By Bo Rhodes
The thrill of victory was elusive, the agony of defeat, however, held a firm grasp on the University of Calgary Dinos last Saturday in Manitoba. Suffering their first loss of the season, head coach Tony Fasano summed up the Dinos’ trouble in one phrase: "we had a lapse in the second quarter that cost us basically three touchdowns."
With no points on the board after the first quarter, things turned dramatically wrong for the Dinos when University of Manitoba Bison Mike Plante returned the ball an astounding 127 yards, off a missed field goal, for a touchdown and a new Canada West record. The Dinos fumbled the ball shortly after, setting up the Bisons, that capitalized on the mistake and scored another seven points. Moments later, the team that had been dealt multiple losses by the Dinos in the past, recovered an onside kick. This enabled Þrst-year quarterback Shane Munson to throw a short pass to Adrian Huntley who scored the third touchdown in a matter of mere minutes. After the half, the score was 22-0 in Manitoba’s favor.
The third quarter saw the Bisons rack up more points on the scoreboard with a field goal followed by another touchdown. Calgary managed to get on the board with only two minutes remaining in the game. A 42-yard field goal by kicker Jimmy Hartley and a touchdown by running back Dean fisher were, sadly, not enough to catch the opposition. The final score: Manitoba 32, Calgary 11.
"Manitoba had a very successful game throwing the football. On offence we couldn’t capitalize and didn’t put points on the board early in the game," said Fasano. "Combined with giving Manitoba some confidence in the second quarter, we made some mental errors. They definitely deserved to win."
Despite the loss, the Dinos offence outrushed and outpassed the opposing team. Unfortunately, the 57-yard difference wasn’t enough to beat Manitoba.
The Dinosaurs face tough competition on Friday when they face the undefeated Vanier Cup Champions from the University of Saskatchewan. The Huskies ran for a staggering 440 yards last weekend against the expansion University of Regina Rams and ended the day with a mind-blowing total of 571 yards.
"We definitely have to go back to the fundamentals, do a better job on those in order to have a chance," said Fasano about the upcoming game.
The Dinos will be hard-pressed to beat Saskatchewan, but by repeating the virtually seamless game against the University of Alberta from two weeks ago, a win could be in their future. The defence will have to work especially hard to contain Husky running back Doug Rozon who rushed for two touchdowns and 203 yards on only 14 carries against the Rams.
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday night at McMahon Stadium. Entry is free with your student id card.