SASKATOON - The University of Regina Rams run atop Canada West is over, for now.
Despite building a 17-10 halftime lead with a thrilling Nic Sirleaf touchdown catch just before halftime, the Rams were outscored 12-3 the rest of the way in suffering their first defeat of the season in a 22-20 loss to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
In a meeting of the only two nationaly ranked teams in the conference, Ram quarterback Noah Pelletier says he and his offence just couldn't sustain drives in that critical second half, despite the opportunities given to them.
"The defence did a really good job for us and they kept us in the game but at the end of the day, the offence has to put points on the board that's something we didn't do. It's going to be something we learn from and move on to next week," Pelletier said.
The first half was a see-saw affair with the Huskies gaining an early lead from a rushing touchdown by Regina's Ryker Frank before the Rams responded with touchdown catches from Renzel Arinaza and Nic Sirleaf sandwiched around a Ty Gorniak field goal to go into the half with a 17-10 lead. Another Gorniak field goal early in the second half that pushed the lead out to 20-10 would be all the Rams could muster on offence, going scoreless over the final 25 minutes and surrendering the final 12 points en route to an identical final score as a late season loss at Griffiths Stadium last October.
The Huskie defence neutralized what had been a devastating Ram rushing attack over the first three weeks and their quarterback, Anton Amundrud, connected with star receiver Daniel Wiebe for some key receptions including a late 60-yard-touchdown score that gave the Huskies back the lead in the dying minutes.
On the ensuing kick return, Ram returner Quinton Fettes fumbled the ball right at the sideline and a long referee huddled determined it had been touched by a Huskie player and gave the U of S the ball deep in Ram territory. The controversial play definitely set back the Ram comeback chances but Pelletier said it was a lack of offensive continuity in the second half that ultimately sunk their boat.
The Rams weren't trying to repeat history from that late season loss last fall but would dearly love to defend their Hardy Cup championship which head coach Mark McConkey expects to go through the U of Huskies again this year. As was the case with the loss suffered in Saskatoon last October that very nearly ended the Rams season, Pelletier says this loss offers real takeaways that will be useful if and when they play the Huskies again in the playoffs.
"There were a lot of learning moments from this game and it shows they're definitely a beatable team and we're right there with them. When we all come together and play a good game, it's going to be a lot better than this."
The Rams suffocating pass rush did get home twice on the Huskies quarterback, with sacks from Anthony Montas Leipert and Kaeden Brennan.
The loss, which denies the U of R the chance to match it's longest unbeaten start in school history, drops the Rams into an identical 3-1 record with the Huskies and second place now that the U of S owns the tiebreaker and will do so for the balance of the season since this was their only meeting on the schedule.
From here, Regina will play back-to-back home games on the next two Saturdays at Mosaic Stadium versus the Manitoba Bisons and Calgary Dinos. Both games will be carried on the 620 CKRM radio network with the pregame show at 1:45 and kickoff at 2 o'clock.
