Undefeated Dinos knock off Huskies, clinch playoff spot

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies were unable to knock the Canada West-leading University of Calgary Dinos off their perch in a 33-13 loss Saturday.

Saskatchewan was dogged by untimely turnovers in the first quarter which allowed the potent Dinos offence all the breathing room it needed to clinch a playoff spot with three weeks to go in the regular season.

Calgary’s Deane Leonard intercepted Huskies quarterback Kyle Siemens inside his own 10-yard line during the Huskies first drive of the game. After Huskies’ kicker Sean Stenger missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, the Dinos defence would force and recover a fumble from Huskies running back Tyler Chow to begin an offensive drive in great field position.

The very next play, Dinos quarterback Adam Sinagra and Jalen Philpot would hook up for a 40-yard touchdown.

That was just the start of Sinagra’s big day, as he picked apart the Huskies secondary to score on four consecutive second quarter drives to take a 23-3 lead into the half.

A Mason Nyhus touchdown and Stenger field goal would get the Huskies to within two scores, but it’s as close as they could get on a frustrating afternoon in Calgary.

It wasn’t all bad news for Siemens, who moved up to fourth in Saskatchewan all-time career passing yards with 7,233 to move past his father Doug. He finished the game completing 21 of 40 passes for 297 yards and one interception. His top receivers were Jesse Kuntz, 87 yards on six catches, and Carter Dahl, 93 yards on three catches.

Sinagra ended the night with 432 yards and four touchdowns.

The Huskies (3-2) now sit alone at second in the Canada West standings with the loss. Calgary (5-0) now looks to secure top spot in the conference in the final month of the schedule.

Both teams will be on a Thanksgiving bye week along with the rest of the conference. Saskatchewan travels to Vancouver on Oct. 12.