Third-quarter surge lifts Saskatoon Huskies past Regina Rams 38-31

A tie game at halftime quickly got away from the Regina Rams on Saturday.

The Saskatchewan Huskies scored three straight touchdowns in the third quarter before holding off a late Regina comeback to win 38-31 at Mosaic Stadium.

The win moves Saskatchewan to 3-1 on the Canada West season, while Regina falls to 2-2.

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“We played probably three quarters of good football. That third quarter was ugly,” Rams head coach Mark McConkey said.

“Offence was not very good. Defence gave up three straight touchdowns. Special teams weren’t great. So, a lot to clean up.”

Regina opened the scoring with a Ty Gorniak field goal before Huskies quarterback Anton Amundrud found Dawson Lennea for a 15-yard touchdown.

Carter Ashman’s one-yard touchdown run put Regina ahead 10-7 after the first quarter.

The teams kept trading scores in the second. Huskies linebacker Porter Hanson returned a Rams fumble 46 yards for a touchdown, before Owen Sieben connected with Nicholas Sirleaf for a 26-yard Regina touchdown.

A James Keane field goal with 24 seconds left sent the teams into halftime tied 17-17.

Then Saskatchewan took over.

“Coming out after half, the message was, you know, we got to strike fast, and I thought we did that well in the third quarter,” Amundrud said.

Javin Boynton scored on a one-yard run to put the Huskies ahead. Amundrud then found Lennea for a 37-yard touchdown before another one-yard Boynton score made it 38-17.

The Huskies scored 21 unanswered points in the quarter while keeping Regina off the scoreboard.

Amundrud finished 28-of-37 for 369 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Lennea caught seven passes for 108 yards and both of Amundrud’s touchdowns.

“I think we had a good plan at halftime coming out in the second half, and we jumped them,” Huskies head coach Scott Flory said.

But the Rams weren’t finished.

Chase Murray returned a fumble 72 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, cutting Saskatchewan’s lead to 38-24.

Regina later caught another break on its final touchdown drive, and Ashman scored his second one-yard touchdown of the afternoon with 2:52 remaining to cut the deficit to seven.

“We could have just folded up and called it a game, but they kept battling all the way to the end,” McConkey said. “So proud of them there.”

Regina got one more opportunity, but Saskatchewan’s defence kept the Rams out of the end zone and forced a turnover on downs in the closing seconds.

Amundrud said he had faith in the defence while watching from the sideline.

“I couldn’t be more happy for the defence for bending, not breaking, at the end there and getting it done,” he said.

The numbers showed how different the two offences were.

Saskatchewan outgained Regina 408-339, largely through the air. The Huskies had 369 passing yards compared with Regina’s 196, while the Rams controlled the ground with 160 rushing yards to Saskatchewan’s 52.

Each team recorded 25 first downs, while Regina held the ball for 33:30 compared with Saskatchewan’s 26:30.

For McConkey, the difference was Saskatchewan putting together a more complete 60 minutes.

“We knew we had to play good football for the full 60 minutes, and we didn’t,” he said. “And that’s why they came out on top. They played better, longer.”

Both teams return to action Oct. 3.

The 2-2 Rams head to Calgary to face the Dinos at 1 p.m., while the 3-1 Huskies return to Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon to host the UBC Thunderbirds at 7 p.m.