By Bo Rhodes
“The sun will come out tomorrow”
-Annie
The sun finally came out for the University of Calgary Dinos last Saturday when they met the University of Regina Rams on fabled Taylor Field. In what could only be called an ass-kicking, the Dinos soundly defeated the expansion Rams and improved their record 2-3.
The mid-season break seemed to favour the Dinos as they took an early lead in the first quarter. Two field goals by kicker Jimmy Hartley early in the opening quarter gave the Dinos the momentum they needed to shake off the drubbing laid upon them by the University of British Columbia two weeks earlier. With points on the board, the Dinos offence went to work and never looked back. A 31-yard pass by Lincoln Blumell to wide receiver Geoff Drover gave the Dinos a touchdown and confidence to carry them through the rest of the game.
Leading 13-0 at the start of the second quarter, the Dinos continued to score with a short run by Blumell for a touchdown and a Hartley convert. The hapless Rams managed to get on the board at 10:22 off a field goal by kicker Todd Pinkey. Alan Giacalone, in his first game back since an elbow injury three weeks ago, scored the final touchdown of the quarter. Giacalone tallied up 135 yards, more than one third of the Dinos total rushing offence Defensively, the Dinos had a little trouble adjusting to the loss of Ian Schafer and Dave Swagar, but according to coach Tony Fasano:
“Josh Campbell filled in and I thought he did a pretty nice job. Mike Schwieder, first time he’s started and he did a pretty nice job too.”
Third quarter action consisted of a Rams single by Pinkey and a 27-yard touchdown by Dinos fullback Jeff Almon. The Dinos solid scoring drive continued in the fourth quarter with a field goal and a touchdown by third-year running back Dean Fisher. The winless Rams managed to score two majors in final minutes of play but by then it was too little too late. Final score: Dinos 44, Rams 24.
For the Dinos, the win was a long time in the making.
“When you go and play a team that has not won, I think the concern you have as a coach is to make sure your guys are focused on the right things,” said Fasano. “You don’t focus too much attention on what they’re doing, you focus on what you have to do to in order to get better as a team. We had to do a better job executing and we had to be more physical and we had to be able to make some big plays and we did that.”
With injuries continuing to hurt the team and the season quickly coming to an end Fasano noted, “When you lose senior players of your football team it can be difficult. The bottom line is that’s what we’re faced with at this point and hopefully the guys who got an opportunity to play and got that opportunity to play number one are going to get better and better from week to week. “
The upcoming game against the 1-4 University of Alberta Golden Bears could determine whether or not the Dinos will see any post-season action. It’s hell-bent for leather now as the Dinos head up to Edmonton.
“If we win then we’re in the playoffs and our goal will change after this week,” said Fasano.”Our goal is to get to third place. The bottom line is that is the most important game of the season.”