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| Mason Nyhus is one of the best the Huskies ever had at QB. |
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team’s fifth-year quarterback would have been the toast of “the Wheat Province,” and fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders would be demanding that the community-owned franchise should sign the local product now. On top of that, talk about the 24-year-old would have dominated Saskatchewan’s sports radio talk shows and been main focus for stories from the remaining sports reporters working for mainstream media outlets.
Nyhus was in that position twice in the Vanier Cup. The first opportunity provided the most realistic chance to pullout victory.
After the University Laval Rouge et Or got a field goal to increase their lead to 30-24 last Saturday in the U Sports championship game played at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ont., the Huskies had the ball at their own 18 yard line with 1:44 remaining in the fourth quarter and two timeouts. Had Nyhus orchestrated a drive at that point to allow the Huskies to score a touchdown to win the game and capture the Vanier Cup, his hero status in the history of the Huskie Athletics program would have hit mythical status.
That drive sputtered out after four plays.
The Huskies were able to get the ball back at their own 20 yard line with 34 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and no timeouts. That scenario would have required a miracle big play to allow the Huskies to score the game-winning points.
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| Mason Nyhus (#8) throws a pass in a controlled scrimmage in 2016. |
While Nyhus wasn’t able to guide a two-minute drill drive to score the winning points against arguably the most storied football program in the history of U Sports, the Regina product will go down as one of the all-time bests the Huskies ever had.
When Nyhus first stepped foot on the U of S campus in 2016, he was hyped a signal caller that could potentially take the Huskies all the way. He would experience some unique challenges before experiencing high points with the Huskies, and some of those challenges were things you couldn’t envision.
In 2016, he was a red shirt with the Huskies, who finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 5-3 record and fell 47-17 in a conference semifinal to the University of Calgary Dinos. At the time, that marked the eighth straight playoff loss in a row for the Huskies, and they were in a stretch where they had won only one of their previous 12 post-season contests.
It seemed like the days when the Huskies regularly made long post-season runs were something that was left in the past.
A short time after the 2016 post-season loss to the Dinos, Nyhus discovered he would no longer be playing for the head coach that recruited him. In late December of 2016, the Huskies’ legendary head coach in Brian Towriss retired after holding that position for 33 years, and Scott Flory, who had been the Huskies offensive coordinator, was named head coach on March 13, 2017.
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| Mason Nyhus throws a pass for the Huskies in 2018. |
In 2018, the Huskies returned to the playoffs finishing third in Canada West with a 5-3 record, and they went on a playoff run where they won the Hardy Cup as conference champions for the first time since 2006. The post-season run came to an end with a 47-24 loss to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in London, Ont., in the Mitchell Bowl U Sports semifinal contest.
After playing behind and learning from Siemens and experiencing a long post-season run, Nyhus was set to hit the ground running as the Huskies starter in 2019. The Huskies finished second in Canada West with a 5-3 mark, but a massive amount of injuries accumulated for the team when the playoffs came around.
The Huskies fell 29-4 in the Hardy Cup to the Dinos in Calgary. The Dinos advanced forward to win the Vanier Cup.
In March of 2020, the world came into the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which caused the 2020 Canada West football season and U Sports nationals to be cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign. With no games to play, Nyhus and his teammates continued to work out and train for the day U Sports would resume play.
That whole situation was something no one ever thought would happen, when Nyhus first joined the Huskies.
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| Mason Nyhus scrambles out of trouble in 2019. |
In the Huskies six regular season games, Nyhus, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 215 pounds, was in stellar form completing 109-of-187 passes for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns, while only throwing two interceptions.
While Nyhus looked like a Brett Favre style gunslinger in 2019, he was a composed surgeon on field in his second year as a starter in the image of Tom Brady.
The Huskies advanced on to win the Canada West title and produced one of the program’s most memorable moments in the Uteck Bowl against the Universite de Montreal Carabins in CEPSUM in Montreal, Quebec.
The Huskies trailed 10-7 and had the ball on their own 27 yard line with 1:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. Nyhus executed a perfect two-minute drill drive that concluded with star running back Adam Machart running home the winning touchdown from 13 yards out to put the Huskies up 14-10 with five seconds remaining on the clock.
The Carabins couldn’t come up with a miracle and the 14-10 score in favour of the Huskies held up as the contest’s final outcome. The Huskies were in the Vanier Cup for the first time since 2006.
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| Mason Nyhus throws a pass in the 2021 Canada West final. |
Nyhus followed his 2021 season up with a 2022 campaign that was one for the ages. He signal called the Huskies to another first place finish in Canada West with a 7-1 record.
In the Huskies eight regular season games, he completed 197-of-298 passes for 2,759 yards and 18 touchdowns, while throwing three interceptions.
Nyhus’s passing yardage total was tops in all of U Sports and set a new Huskies team record for most passing yards in one season. He was named a Canada West all-star, the Canada West player of the year and a second team U Sports all-Canadian all-star.
The Huskies returned to the Vanier Cup but were unable to knock off Laval. Rouge et Or second year star quarterback Arnaud Desjardins was pretty outstanding as well finishing in second in U Sports passing yards behind Nyhus.
While the Huskies weren’t able to take the Vanier Cup this past Saturday against the Rouge et Or, Nyhus’s stock remained high. In the setback, he completed 34-of-43 passes for 344 yards, three touchdowns and one tipped interception.
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| Mason Nyhus (behind banner) celebrates a Canada West title win. |
The impact he left on the Huskies was a big one. Nyhus helped bring the Huskies back to a level they hadn’t seen since 2006. The stretch where the Huskies won only one of 12 post-season contests is long forgotten.
Nyhus, who won all 16 of his career home starts at Griffiths Stadium, achieved “The Golden Boy” stature he was tabbed to potentially have back in 2016. As he has now graduated from the program, Nyhus’s biggest impact is that dreams of long playoff runs resulting in Vanier Cup title wins are things that can be realized by the Huskies.
Huskies’ Solie signs with Roughriders
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| David Solie (#15) has signed with the CFL’s Roughriders. |
On Tuesday, Solie, who is the place kicker and punter with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team, was signed by the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. The signing came just three days after the Huskies dropped a 30-24 decision to the Universite Laval Rouge et Or in the U Sports championship game – the Vanier Cup – this past Saturday at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ont.
The 23-year-old had an outstanding campaign in 2022 playing out his fourth year of U Sports eligibility for the Huskies. During the Huskies eight regular season games, Solie connected on 17-of-21 field goal attempts with a long from 44 yards and hit on 23-of-24 of his conversion attempts. He punted the ball 58 times for 2,276 yards for an average of 39.2 yards per kick.
Solie was named a Canada West all-star at place kicker and he was a U Sports second team all-Canadian all-star at place kicker.
In 2021, Solie captured honours as the all-star punter in Canada West and was named a U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star at punter.
Before moving to the post-secondary ranks, Solie played his high school football for Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School Crusaders Football Team, which has a green and white colour scheme like the Huskies and Roughriders. He also suited up for Saskatchewan’s provincial team program, which also wears green and white.
After playing the 2017 season are a rookie with the Huskies right out of graduating high school, Solie elected to play for the Saskatoon Hilltops in 2018, which marked the only time Solie hasn’t worn green and white on the football field for about the past nine years. Donning the Hilltops traditional blue and gold, Solie took on duties as a receiver, place kicker and punter in helping the storied club win their 21st CJFL championship in team history.
Ron and Jane Graham named U Sports alumni
award winners
The Grahams shared the honour with Stu and Kim Lang, who have made big contributions to Queen’s University and the University of Guelph.
The U Sports-Mitchell Family Alumni of the Year Award is presented to former student-athletes who have graduated from a Canadian university after having participated in a U Sports sanctioned sport.
Ron and Jane Graham graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1962 with degrees in engineering and education respectively. Ron was a dual student-athlete as quarterback for the Huskie football team and a member of the basketball team. Jane was a swimmer.
Since their first gift to the U of S and Huskie Athletics in 1995, the Grahams have become the university’s largest cumulative donors with over $30-million in donations. They have been key partners in major capital projects including the basketball practice facility at Merlis Belsher Place, the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre at Merlis Belsher Place and the Graham Huskie Clubhouse at Griffiths Stadium.
In addition to capital projects, the Grahams’ contributions have enhanced the student-athlete experience for Huskie Athletics programs. Their unwavering and generous support has provided student-athletes with scholarships, mentoring, equipment, uniforms, championship rings, travel, financial literacy, coaching support, mental-health and wellness support, technology, academic support and career and employment opportunities.
In 2007, the Grahams were inducted into the Huskie Athletics Hall of Fame.
Four Rams defenders named all-Canadians
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| Ryder Varga (#56) takes the field for the Rams. |
The University of Regina Rams are best known for the high level receivers who have graduated from their football squad and have gone on to have solid careers in the CFL. As a result, the U of Regina was given the nickname “Receiver U.”
As the Rams finished second in the Canada West Conference in 2022 with a 5-3 record, their defensive players took centre stage. The Rams picked up four U Sports all-Canadian all-star selections this past season, and all of those selections were on defence.
Fifth-year lineback Ryder Varga led the way as a first team all-Canadian all-star. In the Rams eight regular season games, Varga led the team with 38.5 total tackles to go along with two quarterback sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception.
Varga was named Canada West’s most outstanding defensive player to make him a finalist for the Presidents’ Trophy as the stand up defensive player of the year in U Sports. That honour went to linebacker Nicky Farinaccio of the Universite de Montreal Carabins.
Rams fifth-year defensive end Anthony Bennett and fourth-year defensive tackle Tanner Schemekel were tabbed as first-team all-Canadian all-stars, while fourth-year defensive back Jaxon Ford was a second team all-Canadian all-star.
The Universite Laval Rouge et Or, who won the Vanier Cup as U Sports champions, had seven U Sports all-Canadian all-stars in 2022. The first team all-Canadian all-stars on offence included quarterback Arnaud Desjardins, receiver Kevin Mital, offensive tackle Nathan Dumoulin-Duguay and guard Nicolas Guay.
The Rouge et Or’s two first team all-Canadian all-stars on defence included defensive tackle Jean-William Rouleau and defensive back Cristophe Beaulieu. Rouge et Or linebacker Alec Poirier was tabbed as a second team all-Canadian all-star.
Mital took home the Hec Crighton Trophy as the player of the year for U Sports.
Hilltops cool naming Johnson team rookie of
the year
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| Davin Johnson sets in his stance at right tackle for the Hilltops. |
Throughout the years, the members of the offensive and defensive lines have been the heart of the Hilltops teams. During the team annual awards banquet that was held back on November 19 at the Delta Marriott Hotel, the Hilltops presented right tackle Davin Johnson with the Past President’s Trophy as the club’s rookie of the year.
Johnson was a true first-year player having graduated from Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate this past June. The 18-year-old became the Hilltops starting right tackle about halfway through this past season and started the Hilltops two post-season games. It is rare for any rookie straight out of high school to earn a starting spot as a rookie with the Hilltops, so Johnson accomplished big things with the venerable CJFL team in 2022.
At the PFC conference and CJFL league levels, the Hilltops most celebrated rookie was 17-year-old running back Charles Sawi. Sawi was named the PFC’s rookie of the year and to the conference’s all-rookie team. He also captured the CJFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
To outsiders, they would likely be confused as to how the Hilltops decided to not give their team rookie of the year award to a player who took rookie of the year honours on a conference and league level.
For those associated with the Hilltops, the team rookie of the year accolade makes sense. Most would overlook what Johnson accomplished on the offensive line, and the team award allowed him to get a nod for his special personal season.
The best part is Sawi is humble enough at his young age to understand why Johnson claimed the team’s rookie of the year award. In the end, they both got great recognition for the amazing first CJFL seasons they had.
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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