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| Nicholas Dheilly charges on to the field with the Huskies. |
Last
Saturday, the star defensive end had three solo tackles and two pass break ups
helping his University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team down the
University of Alberta Golden Bears 28-23 in a Canada West semifinal contest.
The win propelled the Huskies (6-3 overall) into the Canada West Conference
championship game - the Hardy Cup - to face the University of Calgary Dinos
(7-2 overall) this coming Saturday in Calgary, Alta.
The two
sides played in last year’s Hardy Cup in Calgary with the Huskies posting a
43-18 victory.
Unlike most
of his Huskies teammates, Dheilly hadn’t experienced the thrill of post-season
victory at the U Sports level. He is playing through his third year of U Sports
eligibility after spending his first two seasons with his hometown University
of Regina Rams in 2016 and 2017.
In 2016,
the Rams fell in a Canada West semifinal 40-34 to the University of British
Columbia Thunderbirds at Taylor Field in the Saskatchewan capital.
In 2017, the
Rams were again eliminated from the playoffs in a Canada West semifinal contest
falling 28-21 to the Thunderbirds in Vancouver, B.C.
“I’ve never played in a Hardy Cup,” said Dheilly. “On the Rams, we lost first round in playoffs every time, so this is a hell of an experience to be with the Huskies and this kind of group of guys and the coaches and play my first Hardy Cup at the U Sports level.”
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| Nicholas Dheilly (#99) hits a Dinos ball carrier. |
“I’ve never played in a Hardy Cup,” said Dheilly. “On the Rams, we lost first round in playoffs every time, so this is a hell of an experience to be with the Huskies and this kind of group of guys and the coaches and play my first Hardy Cup at the U Sports level.”
Early in
2016, Dheilly committed to joining the Huskies but had a change of heart over
summer and elected to suit up for the Rams.
A graduate
of Regina’s Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School, Dheilly turned heads with the
Rams. He was named the rookie of the year for the Canada West Conference in
2016.
In 2017,
Dheilly was named a Canada West all-star piling up 6.5 sacks with the Rams that
tied a team record for sacks in a season that was originally set by Akiem Hicks
in 2011. Hicks currently stars as a defensive tackle with the NFL’s Chicago
Bears.
Following
that 2017 campaign, Dheilly decided he needed a change of scenery. He played
last season in the CJFL with the Okanagan Sun registering eight sacks in five
regular season games.
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| Nicholas Dheilly had five sacks for the Huskies. |
After winning the Canada West title, the Huskies made it the Mitchell Bowl last season and fell to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs 47-24 in the U Sports semifinal contest.
“I came to
this school to win games and get to the Hardy and kind of like play in bigger
games,” said Dheilly. “I couldn’t be happier about this team and how they
played (last Saturday) to get us to where we need to be.”
During the
Huskies eight regular season games, Dheilly posted five sacks and 17.5 total
tackles. For his efforts, Dheilly was again named a Canada West all-star.
He was an
all-star selection along with Huskies fifth-year defensive tackle Evan
Machibroda. Dheilly has enjoyed playing on the Huskies defensive line along
with Machibroda and defensive end Riley Pickett.
“It is me,
Machibroda and Riley (Pickett),” said Dheilly. “We run a three-man front.
“We rush
three a lot. They (the Huskies coaches) put a lot of pressure for us to get to
the quarterback with three, and I think we’ve done a great job. We have a great
D-line.
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| Nicholas Dheilly (#99) closes in on a Golden Bears ball carrier. |
Now the Huskies will be looking to Dheilly, Machibroda and Pickett to disrupt Dinos star fifth-year quarterback Adam Sinagra. Appearing in seven regular season games with the Dinos, Sinagra completed 159-of-256 passes for 2,014 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The Huskies
downed the Dinos 29-15 in the only regular season meeting between the two sides
on Sept. 27, and the U of S defence forced Sinagra to leave that contest due to
injury.
Dheilly is
ready to get things rocking in the upcoming meeting between the two sides.
“We got
Calgary, right,” said Dheilly. “It is just another rematch for the Hardy Cup in
Calgary, and I can’t wait.”
Machart takes playoff player of the week
honour
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| Adam Machart scores a touchdown for the Huskies. |
On Monday, Machart was named the Canada West Conference
offensive player of the week for his performance in the Huskies 28-23 victory
over the U of Alberta Golden Bears in last Saturday’s Canada West semifinal
contest.
In that contest, Machart ran the ball 23 times for 162 yards
and scored one touchdown. He also caught five passes for 42 yards.
Machart had a dream regular season for the Dogs. The skilled
and tough running back carried the ball 156 times for 1334 yards and eight
touchdowns to break the Huskies team record for most rushing yards in one
regular season.
In the passing game, Machart caught 20 passes for 204 yards
and three touchdowns. He piled up 1,538 all-purpose yards to set a new Huskies
team record. Machart was named a Canada West all-star for the current campaign.
Lokombo picks up defensive player of the
week nod
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| Nelson Lokombo, right, charges off the field after making an interception. |
On Monday, the third-year defensive back was named the
Canada West player of the week on defence for his performance in the Huskies
28-23 win over the U of Alberta Golden Bears in a Canada West semifinal contest
held last Saturday.
In that win, Lokombo recorded seven total tackles, an
interception and a forced fumble.
Lokombo was named a Canada West all-star this season.
In the Huskies eight regular season game, Lokombo posted
23.5 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and four interceptions. He returned two of his
interceptions for touchdowns.
Blades’ captain Wouters tabbed for Canada
Russia series
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| Chase Wouters will play in the CIBC Canada Russia Series. |
On Tuesday, Wouters was named to Team WHL’s roster for the
CIBC Canada Russia series. The 19-year-old centre has played in all of the
Blades 18 regular season games collecting 10 goals and seven assists helping
the team post a 9-7-1-1 record.
Wouters is playing in his fourth full season with the
Blades, and he has appeared in 214 career regular season games with the club
posting 49 goals and 79 assists for 128 points. He was the WHL Eastern
Conference scholastic player of the year in the 2017-18 campaign.
Wouters was played on the WHL squad along with Edmonton Oil
Kings forward Josh Williams.
The two are taking the spots that were originally given to
forward Kirby Dach and Peyton Krebs.
Dach hasn’t returned to the Blades to play his 18-year-old
season, because he cracked the roster of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks on a
full-time basis.
Krebs, who is a star 18-year-old centre, hasn’t suited up
for the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice this season after injuring Achilles in an off-ice
training session during the off-season.
The first
two games of the Canada Russia series were split between team QMJHL and Russia.
On Monday, Russia downed the QMJHL 4-3, and the QMJHL rebounded with a 4-3
overtime victory on Tuesday.
Team WHL
faces the Russians on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre and
on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert,
Sask.
All games
of the Canada Russia series are being broadcast nationally on Sportsnet. The
event is used by the staff at Hockey Canada as a final evaluation before
sending invites for the main selection camp for Canada’s world junior team.
The Blades
return to action on Friday, when they host the Red Deer Rebels at 7 p.m. at the
SaskTel Centre.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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