Coming off their biggest blowout win in seven years, the University of Regina Rams will try to keep it going without two of their biggest offensive weapons in Friday night's home opener versus the Manitoba Bisons.
Ranked sixth in the country, and tops in Canada West, the Rams are without their starting quarterback Owen Sieben and their reigning team MVP, running back Marshall Erichsen. Both are week-to-week while targeting a late September comeback.
Head coach Mark McConkey is hopeful Sieben's injury to his left arm is not as serious as first worried.
"The doctor is pretty optimistic he's going to play sooner than we thought. Not this week but sooner than we thought," McConkey said. "Some ligament damage but on his non-throwing arm and he doesn't need surgery. As soon as he can grab a football and hand it off and run around a little bit while protecting himself, I think he'll play."
And what about Erichsen, the second leading rusher in Canada from last year who still hasn't played since tearing his Achilles tendon back in November?
"He wants to play. He's pretty gung-ho on playing, but we'll see. I think a good aiming point would be the Huskies game (Sept. 26), but he's really good this week and took a few reps. We want to be smart with him. He'd help us but at the end of the day, it's a long season and we've got to try and keep him healthy for the back half of the year."
The home opener will rely on a couple of seniors to take their places. Quarterback Noah Pelletier will be back at the controls to face a Bisons squad he had his finest moment against in the 2024 Hardy Cup playoffs. And Christian Katende will carry the mail once again at running back. He rumbled for 130 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries in the season opener against Alberta last week.
The Rams offensive line enforced its will on a young, undersized Alberta defensive front in that win, something that will be much harder to do against a bigger more experienced defence from Manitoba. Veteran offensive lineman Nnadozie Marendiukobianwa expects he and his Rams teammates will have their work cut out for them at Leibel Field.
"These guys are pretty tough," Marendiukobianwa said. "Their front seven are a little bit older. They're pretty big and strong, but we come out every day and it doesn't matter who we play in front of us. We do what we do and play Rams football which is fast and physical."
The Rams offensive line will be missing a key starter. Davin Berry, who started at right tackle in the season opening win, will be out for some time with a leg injury and is likely to be replaced by Nate Boyd or Miceal Astone.
Meanwhile the Bisons, who have been knocked out the playoffs by Regina in each of the last two seasons, are coming off a surprise win over the Saskatchewan Huskies last week. Coach Stan Pierre sees that battle in the trenches with his defensive front against the Rams offensive line as a defining factor in this football game Friday night.
"Our front seven is the strength of our team. It's the most veteran part of our team, so if we don't hold up there, it's going to be long day for us for sure," Pierre said. "That will be a test for our group and if we can't hold up there, then we probably just don't have the horses to beat this team."
Manitoba's victory over Saskatchewan not only lifted the Rams into top spot in the conference ranking but also lifted the Bisons into the national rankings. They enter Friday's contest ranked ninth in Canada, joining the Rams and Huskies as the only Canada West teams in the top 10.
As Mosaic Stadium is being prepped for next week's Foo Fighters concert, Leibel Field will host the Rams on Friday and the Regina Thunder on Saturday.
It should be a crisp night at the park with the forecast calling for temperatures around 13 C at kickoff falling into single digits by game's end. Wind is not expected to be play much a factor.
Friday's game will be heard live on www.620ckrm.com with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7.
