A 28-point fourth quarter fueled the University of Saskatchewan Huskies past the No. 8 ranked University of Manitoba Bisons 44-39 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon’s PotashCorp Park Friday night.
With 1:49 remaining in the fourth quarter and the ball on their own 49-yard line, Huskie pivot Chase Bradshaw orchestrated a six-play, 61 yard drive capped off by a nine-yard touchdown run by Shane Buchanan to give Saskatchewan the win.
Saskatchewan was trailing 29-16 entering the final quarter. Bradshaw found Canada West leading receiver Kit Hillis for a 40-yard touchdown to start the bid for the comeback. Bradshaw also scored himself on a one-yard quarterback sneak and connected with Mitch Stevens on a 16-yard touchdown for the four majors in the quarter.
After the Huskies had scored two majors in the quarter, Bisons’ tailback Anthony Coombs broke free on a 70-yard touchdown run. But the play didn’t stop the Huskies’ hopes and Bradshaw continued to lead Saskatchewan down the field.
“We said we weren’t going to quit and fortunately we didn’t, it was a character win,” said Huskie head coach Brian Towriss. “The kids battled give them credit they hung in there and found a way, they believed they could win.”
The teams traded points in the first half with Manitoba leading 15-14 at the half. The Bisons tallied twice in the third quarter togarner a 29-16 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Bradshaw completed 38-of-60 pass attempts for 426 yards and three touchdowns. His 38 completions matched a Canada west record for most completions in a game and set a new Huskie program record. Hillis finished the game with 141 yards on 12 receptions, while Garrett Burgess had 135 yards on 12 catches.
On the ground, Buchanan led the Huskies with 144 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Defensively the Huskies were led by Joel Seutter and Richard Zacharias who recorded eight tackles and 5 1Ž2 tackles respectively.
The Bisons used a tandom of quarterbacks in the loss. Cam Clark started the game for the Bisons completing 8-of-17 passes for 112 yards. Ryan Marsh, who replaced Clark at the start of the second half, completed 7-of-15 passes for 102 yards.
Coombs had another strong game in the Bisons’ backfield rushing for two touchdowns and 158 yards on 13 carries.
Defensively the Bisons were led by Teague Sherman and Ranji Atwall who recorded 11 1Ž2 tackles and 10 1Ž2 tackles respectively.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 3-3 on the season and hold the tie-breaker for third place over the Bisons, who are also 3-3 on the season.
Saskatchewan travels to Edmonton next weekend to meet the University of Alberta Golden Bears, while the Bisons return home to host the UBC Thunderbirds.
Source: Sask sports info
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