Huskies, Rams open Canada West football playoffs on road

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are heading into the Canada West football playoffs as the hottest team in western Canada.

After what was a sluggish 1-3 start to the season, the Huskies finished the season 5-3 after four-consecutive victories heading into their semi-final match up in Vancouver against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon.

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The Huskies and Thunderbirds met once earlier in the season in Vancouver, and the B.C. team beat the Huskies 38-24 and marking the Huskies’ most recent loss.

Despite the team’s hot hand heading into the playoffs, head coach Scott Flory said it’s going to take a big effort to beat one of the best football teams in the west.

“The thing with the playoffs is every play gets amplified,” Flory said. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re locked in and focused. You’ve got to play a full 60-minute game in playoffs.”

Despite the challenge ahead, Flory said there’s also plenty of excitement.

“We’re looking forward to it. It’s been a fun season, it’s been an interesting season, and we’re excited to get the chance to go back to Vancouver where we didn’t have much success,” Flory added. “We’re in a good spot and continuing to build and try to get better every day.”

The Huskies closed out the season last Saturday with a 16-11 win in Calgary, thanks to a last-second touchdown by running back Ryker Frank in the fourth quarter.

It was a game where the Huskies struggled to generate much offence.

Quarterback Anton Amundrud said over the past week the Huskies have been focusing on getting the offence humming.

“A big focus of this week so far has been cleaning up some things on offence and sustaining longer drives,” he explained. “Last week against Calgary it felt like we were moving the ball, but we just stalled out on penalties and stuff like that. Big focus this week is just staying dialed on our play calls, and knowing we’ve got to stay on the field.”

Amundrud said the whole team loves this time of year, and noted that the rough start early on has helped the Huskies grow as a group.

“It’s a little different than last year when we started out hot and kind of fizzled out after our bye week,” the quarterback said. “I’m really liking this year how we went through our bumps and bruises and I think we’ve learned from that. We’re a confident group going into playoffs and we’re riding a bit of a high.”

The winner of the game on Saturday will advance to the Canada West final to either play the University of Manitoba or the University of Regina.

The Huskies can only host the Canada West final if they beat UBC and Regina upsets top-seeded Manitoba.

Kickoff on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. local time.

Rams hoping for upset against Manitoba

Meanwhile, the University of Regina Rams will be looking to upset the Canada West-leading Manitoba Bisons.

The Bisons come into the game with a 7-1 record – the only blemish coming in a 42-24 loss to the Huskies on Oct. 4.

“They’re a strong team and have some real explosive players and, ultimately, we have to limit their offence. They have a high-flying offence who can run and throw and we have to be able to shut that down,” said Rams head coach Mark McConkey.

“We have to keep their offence off the field. We have to move the ball and score points when we can. It’s going to come down to explosive plays, turnovers and who can hang onto the ball the longest.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s Canada West semi-final game is set for 1 p.m. local time.

It’s been quite a roller-coaster season for the Rams. The team started the year with two straight wins before losing five in a row. The Rams then won their regular-season finale 29-22 over the University of Alberta Golden Bears, which punched the Rams’ ticket to the postseason after missing playoffs last year.

“It’s a pretty cool story they are going to tell about us if we go on a playoff run here. You go 2-0 and then lose five straight, most teams would crumble and blow up and fall apart, but I will give our guys and coaches credit. They stuck together and believed in each other and believed in the process,” McConkey said.

“We knew we were close, and it was just a matter of time before things came together for us.”

It wasn’t easy for the Rams in the game against Alberta. The team was down 15-4 heading into halftime, but won based on a big rushing attack from Christian Katende, who finished the game with 228 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s been great for us. Last year he ruptured his Achilles in Week 2 so took a medical redshirt, and so worked his butt off to come back and be ready to go,” McConkey said. “He had a few injuries earlier in the year, but we knew what we had and he’s just a special player for us and got the opportunity and made the most of it.”

With the Rams having to battle to make playoffs this season, McConkey said he thinks rising to that challenge could help them out.

“It’s a wide-open conference and anyone can beat anyone this year. We just have to go out there and play Rams football and we will be just fine.”

–with files from 980 CJME’s Britton Gray