Dinos finally throw out the white flag

By Britany Bingham

The excitement and noise from McMahon Stadium was unmistakable on Saturday afternoon. The Calgary Dinos finally had a reason to celebrate after snagging their first Canada West victory with a 27-13 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons. In front of over 1,000 cheering fans, our boys gave their best performance yet.


They started the afternoon with a moment of silence for 16 year old offensive lineman Tyler Zeer from Bowness High School. Zeer passed away last week due to a fatal head injury he sustained during practice. As the game began on a serious note, the Dinos seemed to draw from the experience a new respect for the game.


Only a minute and a half into the first quarter, Calgary quarterback Charles Guedo threw a 63-yard pass to slotback Joel Ford, who even without one of his shoes still outran Manitoba’s defense for the first touchdown of the game.


Guedo, who completed 16 of 29 passes for 265 yards and had five carries for 36 yards, received offensive player of the game. He also happened to literally sack the Bisons’ coach on a 12-yard run for a first down.


“We, as a team, had a lot of focus and determination going into this game. We knew we had to win if we wanted any chance at playoffs,” said Guedo. “A lot of credit needs to go to the offensive line and my receivers. The o-line gave me the coverage I needed to get my passes off and the receivers caught everything I threw at them. It was a great game and we can only get better.”


Speaking of receivers, wide receiver Brent Hargreaves had a real break-out game. So far this season, this modest redhead has been fairly quiet on the field having missed last season due to illness. However, he was anything but reserved this game. The fourth year player caught two touchdown passes which included a 23-yard pass in the first quarter and an electrifying 60-yard pass and run in the third quarter.


“We had a great game! We got the yards when we needed them. The o-line really helped us out by making all the right blocks,” said Hargreaves. When asked about his own performance, he replied: “I was lucky to get the play calls that I did and have Chuck throw as well as he did. I can’t really take any credit for what was a whole team effort.”


In the second quarter, Calgary had two unfortunate turnovers, which resulted in Manitoba scoring 10 points. Bisons defensive back David Hewson grabbed one of the key interceptions, which ultimately led the Bisons and slotback Blair Atkinson to score a touchdown. Manitoba’s kicker Jeff Standing contributed to the team’s progress on the scoreboard by securing a field goal. The first half ended with the Dino’s defense dominating (as usual), with Rich Fowlstone capturing an interception and Scott Thompson picking up a fumbled Bison ball.


In the past two games the Dinos lost their steam around halftime. This was not the case on Saturday. They played a full four quarters and powered right through to the end. Starting defensive corner Damony Simmonds commented on the Dinos’ performance.


“We’ve been taking abuse from Manitoba for years. It was nice to give some back this time,” joked Simmonds with a grin. “We played a great four quarters of football. We’ve learnt to play a whole game start to finish. We were able to stay consistent throughout the whole game which made all the difference.”


Simmonds was named defensive player of the game along with Dan Federkeil. Guedo and Jeff Williams were named offensive players of the game with Williams chalking up another 131 rushing yards. Calgary’s Ryan Saurette was named special teams player of the game.


Federkeil was also granted the Canada West Defensive Football Player of the Week salutation for his efforts.


Calgary has the next week off from Canada West competition. The Dino’s next game will be against the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Sat., Oct. 2. Their next home game will be Fri., Oct. 8 against the University of Regina Rams.

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