By Todd Penney
Last Friday, the Dinos looked to put a blemish on the Regina Rams perfect 3-0 record by defeating them on home turf. Unfortunately, the Rams had other plans and defeated the Dinos 44-37 in a brutal offensive war.
Plain, horrible luck for the Dinos resulted in the team being in a deep hole early in the game. Punter Matt Nimik slipped deep in his own endzone when he attempted to punt the ball in the opening quarter. The ball hit someone and bounced into the arms of Rams linebacker Jeff Zimmer who easily carried the ball for a touchdown. Nimik looked shaky the whole night as he missed two crucial short-range field goals, and mishandled some poorly snapped balls. He even had difficulty getting altitude on his kickoffs. Dinos ball carriers also had problems handling the ball early, resulting in ten more points for the Rams. The second fumble call on a kick return by the Dinos was, however, completely illegitimate as the ground forced the fumble. The offence could not put together a decent series and the normally formidable Dino rush defence looked like they were vacationing in Honolulu. At the beginning of the second quarter, the Rams had a 24-0 lead over the Dinos.
The Dinos did get a spark in the second quarter, the defence recovered a Rams fumble and turned it into a touchdown when quarterback Lincoln Blumell hooked up with receiver Jamie Elliott with a great pass.
In the second half, the trailing Dinos looked like navy seals on a mission, allowing the Rams only ten points to their 22. One very notable moment was a completely brilliant but hysterical play in which second-string quarterback Charles Guedo got some turf time and took a handoff from Blumell and watched as Blumell scampered down the sideline. Guedo threw the ball right on target and Blumell marched the ball in for Calgary’s final score of the game. The fourth-seeded Rams squad looked and probably felt like a bunch of Peewee football players after watching the sneaky Dinos pull off a great desperation play. The Rams, however, took control of the ball and the clock afterwards and ended Calgary’s magnificent comeback attempt.
The Dinos seem to perform best under pressure which is quickly giving them a reputation of being a second half team. One player to note who had an outstanding game and the only player that seemed to have a pulse on the Calgary defense was Tyler Lynem, who had three sacks.
This Friday at 7:00 p.m., Calgary faces the lowly UBC Thunderbirds at McMahon Stadium.