrison had 5.5 tackles and one break-up and Jonathan Jones notched five tackles and two break-ups for the victors.
Calgary was led by Buckley's passing for 19-32 and 217 yards and running back Mercer Timmis with 71 rushing yards on 15 carries. Jake Harty was top Dino in receiving with 100 yards on seven receptions while Simonise had 75 receiving yards on five grabs and 1 TD. On defence, Tanner Doll led the visitors with eight total tackles and Connor McGough finished with 3,5 tackles and one sack.
Next week the playoffs start. Manitoba travels to play #8 Saskatchewan (6-2) in one of the Canada West Semi-Final match-ups on Friday, November 7 at 7 p.m. CT. #2 Calgary will now host the Regina Rams (3-5) on Saturday, November 8 at 3 p.m. MT in the other conference semi-final.