Regina Rams overcome slow start, beat Dinos

The Regina Rams beat the Dinos 24-16 on Friday. (Photo source: David Moll / University of Regina Rams X page)

The University of Regina Rams overcame some offensive struggles and the loss of their starting quarterback on Friday night at McMahon Stadium to beat the University of Calgary Dinos 24-16.

Noah Pelletier took over for the injured Owen Sieben late in the third quarter and completed 14 of 19 pass attempts for 125 yards and scored a rushing touchdown in the win. Sieben, the league’s reigning rookie of the year, struggled to start the game completing six of 13 passes for 64 yards and threw a pair of interceptions.

It took almost a quarter for the Rams offence to find its footing. Sieben threw a pair of interceptions, a pair of near interceptions, and the team fumbled on the opening drive of the contest.  Then, the Regina squad settled in.

"We have lots to cleans up but our goal this week was to go 1-0 and that's exactly what we did," said head coach Mark McConkey. "Winning on the road in Canada West is hard but our players found a way to make crutial plays at important times."

Sieben scored the game’s first touchdown on a lengthy Rams penalty-aided drive in the first quarter. The sophomore called his own number and finding an 11-yard path to the end zone to score the game’s first major and give the Rams a 7-2 lead.

A safety and a pair of Isaac Wegner field goals (27, 24 yards) put the Rams up 13-2 at half time.

Calgary mounted their comeback in the third quarter. Dinos QB Ben Britton completed a 36-yard pass to his brother Dom in the very back of the end zone, that was ruled a touchdown. The Rams led 16-9 with 14 minutes to go.

Regina’s defence was rock solid all game led by veterans Chopper Hippe and Jackson Sombach with four tackles each. A pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter helped the Rams expand their lead and ultimately give them the victory. Max Polischuk picked off Ben Britton to end the threat of a Dinos scoring play.

A Cameron Mah interception helped set up what would eventually be the game’s winning touchdown. Pelletier connected with D’Sean Mimbs on a 19 yard pass to take the ball down to the six yard line. Three plays later, Pelletier called his own number and scored the game’s second quarterback rushing touchdown to extend the Rams lead to 23-9.

The Dinos mounted one last comeback attempt with two minutes to go. Britton led a two-play 75-yard drive including a 51-yard touchdown strike to receiver Luke Gutek to bring the Dinos to within reach. The Rams offence patiently ran out the clock with a series of time chewing runs to end the game.

There is no word yet on the status of quarterback Owen Sieben as of this writing.

The Regina Rams host the Saskatchewan Huskies in the U-Prairie Challenge on Friday, Sept. 6^th at Mosaic Stadium at 7 p.m.