Huskies brush aside Bisons to sit atop Canada West

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies used a strong third quarter to batter the University of Manitoba Bisons 41-12 Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.

The win clinched first place in the Canada West football standings for the Huskies (4-1) while also ensuring home-field advantage for the playoffs. Manitoba and Alberta (3-2) are tied for second place.

After an opening half that sent both teams back and forth down the field with long possessions and field-goal attempts, it was an Everett Iverson touchdown catch on third down at the end of the half that seemed to galvanize the Huskies.

Iverson’s six-yard catch from quarterback Mason Nyhus with 14 seconds remaining sent the Huskies to the locker room up 13-3.

The Huskies’ defence opened the third quarter by forcing a Bisons two-and-out, and Nyhus quickly took over.

Nyhus found an open Daniel Perry past the first down sticks and he ran the rest of the way for a 70-yard touchdown to open a 20-3 lead with 12:09 remaining in the quarter.

After another Manitoba two-and-out, Nyhus once again made quick work of the field. This time he found Sam Baker open downfield and dropped a nearly perfect 38-yard pass into Baker’s waiting arms to put the Huskies on the Bisons’ 12-yard line.

Backup quarterback Ethan Watson plunged in from one yard out a few plays later to give the Huskies a 27-3 lead with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Manitoba used its last possession of the quarter to put together an eight-play drive that ended with quarterback Sawyer Thiessen throwing a touchdown pass to Gavin Cobb from 25 yards out.

A couple of safeties had the Huskies leading 29-12 to begin the final frame.

Turnovers from the Bisons would halt any attempts at a comeback with neither team able to cover much ground on the field.

Ultimately it was running back Ryker Frank rushing 60 yards for a touchdown with eight seconds left in the game to ice a 42-12 win.

Saskatchewan managed 485 yards of total offence compared to Manitoba’s 252.

Nyhus finished the game with 18 completions on 37 passing attempts for 246 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.

Perry finished as the leading receiver with 99 yards and a touchdown on three catches.

The Huskies will wrap up the regular season Saturday at Griffiths Stadium against the Calgary Dinos.

The rest of the west

Elsewhere in Canada West action, the Alberta Golden Bears defeated the Regina Rams on a last-minute field goal to take a 23-22 win.

It’s the second heartbreaking loss of the Rams’ season. The UBC Thunderbirds also beat the Rams in the final moments a few weeks ago.

Regina led 22-5 at the beginning of Saturday’s fourth quarter, but watched the game slip away as Alberta threw a touchdown, recovered a fumble in the end zone and kicked a field goal with 1:02 left in the game. The Rams fell into last place in the conference with a 1-4 record.

In Calgary, the Dinos beat UBC 53-14 to remain in playoff contention heading into the final week of the season.