Comeback win for Rams

True freshman quarterback Noah Picton (pictured) completed all 12 of his pass attempts as he sparked the University of Regina Rams to a wild 30-25 comeback victory over Manitoba on Friday night in a non-conference game at Mosaic Stadium.

Picton came into the game facing a 17-point deficit with 10 minutes left, but led the Rams to touchdowns on three consecutive drives including the go-ahead major – a 31-yard pass to fellow rookie Davin Johnston – with just 47 seconds left. An interception by Rams defensive back Patrick MacDonald on the ensuing Manitoba possession sealed the win for the U of R.

Manitoba looked to have the game well in hand after Bisons quarterback Jordan Yantz connected with Kienan LaFrance for a 24-yard touchdown early in the fourth to give the visitors a 25-8 advantage, but that’s when Picton went to work. His first drive was highlighted by a pair of big plays by Jens Johnson, as the running back got 27 yards on a catch-and-run that brought the ball into Manitoba territory and rumbled 38 yards for a touchdown on a 3rd-and-1 situation. Picton’s pass to his cousin Mitchell Picton was good on the two-point convert.

The Rams then recovered the ball on an onside kick attempt, with Tevaughn Campbell coming up with the loose ball after kicker Zach Schmidt sent a knuckleball directly at a Manitoba player. Picton hit Mark McConkey for a 42-yard gain up the right sideline, and a 12-yard pass to Mitchell Picton set up a six-yard touchdown rush by Ben Graunkewhich brought the Rams to within two.

A two-and-out on Manitoba’s next possession gave the ball to the Rams on their own 36-yard line with three minutes left on the clock, and four consecutive completions by Picton brought them into Bisons territory. The Rams had to convert on third down for the second time in the quarter, which eventually led to Picton’s high lob to Johnston in the end zone to cap the furious rally.

Picton’s final numbers were nothing short of spectacular, as he went 12-for-12 and piled up 160 yards and a touchdown pass in just a shade over 10 minutes on the field. Johnston led all players with four receptions, while McConkey ended up with three catches for a game-high 67 yards. Addison Richards and Jared Janotta also had three receptions for the Rams, while Johnson led all players with 50 rushing yards on just five carries.

Rams starting quarterback Cayman Shutter was also solid, ending up completing eight of 12 passes for 93 yards including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Richards. Brady Aulie led the Rams defensively with four tackles, two sacks, and a pass breakup, while Campbell added four tackles and piled up 155 all-purpose yards on returns.

Yantz came on in relief of Manitoba starting quarterback Marc Paquette and went 9-for-17 with 149 yards including his touchdown strike to LaFrance, while running back Nic Demski was 2-for-2 as he completed a long pass to Graham Stephens on a halfback option and a desperation attempt to Andrew Barry for a two-point conversion following a botched snap on the kick. LaFrance was Manitoba’s top receiver with two catches for 47 yards.

Lauren Kroeker led Manitoba’s defence with a pair of sacks, while Ranji Atwall had three solo tackles and a pair of assisted tackles for the Bisons.

It’s now off to the Canada West schedule for both teams. The Rams will make the short trek north to Saskatoon next Friday for a Week 1 game at the University of Saskatchewan, while Manitoba will open up at home against Alberta in what will be the team’s first game at the new Investors Group Field.

 

Scoring Summary (Final)
2013 University of Regina Football
Manitoba vs Regina (Aug 23, 2013 at Regina, SK)
Manitoba vs. Regina

Date: Aug 23, 2013 • Site: Regina, SK  • Stadium: Mosaic Stadium  •  Attendance: 1100

Score by Quarters  Score 
Manitoba   7  1  11  6  25 
Regina   0  7  1  22  30 
SCORING SUMMARY   MAN -REG  
1st  15:00  MAN   Alex Vitt 20 yd pass from Marc Paquette (Nick Boyd kick) 
         8 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:56  7 – 0 
2nd  05:23  REG   Addison Richards 22 yd pass from Cayman Shutter (Zach Schmidt kick) 
         3 plays, 40 yards, TOP 1:23  7 – 7 
  08:14  MAN   Nick Boyd 0 rouge 
           8 – 7 
3rd  03:48  MAN   Jordan Yantz 14 yd run (Andrew Barry pass from Nic Demski) 
         2 plays, 34 yards, TOP 1:18  16 – 7 
  12:25  MAN   Nick Boyd 28 yd field goal 
         8 plays, 50 yards, TOP 4:34  19 – 7 
  15:00  REG   Zach Schmidt 38 rouge 
           19 – 8 
4th  02:19  MAN   Kienan LaFrance 24 yd pass from Jordan Yantz (Nic Demski rush failed) 
         5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:19  25 – 8 
  08:43  REG   Jens Johnson 38 yd run (Mitchell Picton pass from Noah Picton) 
         6 plays, 82 yards, TOP 3:51  25 – 16 
  10:51  REG   Ben Graunke 6 yd run (Zach Schmidt kick) 
         4 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:01  25 – 23 
  14:13  REG   Davin Johnston 31 yd pass from Noah Picton (Zach Schmidt kick) 
         9 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:13  25 – 30 
Kickoff time: 7:00 pm  • End of Game: 9:32 pm  • Total elapsed time: 2:32
Referee: Ryan Stark  •  Umpire: Rob Isbister  •  Linesman: Rod Halen  •  Line judge: Rich Petrowski  •  Back judge: Chris Larsen  •  Field judge: D Fleischhakker •  Side judge: Steve Luesink  •
Temperature:  • Wind:  • Weather:

Team Statistics

Team Statistics (Final)
2013 University of Regina Football
Manitoba vs Regina (Aug 23, 2013 at Regina, SK)

 Team Totals  MAN  REG 
FIRST DOWNS  19  18 
   Rushing 
   Passing  10  11 
   Penalty 
NET YARDS RUSHING  122  61 
   Rushing Attempts  23  24 
   Average Per Rush  5.3  2.5 
   Rushing Touchdowns 
   Yards Gained Rushing  130  112 
   Yards Lost Rushing  51 
NET YARDS PASSING  252  253 
   Completions-Attempts-Int  15-31-2  20-29-0 
   Average Per Attempt  8.1  8.7 
   Average Per Completion  16.8  12.6 
   Passing Touchdowns 
TEAM LOSSES  -12  -14 
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS  362  300 
   Total offense plays  56  55 
   Average Gain Per Play  6.5  5.5 
Fumbles: Number-Lost  2-1  2-1 
Penalties: Number-Yards  15-110  11-65 
PUNTS-YARDS  8-308  11-388 
   Average Yards Per Punt  38.5  35.3 
   Net Yards Per Punt  30.2  29.5 
   Inside 20 
   50+ Yards 
   Touchbacks 
   Fair catch 
KICKOFFS-YARDS  4-244  4-208 
   Average Yards Per Kickoff  61.0  52.0 
   Net Yards Per Kickoff  38.0  26.2 
   Touchbacks 
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD  8-64-0  6-66-0 
   Average Per Return  8.0  11.0 
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  5-103-0  3-92-0 
   Average Per Return  20.6  30.7 
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD  0-0-0  2-0-0 
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD  0-0-0  0-0-0 
Possession Time  28:32  31:28 
   1st Quarter  7:54  7:06 
   2nd Quarter  6:56  8:04 
   3rd Quarter  8:31  6:29 
   4th Quarter  5:11  9:49 
Third-Down Conversions  0 of 1  2 of 3 
Red-Zone Scores-Chances  3-3  1-1 
   Touchdowns  2-3  1-1 
   Field goals  1-3  0-1 
Sacks By: Number-Yards  2-12  2-12 
PAT Kicks  1-1  3-3 
Field Goals  1-2  0-1 

Individual Statistics

Individual Statistics (Final)
2013 University of Regina Football
Manitoba vs Regina (Aug 23, 2013 at Regina, SK)

Manitoba
Regina
RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg. 
Alex Christie   30  26  15  5.2 
Marc Paquette   22  22  13  11.0 
Jordan Yantz   21  20  14  6.7 
Nic Demski   19  19  19  9.5 
Anthony Coombs   18  16  11  4.0 
Andrew Barry   10  10  5.0 
B. Giesbrecht   2.5 
Kienan LaFrance  1.3 
Totals…  23  130  122  19  5.3 
  
RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg. 
Jens Johnson   50  50  38  10.0 
Dillon Dawson   14  14  2.8 
Michael Kiapway  11  11  2.8 
Ben Graunke   10  10  5.0 
John Kiesman   4.5 
Cayman Shutter   3.0 
Noah Picton   6.0 
Ben Lane   1.5 
TEAM   51  -51  0.0 
Totals…  24  112  51  61  38  2.5 
PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack 
Jordan Yantz   9-17-0  149  31 
Marc Paquette   4-12-2  66  23 
Nic Demski   2-2-0  37  32 
Totals…  15-31-2  252  32 
PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack 
Noah Picton   12-12-0  160  42 
Cayman Shutter   8-12-0  93  22 
John Kiesman   0-5-0 
Totals…  20-29-0  253  42 
RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg 
Kienan LaFrance  47  24 
Graham Stephens  37  32 
C. Hansen   35  18 
Bryden Bone   19  15 
Alex Christie   31  31 
Dustin Pedersen  22  22 
Alex Vitt   20  20 
Brandon Barratt  20  20 
Nic Demski  
Matt Sawyer  
Andrew Barry  
Totals…  15  252  32 
RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg 
Davin Johnston   47  31 
Mark McConkey   67  42 
Addison Richards  47  22 
Jared Janotta   14 
Mitchell Picton  17  12 
Andrew Kuski   10 
Jens Johnson   27  27 
Dillon Dawson   16  16 
Richard Sindani 
Totals…  20  253  42 
  
  
PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB 
Nick Boyd   308  38.5  44 
Totals…  308  38.5  44 
  
PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB 
Taylor Wandler   282  35.2  45 
Zach Schmidt   106  35.3  41 
Totals…  11  388  35.3  45 
   Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept 
ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg 
Kienan LaFrance  28  28 
Alex Christie   22  11  26  26 
Nic Demski   12  12  36  36 
Matt Sawyer   13  13 
TEAM  
Anthony Coombs   30  11 
Totals…  64  12  103  36 
   Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept 
ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg 
Jared Janotta  
Tevaughn Campbell  63  15  92  41 
Joey Dwyer  
Patrick MacDonald 
Totals…  66  15  92  41 
  
  
ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total 
Alex Christie   26  31  26  22  105 
Kienan LaFrance  47  28  79 
Nic Demski   19  36  12  75 
Anthony Coombs   16  30  46 
Graham Stephens  37  37 
C. Hansen   35  35 
Marc Paquette   22  22 
Dustin Pedersen  22  22 
Matt Sawyer   13  21 
Brandon Barratt  20  20 
Alex Vitt   20  20 
Jordan Yantz   20  20 
Bryden Bone   19  19 
Andrew Barry   10  15 
B. Giesbrecht  
Totals…  122  252  103  64  541 
  
  
ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total 
Tevaughn Campbell  92  63  155 
Jens Johnson   50  27  77 
Mark McConkey   67  67 
Addison Richards  47  47 
Davin Johnston   47  47 
Dillon Dawson   14  16  30 
Mitchell Picton  17  17 
Jared Janotta   14  17 
Michael Kiapway  11  11 
Ben Graunke   10  10 
Andrew Kuski   10  10 
Cayman Shutter  
John Kiesman  
Richard Sindani 
Noah Picton  
Ben Lane  
TEAM   -51  -51 
Totals…  61  253  92  66  472 
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS 
Nick Boyd  2nd  06:46  40 yards  Rouge 
Nick Boyd  3rd  02:35  28 yards  Good 
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS 
Zach Schmidt  3rd  00:00  38 yards  Rouge 
  
KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg. 
Nick Boyd   244  61.0 
  
KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg. 
Zach Schmidt   150  50.0 
Taylor Wandler   58  58.0 

 

FUMBLES: Manitoba-Jordan Yantz 1-0; TEAM 1-1. Regina-TEAM 2-1.

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