Football: CW recap - Unbelievable fourth quarter comeback sinks Huskies Hardy Cup dreams

If ever there was a comeback that come out of absolutely nowhere, it was Saturday in Saskatoon where the Alberta Golden Bears mustered 15 minutes of fantastic football to down the number-three Saskatchewan Huskies 31-30 in their Canada West semifinal matchup.

Trailing 30-3 late in the third quarter, the Bears cued the comeback, sparked by quarterback Julian Marchand's 11-yard touchdown pass to Laine Rogers with only seven seconds left in the third to cut the Saskatchewan lead to 20.

Alberta would turn the ball over on downs on their next offensive possession before running the three most succesful offensive series of their season in succession, scoring on their final three possessions.

Ryley Richardson's 33-yard TD from Marchand with only 22 seconds left in the game was the exclamation mark on a stunning 28-point come from behind win that is without question the most improbable win of head coach Jerry Friesen's 10 years at the helm of the Green and Gold.

Hugh O'Neill added the decisive extra point to cap off a remarkable scoring outburst from a Bears offence that was far from inspiring during the regular season.

There should be no excuses for Saskatchewan in this one, with the Huskies the first ones to tell you that.

**

In the other Canada West semi, the number-five ranked Calgary Dinos played host to the number-eight Regina Rams.

Despite a late fourth quarter comeback push from the Rams, a 22-point lead would prove too much for the Dinos to squander, holding on for a 40-33 win at McMahon Stadium and setting up an all-Alberta matchup for the Hardy Cup.

Potent rushing attacks were on full display for both teams, with Regina's Adrian Charles rumbling for 127 yards, while Calgary's Matt Walter put the Dinos on his back at times with 162 yards on the ground - averaging 7 yards per touch.

Calgary heads into the Hardy Cup in search of defending their title as the unquestioned favourite against their provincial rival.

The Dinos are 6-1 over the course of the last three seasons against Alberta, including two wins this season over the Bears - 23-14, and 37-5 through the course of the regular season.

Whether or not Alberta can come out with an upset win for the second time in as many weeks remains to be seen.

I think this tweet from Sager sums up next week's Hardy Cup final best: "So we're pretty likely to see Erik Glavic and @UCDinos get a chance to beat Saint Mary's again in a #CIS football semifinal ...? #AUS"

Then again, who knows. Perhaps I was wrong when I said last month on the Alberta football broadcast that we won't be seeing playoff football at Foote Field this year, because as bizarre as this would've sounded a mere 24 hours ago - Alberta still has a shot at hosting the Mitchell Bowl should they win the Hardy Cup over Calgary.

But let's not put the buggy before the horse with that one - it's still a mighty hill to climb for the Bears against a Calgary team that knows what it takes to win - the Hardy Cup at least.
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