Regina Rams knock off playoff-bound Manitoba Bisons in season finale

Lopsided score belies strong defensive effort for the Bisons football team’s season end

Bisons quarterback Des Catellier gets the ball moving against the University of Calgary Dinos

Sometimes you finish the season on a high, other times a non-playoff team comes to slap you in the face.

For the U of M Bisons football team, the club now needs to decide if this dose of reality was what it needed heading into the post-season.

Following a dominant 43-29 win over the conference-leading University of Calgary Dinos on Oct. 19, the Bisons were crushed 47-14 in Regina against the University of Regina Rams.

Manitoba jumped out to an early 3-0 lead off the foot of its kicker Matt Riley, who knocked down a 12-yard field goal in the opening quarter. Unfortunately, this was the only lead the herd enjoyed in the contest, as Regina’s Daniel Scraper tied the game 3-3 minutes later and the Rams took over.

With just over a minute left in the first quarter, Josh Donnelly found Kyle Moortgat with a 52-yard bomb. The fifth-year receiver rumbled into the end zone for the score, and Aldo Galvan picked up a rouge to close the opening quarter 11-3 Regina.

Riley Boersma had a second quarter to remember.

First, he brought down an 18-yard pass from Donnelly early in the quarter.

Then, after Riley picked up another field goal for Manitoba, Boersma scored his second touchdown off a 15-yard pass from the Regina quarterback.

Heading into halftime, the Rams had a massive 25-6 lead, and it only got worse from there for Manitoba.

Ryan Schienbein snagged a seven-yard dart from Donnelly for the score and the Rams picked up a safety to make it 34-6 Regina. Then, in the fourth quarter, Donnelly went with the run option, handed it off to Kyler Mosley in the red zone and the fourth-year converted for a 41-6 Regina lead.

Scraper knocked down a 26-yard field goal to make it 44-6 Rams before Manitoba got its first touchdown of the game. Quarterback Des Catellier found Abdul-Karim Gassama with a 20-yard pass and the score, followed by a two-point convert from Macho Bockru to make it 44-14 Regina late.

Scraper picked up yet another field goal with just under two minutes to play, and Regina walked off the field with the 47-14 win.

The loss drops Manitoba to 4-4 to close the season, with a playoff date with the Dinos set.

What was a less than stellar showing for the Bisons on offence masked a great defensive outing for the herd. Rookie defensive back Austin Balan led Manitoba with 12 tackles — six solo and six assisted — followed closely behind by Kyle Gordon with 11 — two solo and nine assisted.

Catellier went 10 for 19 passing, throwing for 124 yards on the day. Meanwhile on the ground game Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette led the herd with 72 yards on 10 attempts, followed by Logan Fischer who had 42 yards on six runs.

 

The Bisons will be back on the field Nov. 2 to take on the Calgary Dinos in the first round of the Hardy Cup playoffs. Time is to be determined.