CALGARY – Mercer Timmis became Canada West’s new single-season touchdown king as the University of Calgary Dinos eliminated the Regina Rams from the playoffs with a 46-27 win Friday night.
Timmis, who entered the game needing two touchdowns to break Don Blair’s (1995) conference and school single-season touchdown record of 17, got three of them in the second half as the Dinos improved to 7-0 on the season while dropping the Rams to 2-5.
The sophomore tailback from Burlington, Ont. had a rough go of things in the first half but came alive in the second and, despite being held to his first sub-100 yard game of the season, still managed to score three touchdowns from six, five, and 18 yards out.
“Regina’s defence played really well tonight, especially in the first half,” said Timmis, a student in the Haskayne School of Business. “I had completely forgotten about the record, but when it happened my teammates all came up to congratulate me. It feels great to be up there with a name like Don Blair, and it’s an honour for sure.”
“The thing about Mercer is that he’s the kind of guy that’ll keep coming at you,” said Dinos head coach Blake Nill. “He’s a downhill runner, and eventually he’s going to make some plays.”
It was a weird game under a full moon at McMahon Stadium with wacky plays on special teams by both sides, but in the end the Dinos proved too powerful for the Rams, who will miss the playoffs after falling to the same Dinos in last year’s Hardy Cup.
Calgary scored all nine points in the first quarter, thanks mostly to a 32-yard touchdown run on third-and-one by backup quarterback Jimmy Underdahl, in with the team’s short-yardage unit. In the second, the Rams brought it close making the score 12-10 just over nine minutes in when quarterback Cayman Shutter plunged in from a yard out.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams decided to squib and Taylor Wandler’s 11-yard kick landed right in the hands of Calgary defensive back Michael Schmidt. Schmidt ran untouched 56 yards into the end zone to restore a nine-point lead for Calgary, and Johnny Mark’s second field goal of the night made it 22-10 for the home side at halftime.
The Dinos pulled out some special teams magic on the first play of the second half. With the team seemingly huddled preparing to kick off, Mark approached the ball as if to take a practice swing and instead kicked it onside, where Brad Friesen pounced on it to give the Dinos possession. Three plays later, Timmis was in the end zone with his first major of the night, seemingly blocking the game open at 29-10.
The Rams came back in the third on the strength of an 82-yard bomb from Shutter to Kolten Solomon, and after the Dinos conceded a late safety it was an eight-point game heading into the fourth quarter. But Timmis’ second and third TDs of the night put it out of reach, and a last-minute score by the Rams’ Richard Sindani made the final 46-27.
Timmis ran the ball 19 times for 92 yards and the three scores, the only time this season he has been held under 100 yards. Andrew Buckley completed 20 of 34 passes for 235 yards, with Jake Harty catching seven of those passes for an even 100 yards on the night.
Shutter tossed it up time after time, picking up 430 passing yards on 31 completions and 56 attempts. He was picked off three times by Adam Laurensse, Thomas Spoletini, and Adam Ballingall, but he threw for a pair of touchdowns: the 82-yarder to Solomon and a late 25-yarder to Sindani. Solomon had 164 receiving yards for the Rams in the loss.
Calgary will try to complete a first in school history – an undefeated regular season – when the Dinos host the UBC Thunderbirds in a likely preview of their first-round playoff match-up next Friday night at McMahon Stadium.
“We played a lot of young kids and sat some veterans and we gutted out a win tonight, so that’s good to see,” said Nill. “We want to go 8-0 – it’s something to motivate the guys this week. UBC is peaking at the right time, and we’re going to have to be ready to play a very good football team.”
“We just have to stay hungry and try to keep getting better each week,” said Timmis. “If we do that we can keep moving and keep excelling.”
Regina wraps up its 2013 season next weekend hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Photo credit: David Moll
Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information
CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos pulled away from the University of Regina late in the game and took a 46-27 win over the Rams in Canada West football action at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.
The loss eliminates the U of R’s chances of qualifying for the postseason, as the Rams needed to win both this week and next week and receive help on the out-of-town scoreboard to lock up a playoff berth.
The Rams (2-5) were within 10 points of Calgary for the majority of the fourth until a pair of Mercer Timmis rushing touchdowns late in the quarter put the game away for the No. 3-ranked Dinos, who improve to 7-0 on the season with the victory.
Calgary quarterback Andrew Buckley completed 20 of his 34 passes for 235 yards, with Timmis ending up with 19 rushes for 92 yards including three touchdowns. Jake Harty was the Dinos’ leading receiver with seven catches for 100 yards, while Calgary’s defence recorded three interceptions with picks by Adam Laurensse, Adam Ballingall, and Thomas Spoletini.
With quarterback Cayman Shutter back under centre, it was almost exclusively through the air for the Rams as Shutter was 31-for-56 on the night for 430 yards and two touchdowns. Kolten Solomon caught six passes for a game-high 164 yards, exactly half of which came on an 82-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Jared Janotta also caught six passes as he moves past former teammate Brenden Owens for fifth on the school’s all-time receptions list.
Justin Edralin led Regina’s defence with seven solo and three assisted tackles, while Connor Ketchen was in on a total of nine tackles and recovered a fumble.
After Calgary’s opening drive resulted in a single, Shutter led the Rams on a drive all the way to the Dinos’ 10-yard line. Rams kicker Taylor Wandler was ready for a 17-yard chip shot, but a bad snap kept the U of R off the board and gave the ball back to Calgary. That sparked the Dinos, as a Jimmy Underdahl 32-yard rush finished off a Dinos drive that gave the home side an 8-0 lead with five minutes left in the first.
After another single for Calgary, the Rams got on the board early in the second quarter when a 45-yard pass from Shutter to Solomon set up Wandler for a 34-yard field goal that cut the lead to 9-3 for Calgary. A lengthy Dinos drive resulted in a Johnny Mark field goal midway through the second, but the Rams responded on the ensuing drive with their first major of the game. The big play was a Shutter pass over the top to Addison Richards for a 48-yard gain, and Shutter finished off the drive himself with a one-yard plunge that cut the Calgary lead to 12-10.
But just when it looked the Rams might have momentum on their side, that changed on the kickoff following the Shutter touchdown. A short kickoff was returned 56 yards for a touchdown by Michael Schmidt, which immediately restored the Dinos’ nine-point lead. Another Mark field goal gave Calgary a 22-10 lead at the half.
The Dinos pulled out some special teams trickery on the first play of the second half. With the team seemingly huddled preparing to kick off, Mark approached the ball as if to take a practice swing and instead kicked it onside, where Brad Friesen pounced on it to give the Dinos possession. Calgary drove downfield quickly and finished it off with Timmis’s first touchdown of the game to take a 29-10 lead.
Despite being down 19 points, the Rams gave themselves a chance by holding Calgary’s offence off the board for the next 25 minutes. Solomon’s long touchdown catch off a hitch coupled with a pair of conceded safeties brought the Rams to within eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would come. The Rams conceded a safety of their own early in the fourth and a pair of Timmis touchdown runs just over a minute apart late in the quarter put the game out of reach.
The Rams added a late major with Richard Sindani’s first career touchdown catch from 25 yards out and recovered the onside kick that followed but it was too little, too late as the Dinos were well on their way to a 19-point win.
Calgary will finish off its Canada West schedule next week at home against UBC, while the Rams will finish off their 2013 season next Saturday at Mosaic Stadium against Saskatchewan (4-3).
Source: Braden Konschuh, Regina Rams Sports Information
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
