REGINA – A herd of Bisons was no match for the University of Regina Rams on Friday night.
The Rams put on a defensive clinic in shutting down the Manitoba Bisons 23-8 in their home opener at cozy Leibel Field.
For a second straight week, the Rams defence didn’t surrender any points until the fourth quarter. Jacob Tkachuk forced two turnovers in limiting Manitoba’s passing game to just 112 yards.
Noah Pelletier quarterbacked the Rams in place of the injured Owen Sieben going 12-for-26 through the air for 224 yards and an interception in a game he and his teammates controlled from start to finish.
“Today really showed what our offence can do,” Pelletier said. “There were a lot of missed plays out there, so hopefully we can clean that up for next week. But I’ve got to give a shout out to the defence. They really held it down for us and they’re going to continue to do that.”
The Regina ground game was the other big story in a matchup that was supposed to be really tough. The Rams have a highly rated offensive line against a Manitoba defensive front that their own coaching staff views as the strength of their team.
The Rams took this battle. Carter Ashman and Christian Katende led a running attack without injured star back Marshall Erichsen that racked up 254 yards along the ground and both Rams touchdowns.
“We really have a three-headed monster back there,” Pelletier said. “I know Marshall’s going to be back in the mix pretty soon, so we have a pretty dangerous backfield. I’m excited to see what they can do game by game.”
This win wasn’t as big as their playoff victory over Manitoba last November but might be remembered by who wasn’t a part of it as much as who was.
The Rams played this game without their starting quarterback, Sieben, and running back, Erichsen. Their statuses will likely remain unchanged for at least one more week.
At 2-0, the U of R is the last unbeaten team left in the conference by virtue of the Calgary Dinos losing to the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Kicker Ty Gorniak nailed three more field goals though he did narrowly miss a 48-yard try, which would have been a career long for him. There were some dropped passes on offence, too.
It was a wet and windy night at Leibel Field, which has an open layout that allows for heavy winds to play a factor. That was the case with crosswinds cutting straight across the field that has a north-west configuration. It all made the passing and kicking game tricky to navigate for both sides.
The Rams aim to regroup for next week’s visit to the University of British Columbia next Friday night. Coach Mark McConkey has said the target date to see both his starting quarterback and running back return is looking like the following week against the Huskies.
It’s still too early buy high on the Rams, or any other squad, in the dogfight that is Canada West. But early returns suggest the balance of power in the conference might have shifted a little more into the direction of Regina and its fans.
