The University of Regina Rams won their second Hardy Cup in 2024 by defeating the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 19-14 and were a game away from advancing to the Vanier Cup, but lost to the Laval Rouge et Or 17-14 in overtime at the Mitchell Bowl.
"We've taken it as a new slate. We want to be better than we were last year. That's taking it one day at a time, making sure we're working as hard as we can every day," Rams' running back Christian Katende said on the 620 CKRM Rider Broadcast Network.
"I think it's a testament to how dialed we are at practice. The offensive line is working really hard to create some holes for us and the receivers are blocking downfield. I think a testament to our offensive success is definitely the work we've put in during the offseason."
Through two weeks in the Canada West season, the Rams are undefeated with a 2-0 record. In Regina's last game, the Rams won 47-23 over the University of Alberta. The five-foot-10, 230 pound running back carried the football 20 times for 112 rushing yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, his cohort, Marshall Erichsen, rushed 18 times for 171 yards and also scored one touchdown.
"Honestly, it's finding the right pieces to the puzzle," Katende said as to why their ground game worked so well against the Golden Bears. "We knew that the inside zone run game was working, so we talked to the O-line and they said we can stay inside. As long as it keeps working, we're going to keep punching. The receivers were all coming in on sub blocks, making great blocks on the ends and creating big holes for us, so we were taking what we were given."
People have comparisons for Katende and Erichsen, the Regina native believes there is one tandem name that fits best.
"We admire the Detroit Lions backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery," Katende explained. "We tell ourselves that we're the Sonic and Knuckles of Canada. We love the fact that we both bring something different to the game and that we can both contribute to our offensive success in our own ways."
The Winston Knoll Collegiate graduate suited up in 11 games for Regina last season, rushing 77 times for 452 yards and two touchdowns. Katende recalled what led to him choosing to play football for the Rams and attend university in his hometown.
"It all started with the U-18 team when I was in grade 11. All the Rams coaches were coaching the U-18 team and I wasn't actually very interested in playing Team Sask football back then. Dwayne Masson, my running backs coach, came to me and asked me: 'Hey, I want you to come out and try out for the U-18 team,'" Katende explained
"The environment and the culture that we had on that team was super special, we were such a unit. There were about 27 of us who all got offered to the Rams and we knew after that we won that National Championship in 2017 that we wanted to come back, come to the Rams, and bring a Vanier to the Rams eventually. We all decided that the plan was after we won the National Championship, we're all going to sign with the Rams, build a culture to win playoff games and eventually a Vanier Cup."
Regina hosts the 60th Vanier Cup on Saturday, November 22 at Mosaic Stadium. According to Katende, that does not add any extra feelings to him or the Rams.
"Honestly, no pressure, it's about taking it one day at a time. It's just a football game and that's how we take it," Katende said. "It's the work that we put in at practice, it's what we're doing extra to be that much better, making sure that we're cleaning up the mistakes that we made in the game and we're going to let our pads do the talking. If the cards fall our way, then the cards fall our way but we want to take it one step at a time, don't want to look far ahead."
The Rams travel to Vancouver to take on the University of British Columbia on Friday. The Thunderbirds have started their season with one win and one loss. That defeat came last week against the University of Saskatchewan 51-14 at Griffiths Stadium.
"UBC is a really good team and they're coming off a tough loss to the Huskies. We know that they're going to be hungry, we got to stay dialed, we got to stay locked in. We know that playing in UBC is a very hostile environment, so we don't want to take it as if it's not a serious game because it is," Katende said. "Every game in Can West is going to be a bloodbath. The way I see it is we're taking it as we have UBC this week, we're worried about UBC. U of S is another story that we can worry about another week."
That Regina match-up with UBC can be heard live Friday on 620 CKRM with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m.
