WINNIPEG - The University of Regina Rams made sure Saturday would be a good day for the city’s football fans.
Just before the Saskatchewan Roughriders kicked off their West Semi-Final against the B.C. Lions, the Rams pulled a sizzling come-from-behind 28-25 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons on 620 CKRM.
Ranked No. 20 in Canada, the Rams knocked off the seventh ranked Bisons with a late fourth quarter touchdown drive. Trailing by four with under five minutes to go, Regina quarterback Noah Pelletier marched his offence 101 yards, hitting Nicholas Sirleaf for a 16-yard-touchdown pass to put the Rams in front for keeps with 19 seconds to go. After the biggest win of his life, Pelletier feels like he has proved some doubters wrong.
“That was a great team,” Pelletier said. “They’re 7-1. They had a really good season and we had a couple of tough losses throughout the season but we knew what we had. We knew we were close in those games so we kept fighting. We were able to show everyone that we’re still going for this. We’re a great team.”
Head coach Mark McConkey agrees Pelletier has had something to prove and came through in the clutch.
“Super glad he decided to come back and be a leader on this team with no thought of being the starter -- he’s been incredible. I’m going to get on him a little bit, he made some bad decisions out there and that’s what every coach would do, but I’m proud of his leadership. When things weren’t going well in the third quarter, he picked the guys back up, did his job and executed.”
It was a watershed moment for a Rams offence that struggled throughout a five-game losing skid this season. McConkey isn’t about to call this the biggest upset in Canadian university football, at least not yet.
“[Manitoba wasn’t] smashing everyone by 50 so we knew they were beatable”, McConkey said. “We played them tough the first game, and our guys believed it, which is the best part.”
In a game that included many momentum swings both ways, the Rams won the turnover battle four-to-one including three costly Bisons second-half fumbles. One that featured defensive back Carson Sombach forcing a ball loose into the hands of his older brother Jackson Sombach.
The win did come at a cost as running back Christian Katende, who dominated for more than 200 yards a week earlier, left the game with what appeared to be a forearm injury. It is still not known if he will be able to play again this playoff run, which will continue into Saskatoon Saturday, November 9 against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
But on this day, the Rams could celebrate an epic win that keeps their season alive for at least another week. Pelletier was proud to do this for Regina.
“That’s definitely a good feeling,” Pelletier admitted. “It’s big to make Regina proud and we know the Rams alumni are super proud. They’ve already been sending me a bunch of texts and things like that. It’s good to make everyone back home proud as well.”
The Rams-Huskies Hardy Cup showdown will be the second ever all-Saskatchewan Canada West football championship game and first since 2002.
