The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are once again returning to the Canada West football playoffs.
The Huskies rolled to a 39-20 victory over the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon, and as a result improve to 5-1 on the campaign, becoming the first team in the conference to lock down a post-season berth. Manitoba falls to 3-3 and are now tied with the Regina Rams for third place.
The Huskies moved the ball well to start their first drive, with Anton Amundrud completing his first three passes to get into Manitoba territory. An intentional grounding penalty would contribute to the drive stalling there, leaving James Keane with a 46-yard field goal attempt. It went wide left, but the Bisons conceded the rouge, and Saskatchewan had an early 1-0 lead.
Things didn’t go as well on the Huskes’ next possession, as a fumble at midfield was recovered by Manitoba and set the Bisons up with a short field. The defence came up huge, though, as Riece Kack got a second-down sack to force the punt and no damage from the turnover.
The following Saskatchewan drive was surgical. The Huskies marched down to the Manitoba 20 before Amundrud rifled a pass over the middle to Rhett Vavra for the first touchdown of the game. The score gave the Huskies an 8-0 lead with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter.
Saskatchewan had a long field to start their next series, but Dawson Lennea saw to it that wouldn’t matter. Amundrud found Lennea for 75 yards on three receptions, including a 33 yard strike down the sideline to get close to the red zone and then a 31-yard bomb for the major and a 15-0 edge with 12:40 left in the half.
A pair of unnecessary roughness penalties helped get the Bisons into the red zone midway through the second quarter, but the drive would end with a 32-yard field goal by Maya Turner with 7:33 until halftime.
Saskatchewan looked to be in business once again late in the half, but a potential touchdown pass to Vavra was intercepted by Carter Dallas in the end zone and ran out to the eight. The Bisons again did nothing with the turnover, though, eventually giving up the safety for a 17-3 Saskatchewan lead with 3:09 until the break.
The Huskies had a couple of costly miscues in the final couple minutes of the half.
First, a nifty fake punt resulted in Lucas Scheck going 50 yards to the house, only for the play to be called back on an illegal substitution. The Huskies then attempted an actual punt, but the snap soared high, and Manitoba ended up with the ball on the Saskatchewan 18 with just over a minute left in the half.
The Huskies defence looked to have the stop on third down, but a pass interference call continued Saskatchewan penalty issues in the first 30 minutes and gave the Bisons a fresh set of downs from the one. Two plays later, Aidan Wiberg punched it in, and the score sat at 17-10 Huskies at halftime.
After completing only three passes in the first half, Manitoba quarterback Cole Anseeuw got things rolling after the break, driving all the way down to the Huskies 20. That ended with a 28-yard field goal, and a game that Saskatchewan was dominating at one point was all of a sudden a 17-13 contest.
A 34-yard run by Aulain Penner got the Huskies into Bisons territory at the 34 on the following drive, but things stalled at the 11, and Keane hit a 19-yard field goal for a 20-13 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
The third quarter saw a milestone for Amundrud, as the fifth-year veteran surpassed Drew Burko to move into second place all time in career passing yards at 7,920 at that point of the contest. He trails only Brent Schneider, who leads with 8,294 yards.
A drive that started on Saskatchewan’s own one yard line late in the third saw Amundrud once again march the team down the field, ending with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Keaton Belsher. All told, the drive covered 12 plays and 109 yards, took 5:31 off the clock and made it 27-13 with 12:20 left in the game.
The Huskies were right back at it their next series, with Vavra getting Saskatchewan into striking distance with a 39-yard pass-and-run down to Manitoba seven. A third-down gamble saw the Bisons hit with a late pass interference call, and two plays later Jake Farrell punched it in for a 34-13 lead with 7:43 to play.
Manitoba got things going on their next possession, and after having a touchdown called back due to a penalty, an offside penalty on third down to Saskatchewan gave Manitoba another set of downs from the three. Ishe Matonga got the job done, and Saskatchewan has a 34-19 lead late in the game.
The Bisons conceded a safety with 21 seconds to play, and a quick drive gave the Huskies a chance to win the season series with a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the game. Keane was good and Saskatchewan had their 39-20 victory.
Amundrud finished with another incredible game, completing 36 of 44 passes for 474 yards. Lennea was his top target with 12 catches for 156 yards, Vavra had five for 108 yards. Penner led the ground game with 57 yards rushing.
Anseeuw was 14 for 27 yards passing for 176 yards, Matunga had 12 carries for 42 yards and Rylan Klenk four catches for 41 yards.
Saskatchewan had 604 yards of total offence, Manitoba 255 yards. Penalties were also a major factor, with the Huskies taking 11 for 133 yards and Manitoba 11 for 122 yards.
The Huskies are back in action on Friday, Oct. 23 when the host the Alberta Golden Bears. Game time is 7 p.m. from Griffiths Stadium.
