CALGARY- Noah Pelletier will escort the University of Regina Rams into the jungle of 2025, Friday night.
The fourth-year quarterback gets the start under centre almost exactly one year after taking over the reigns from an injured Owen Sieben in the same park, Calgary’s McMahon Stadium.
Head coach Mark McConkey feels pretty good about the quarterback room his Rams have entering the season.
“Maybe (rookie) Connor Kerr, the way he played in the preseason!”, McConkey raved when asked who would start in tonight’s Rams-Dinos game.
“(Pelletier) took us very far last year and did a nice job. Owen coming back off of injury has been great all offseason and there used to be a gap between the two of them and it’s close right now. Ultimately, you’ve got to go with the older guy who played in those games last year and Owen still hasn’t played in a year.”
“We’re going to go with Noah for this game and just always evaluate and always re-assess.”
As reigning Hardy Cup champs for just the second time in their existence, the Rams enter the season ranked third in Canada West, behind Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and 10th nationally.
The Rams have won five of their last six meetings with the Calgary Dinos, a squad that went through a re-build last season but still has lots of new faces on offence again this year.
Still, there’s an air of unpredictability in facing weapons the U of R has never faced before and coach McConkey is quick to point out his team has lost some stars of their own, especially on defence, including pass rusher Tarick Polius and last year’s team MVP Jackson Sombach.
“Dolani Robinson was slotted to come back and then he got picked up by the Calgary Stampeders in late July,” McConkey said.
“We lost some really good linebackers too with Cameron Mah and Garret Hatchard so we definitely have a few holes to fill on the defensive side of things.”
This year’s defence will rely heavily on Jackson’s little brother, Carson Sombach at safety, Chopper Hippe at linebacker and Jacob Dakiniewich along with Toryn Swystun-Bernes to anchor the defensive line.
Another notable departure from last year includes receiver D’Sean Mimbs, now of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who will be replaced by rookie Eythan Crites, a Regina kid who the coach is expecting big things from.
“He’s had a great offseason, great training camp and so he’s going to fill that starting spot at receiver. He red-shirted last year from Riffel and so now he’s in year one of eligibility and he’s doing a really nice job so far,” McConkey said.
Expectations are high for this year’s Rams and might be hard to fulfill on opening night against a Calgary team that missed the playoffs a year ago and everyone knows very little about. But the coach says his team and its quarterback are up to the challenge after last fall’s Cinderella playoff run.
“Noah definitely got his confidence back. He’s got a little swagger in him and that’s what you need from that quarterback position.”
A warm night and very little wind expected but there is a chance of rain in the forecast for Friday’s game which will be broadcast live on 620 CKRM with the pregame show at 5:15 and kick-off at 5:30.
