CW Football - Dinos escape scare, Huskies roll over Regina

Both top five teams managed to earn victories, albeit in different fashion this week, to stay the only unbeaten teams in the conference. Here's a look at the week that was in Canada West football.


Saskatchewan 33
Regina 10

The Marc Mueller-less Regina Rams went into Saskatoon to take on the number-five ranked Huskies with Dylan Hart at the helm, but by the time the dust had settled on a 33-10 win for the home side the Rams would be down to their third string quarterback Frankie Gray.

Of course with Mueller and Hart out for Regina, RB Adrian Charles was sure to factor heavily in the game especially after Hart left in the third quarter, but Charles managed only 89 yards on 17 carries for Regina.

While things are looking bleak for the Rams, all they really need is for Mueller to come back with enough games left to finish fourth, and then who knows what can happen for this team that had so much promise heading into the season. With Alberta at 0-2 and both UBC and Manitoba only one game ahead of the Rams at 1-1, this season isn't a write off just yet. Regina hosts Calgary this weekend with or without Mueller.

Saskatchewan on the other hand continues to look good as they head into Winnipeg next weekend to take on the Bisons. The Huskies are poised to be 3-0 by the time this time next week rolls around.

Calgary 30
UBC 25

It went down to the wire again for the number-four ranked Calgary Dinos, but yet again managed to pull out a victory in the dying moments to push their record to 2-0.

Up 24-11 after three quarters, Calgary seemed on their way to a comfortable win, that is before UBC scored 14 straight points to take the lead 25-24. The Dinos managed to overcome that flurry from the T-birds though, with Steven Lumbala capping off an 85-yard drive with a 9-yard plunge into the endzone to give the home side the victory. Lumbala was phenomenal on the night, rushing for a ridiculous 204 yards.

One has to wonder just how good this Calgary team is after two weeks, barely pulling out wins against two of the conference's lesser programs, but as for me as long as you're a Blake Nill coached team and you win, you're doing just fine. UBC hosts Alberta this weekend looking to earn their second win of the season, and first at home.

Alberta 20
Manitoba 22

Words cannot describe how poorly played the first half of this game was with Manitoba owning a 2-1 (no that's not a typo) lead at the break. The Bears and Bisons combined for nine turnovers in the first half, including three via interception by Alberta QB Julian Marchand who had as many INTs in the first 30 minutes as he did completions.

Jess Valleau's 100-yard kickoff return for a TD in third quarter made it 16-11 Manitoba after the Bisons scored 14 points early in the quarter, but that play — the third longest in Alberta history — was overshadowed by the eventual loss.

Neither team played all that well, although the second half was far more entertaining, with 13 combined turnovers in the game.

The win pushes Manitoba to 1-1, while Alberta joined Regina as the only winless Canada West team. It's only Week 1, but with the loss the Bears playoff hopes took a blow considering two of their three wins last year came against the Herd.