By Todd Penney
This past Saturday, the second place Canada West Conference University of Calgary Dinos made their way to the frigid Manitoba capital to face the first place University of Manitoba Bisons. Calgary hoped to take the Bisons off their high horse. Instead the Dinos had their asses handed to them and ended up on the receiving end of a 38–2 spanking from the Bisons.
The Dinos did go into the game with a handicap, as they were without the services of star quarterback Lincoln Blumell and key receiver Blake Machan, both out with injuries. Second-year quarterback Charles Guedo had to step in for Blumell against Manitoba and he ended up being the sacrificial lamb sent to slaughter in this one-sided affair. Manitoba owned Calgary all afternoon, controling almost every facet of the game.
Dino receivers Jamie Elliott and Dave Holowaychuk had extremely dismal games, only catching three passes between the two of them.
The strong Bison defensive core stifled Calgary’s rush as neither Luke Mayer nor Jeff Williams were able to get their wheels rolling for some significant yardage in the game. On the other side of the ball, the Dinos’ defense seemed to fall apart like most of the beaten up jalopy cars found on Winnipeg streets. The Dinos defensive unit allowed a whopping 454 net yards against them. The Bisons were all too aware of the crippled Calgary defense and they managed to convert on five out of six third-down attempts. Manitoba had a commanding lead all game.
Ironically, the boys in red and gold on the defensive side of the were the ones who earned Calgary’s only two points in the football game. Clearly, this was not a shining example of what the Dinos are capable of. The weak Calgary performance does not take away from another fine Bison performance under the leadership of talented quarterback Shane Munson, and the Bisons proved why they clearly deserve first place in the Canada West Conference, finishing the season with a perfect 8–0 record. This leaves the Dinos a distant second with a record of 4–3.
Calgary faces the University of Saskatchewan Huskies this Saturday in Saskatoon in their final regular season game. A win will guarantee a home playoff game at McMahon Stadium.