Rams morph into “The Greatest Show on Turf”

QB Noah Picton (#4) had a spectacular regular season for the Rams.

    The 0-8 season has been left in the dust.

    A year removed from a winless campaign, the University of Regina Rams have become the most exciting team in U Sports football. At the start of the season, that concept was inconceivable.

    In 2015, the Rams had the image of being a bit of a train wreak under then head coach Mike Gibson, who left the club after only one season to join the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos as their offensive line coach and run game coordinator. The Rams seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory losing four games by seven or fewer points.

    Under Gibson, the Rams were getting disconnected from their alumni, which had never been an issue in the past. Behind the scenes, there was more turmoil than most people knew.

   In the off-season, the Rams looked to the past to find their new head coach in hiring Steve Bryce. Bryce played five seasons on the Rams offensive line during their Canadian Junior Football League days from 1987 to 1991, which included a national championship win in his rookie campaign.

    With Bryce at the helm, the Rams vaulted up the standings in 2016 finishing first in the Canada West Conference for the first time in team history with a 6-2 record. In the turnaround, they put up offensive numbers to make them look like the Kurt Warner era St. Louis Rams of the NFL.

    Like the Warner era St. Louis Rams did in the NFL, the Regina Rams have become “The Greatest Show on Turf” in U Sports football.

Mitchell Picton makes a catch in traffic for the Rams.

    Since joining the Canadian university ranks in 1999, the Rams helped the University of Regina become known as “Receiver-U” due to placing a number of pass catching grads into the professional ranks. Those grads always were catching passes from great quarterbacks like Darryl Leason, Mark Anderson, Teale Orban and Marc Mueller.

    This year’s Rams have taken their reputation as a pass-happy team to another level averaging 408.4 yards through the air per game. Third-year quarterback Noah Picton has had a season that eclipses anything any Rams quarterback great from their university or junior football era could ever imagine.

    Picton completed 224-of-323 passes for 3,186 yards, 25 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. His completion percentage of 69.3 per cent is impressive, and he set a new U Sports record for passing yards in a season. Former U of Calgary Dinos quarterback Andrew Buckley, who is a rookie with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, held the old U Sports passing yardage record at 3,162, which was set just last season.

    Picton has also run the ball 31 times for 238 yards and reached the end zone twice via that route. He is a favourite to win the Hec Crighton Trophy as the top player in U Sports football.

RB Atlee Simon (#36) is one of the Rams overlooked weapons.

    The signal caller has also spread the ball out very well resulting in three of his receivers surpassing 500-yards receiving in an eight-game campaign. Cousin Mitchell Picton topped Canada West in receptions (58) and receiving yards (834) and his 11 receiving touchdowns led everyone in U Sports.

Sophomore Ryan Schienbein hauled in 54 passes for 790 yards and seven touchdowns. Riley Wilson finished the regular season with 37 catches for 627 yards and one touchdown.

    The Pictons, Schienbein and offensive lineman Jeremy Zver were all named Canada West all-stars on Thursday.

    The Rams are so good through the air that talented tailback Atlee Simon seemed like a forgotten man. Simon ran the ball 113 times for 567 yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground in seven appearances. He also caught 17 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns.

    Defensively, the Rams rank third in Canada West allowing 458.6 yards per game. Linebacker Danny Nesbitt and defensive backs Kahlen Branning and Jeff Propp were also named Canada West all-stars.

    Thanks to topping the Canada West standings, the only time the Rams wouldn’t potentially be playing at home at historic Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium during the post-season would be if they made the Vanier Cup. The only time the Rams appeared in the U Sports title game was in 2000, when they fell 42-39 to the U of Ottawa Gee Gees.

The Rams celebrate a touchdown catch from Ryan Schienbein (#14).

    Now, we will see if the Rams success in the regular season transfers over to playoffs. The fourth rated club in the U Sports top 10 rankings hosts a Canada West semifinal match on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. local time against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who went 3-5 as defending Vanier Cup champions. The Rams took both head-to-head meetings with the Thunderbirds this season.

    Looking further down the road, the U Sports football post-season also hasn’t been kind in recent years to the team that wins Canada West. Over the past 17 years, the Canada West champ has only moved on to win the Vanier Cup on two occasions including the Thunderbirds last year and the U of Manitoba Bisons in 2007.

    With that said, the Rams are in a spot that they don’t realize they aren’t supposed to accomplish what they have already accomplished. They still have nothing to lose and everything to gain. With Bryce at the helm, they also have all their alumni and supporters back in the fold too.

    If they can go all the way, these current Rams will produce a season that would arguably be the squad’s most memorable including the team’s time in both the university and junior ranks.

Huskies in position to make post-season noise

QB Kyle Siemens had a solid season calling signals for the Huskies.

  The U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team might be the wildcard when it comes to the U Sports post-season.

    Of course, the Huskies have lost their last seven straight playoff games, but this might be the year they break that dubious streak. After a three-game skid dropped them to 2-3, the Huskies won their last three straight regular season games to finish at 5-3.

    They are the hottest team entering the playoffs from Canada West, and they face an opponent they finally got over the hump against. On Saturday, the Huskies travel to Calgary to face the U of Calgary Dinos (6-2) in a Canada West semifinal match at 12 p.m. local time. The Huskies are rated ninth in the U Sports rankings, while the Dinos sit in the sixth spot.

    On Oct. 22, the Huskies slipped past the Dinos 38-35 in Calgary. Entering that contest, the Dinos had won 10 straight games between the two sides including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    In the other meeting between the two sides this season, the Dinos slipped past the Huskies 20-19 in Saskatoon thanks to a last minute field goal.

Huskies RB Tyler Chow led Canada West in rushing.

    During their three-game regular season skid, the Huskies offence lost its cohesion. Part of the struggles came from the fact reliable receiver Mitch Hillis missed a pair of games due to injury. When Hillis returned, the offensive unit seemed to find a new groove.

    Despite missing a pair of games, Hillis still made the Canada West all-star team catching 35 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns. Starting quarterback Kyle Siemens had a solid campaign completing 166-of-278 passes for 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

    Running back Tyler Chow topped Canada West in rushing piling up 828 yards on 127 carries and scoring seven touchdowns. Chow also caught 16 passes for 132 yards in being named a Canada West all-star along with offensive tackle Evan Johnson.

    Defensive lineman Donovan Dale anchored the Huskies defence earning Canada West all-star honours with 24 total tackles, three sacks and one interception.

    Standout kicker Sean Stenger was the conference’s all-star place kicker and punter.

DB Payton Hall (#28) makes a tackle for the Huskies.

    U of S has an X-factor in receiver Chad Braun, who is a talented graduate of the Saskatoon Hilltops of the Canadian Junior Football League. Braun caught 26 passes for 403 yards and scored two touchdowns and returned 37 punts for 449 yards and one touchdown.

    The Huskies have a number of other capable playmakers on offence including receivers Julan Lynch, Yol Piok and Ben Getzlaf along with running back Colton Klassen.

    They have a number of players that can rise to the occasion on defence including defensive lineman Matt Kozun, linebackers Justin Filteau and Quinn Pearce along with defensive back Payton Hall.

    The Huskies are right where they were expected to be as far as the regular season goes. It also feels like they haven’t reached their potential.

    It wouldn’t be a shocker if a long playoff run is finally on the horizon again for a club that has experienced eight one-and-done exits in the last nine years.

Off the Leach Luncheon was sweet

Lanny McDonald and Brian Burke spoke at the Off the Leash Luncheon.

    If you wanted to see how much the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team means to the Saskatoon community, all you have to do was attend the Off the Leach Luncheon on Thursday at Prairieland Park.

    A huge group of alumni and members of the Saskatoon and area hockey community turned out for this eighth annual event, which is a fundraiser for the Huskies men’s hockey team. The alumni turnout was impressive, and it shows that the Huskies hockey team means a great deal to those that wore the green and white. A large contingent of recent grads were present as well.

    At the luncheon, the Wright Construction company donated $1-million to the Home Ice Campaign, which is raising funds to build a new twin pad home rink on campus. With the Wright Construction company donation, $36-million has been raised towards building the new $41-million Merlis Belsher Place.

    The other big highlight of the evening was being entertained by the hockey stories of former NHL enforcer George Parros, Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke and NHL legend Lanny McDonald. McDonald made a surprise appearance.

    If you live in the Saskatoon area and you haven’t been to the Off the Leash Luncheon, you are encouraged to put that function on your to do list.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

New Mosaic gets “A” grade

Rams down Huskies 37-29 in first game at new stadium

Rams LB Michael Stefanovic cuts off Huskies RB Tyler Chow.

    REGINA - It is safe to say the 16,500 patrons that took in the first event at new Mosaic Stadium were satisfied to say the least about Saskatchewan’s new state of the art sports facility.

    The host University of Regina Rams and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies engaged in the first contest and overall event held at new Mosaic on Saturday afternoon before a record crowd to witness a Canada West conference football match. The attendance mark broke the previous football record of 10,199 for a match between the U of Manitoba Bisons and the U of Alberta Golden Bears at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg on Aug. 30, 2013.

    The clash between the Rams and the Huskies also surpassed the overall attendance record for a Canada West contest, when 12,859 spectators took in a men’s hockey match between the U of Calgary Dinos and the Mount Royal University Cougars on Jan. 21 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

Part of the crowd of 16,500 that attended the Rams vs. Huskies clash.

    Until Saturday’s contest, the largest attendance for a university level football game in Saskatchewan since the Rams joined the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ranks in 1999 came back on Nov. 25, 2006.      
    On that day 12,567 spectators crammed into Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon to see the host Huskies fall to the Universite Laval Rouge et Or 13-8 in that year’s Vanier Cup.

    New Mosaic Stadium gets an “A” grade for its first event. As far as the fan experience goes, there were small quicks like the fact it was hard to hear the public address system in the end zone seats and the massive new big video screen wasn’t working yet to provide replays.

    With that said, there isn’t a bad seat in the house that cost $278-million to build. The site lines from any spot in the facility are great. It is also nice to sit in a sizable theatre seat as opposed to being crammed on to the bench seats of old Mosaic Stadium.

Rams QB Noah Picton throws the first TD at new Mosaic.

    The spot that received the most compliments was the standing room area in the south end zone. If you are on the lowest level of that space, it feels like you can reach out and touch the play. It is also in perfect position for players to attempt a “Lambeau Leap” after scoring a touchdown.

    It was easy to move along the spacious concourse area with the exception of the one corner where a big beer selling and barbeque food area was set up. There was more than ample washroom space as well, which was something that obviously lacked at old Mosaic.

    With that said, there were the odd fans in one men’s washroom that joked they would miss the troughs that existed in the old stadium.

    Saturday’s game also provided a little glimpse as far as atmosphere goes at least on a possible CFL level. It was easy to see that the majority of the fans that came to the Rams/Huskies game were mainly fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and maybe only casual fans of the university game. Their obvious first purpose was to see what Roughriders new home would look like.

    That curiousity was share by a number of Roughriders players who were also present for the CIS clash.

    Most spectators that attend Rams or Huskies football contests lean more to being university football fans first and CFL fans second.

Rams receiver Ryan Schienbein scores the first touchdown at new Mosaic.

    The influx of new spectators provided a rare opportunity for the Rams and Huskies to showcase the university game to a new audience. The two teams did not disappoint.

    The game’s first half contained a myriad of spectacular offensive football plays, which saw the Rams take a 24-18 lead into the halftime break. The first touchdown at the new stadium came courtesy of an 11-yard catch by Rams receiver Ryan Schienbein from quarterback Noah Picton near the midway point of the first quarter to give the hosts an early 7-0 edge.

    The newcomers apparently liked what they saw and most stuck around for the second half, where the Rams surged ahead 37-18 by the end of the third quarter and held off a Huskies fourth quarter rally to pull out the 37-29 win. The victory allowed the Rams to remain first in Canada West at 4-1, while the Huskies remained in fifth place at 2-3.

The standing area was a hit at new Mosaic.

    The teams made errors inside of the contest’s final two minutes, but ardent university fans were the ones that mainly moaned about those mishaps.

    Picton’s reputation has grown as the CIS season has progressed as possibly being a CIS most valuable player candidate, and he gave the new spectators a show completing 29-of-42 passes for 370 yards, four touchdown passes and two interceptions. Schienbein was the favourite target hauling in 13 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

    The fans seemed to be draw into the game, and you could feel the crowd noise. The wave also started up in the fourth quarter to provide another nice touch.

    There is a realistic relation that this might be the only university football match many of the newcomers - who mainly watch CFL clashes - will take in for some time.

The Rams celebrate their victory at new Mosaic.

    If even a small percentage decide to attend future Rams and Huskies home games, that development would be a good bonus.

    Now the wait is on for new Mosaic’s big test, which will be the first time it hosts a Roughriders game. Thanks to Saturday’s university contest, the first CFL game has a huge head start on being a big hit.

    If you have any comments to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Win gives Rams much needed confidence boost

The Rams celebrate their win over the Bisons.

    The University of Regina Rams rid themselves of that “here we go again” sinking feeling with one win.

    Last Thursday, they rallied from a 38-27 fourth quarter deficit to down the University of Manitoba Bisons 41-38 on a touchdown catch with 25 seconds to play by receiver Ryan Schienbein in their home opener at Mosaic Stadium. The win allowed the Rams to improve to 1-1 in the young Canadian Interuniversity Sport football season.

    Now, they have the potential to erase the painful memories of an 0-8 campaign in 2015, which was the only season they played under the guidance of head coach Mike Gibson. During that winless campaign, the Rams dropped four games by seven or fewer points. The most heartbreaking of those setbacks came in the final game of the season, where the Rams held a 34-11 lead over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies late in third quarter at Mosaic Stadium only to fall 38-37.

    It seemed like even if the Rams were on their game they would still find a way to lose.

Ryan Schienbein catches the winning touchdown for the Rams.

    Gibson left the Rams on Jan. 17 to join the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos as their offensive line coach and run game coordinator. For a large number of team’s alumni, the departure couldn’t have come soon enough, as they began to feel disconnected with the program with Gibson guiding the ship as head coach. Behind the scenes, there was more turmoil than most likely knew.

    Searching for Gibson’s replacement, the Rams looked to their past hiring former player Steve Bryce as the team’s new head coach. Bryce played five seasons on the Rams offensive line from 1987 to 1991 during their days in the Canadian Junior Football League, which included a national championship win in his rookie campaign.

    After exhausting his junior eligibility, Bryce went down to the United States to play four seasons with the North Dakota based Jamestown College Jimmies. From there, Bryce moved to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where he spent 15 season coaching the football team at Etiwanda High School including the last seven as head coach.

    He returned home to Regina in August of 2015 with his wife and two daughters and applied for the Rams job after Gibson resigned.

Noah Picton (#4) threw for 499 yards and four touchdowns for the Rams.

    With Bryce as head coach, the Rams started to reconnect with their alumni. A new different type of good feeling started to arise about the team.

    The positive emotions seemed to transfer over to the field. In Week 1, the Rams traveled to Saskatoon and were poised to pull out an upset win against the Huskies.

    They led 31-28 with about a minute to play, and the Huskies were facing a third and 20 from their own 20 yard line. Again, the Rams would watch the other side rise to the occasion and pull out a key big play to win the game.

    Huskies quarterback Kyle Siemens proceeded to hit receiver Yol Piok with a deep throw that gained 35 yards. U of S forced overtime and pulled out a 41-39 victory.

    Against the Bisons in Week 2, the Rams led 13-10 at halftime and 27-14 after three quarters. The visitors rallied with 24 straight points to pull ahead 38-27, and you had to wonder if that “here we go again” feeling was starting to sink in.

Rams LB Zack McEachern nails Bisons RB Cam Fox.

    This time things were different.

    Rams star quarterback Noah Picton began to resemble his father, Dean. Dean was a superstar signal caller for the team in the 1980s guiding the squad to CJFL title wins in 1986 and 1987.

    Noah led the Rams on an 11 play, 87 yard drive that culminated with him scoring a touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 1:35 to play. The score cut the Bisons lead to 38-33. A U of R two-point conversion attempt was not successful.

    The Bisons recovered an onside kick and appeared set to put the finishing touches on a win. Two plays later, Rams defensive back Korey Greene forced Bisons running back Alex Christie to fumble. U of R linebacker Zack McEachern recovered the ball, and the Rams were in business but also 104 yards away from the U of M end zone.

    Miraculously, Noah Picton drove the Rams those 104 yards in 55 seconds with eight plays. Picton hit Schienbein with the winning touchdown on a 15 yard pass in the middle of the end zone, which had the Rams bench erupting with joy.

Mitchell Picton makes a tough catch in traffic for the Rams.

    A Hail Mary pass attempt by Bisons quarterback Theo Deezar on the last play of the game was picked off by Rams linebacker Joey Dwyer. U of M fell to 0-2.

    The U of R win brought an end to a 10 game losing skid for the Rams, which included nine regular season games and one playoff match.

    The Rams last win came back on Nov. 1, 2014, when they defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 35-31 in the final home and regular season game under the guidance of legendary head coach Frank McCrystal. Picton guided the Rams to victory that day as a first-year signal caller rallying the team from behind twice in the fourth quarter.

The Rams celebrate Ryan Schienbein's winning touchdown catch.

    Against Bisons last Thursday, Picton completed 40-of-60 passes for 499 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. For the second straight week, he was named the offensive player of the week for the Canada West Conference.

    The bigger thing for the Rams was they were able to make the key plays in a close game to pull out victory, and the season is still young. Now that they have this experience, the chances of pulling out a tight game in the future improve greatly. On top of that, winning creates a confidence that all your work in practice and the film room will pay off.

    The next test for the Rams is this coming Saturday, when they travel to Vancouver to take on the defending Vanier Cup champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (1-1). The chance for the “Boys in the Horns” to again do something special awaits.

Back in the Express with cover story on new Blades GM

Blades general manager Colin Priestner expects a good season.

    I was back in the Saskatoon Express this week with the cover story on the Saskatoon Blades new general manager Colin Priestner, who was extremely genuine in the one-on-one interview I did with him.

    In the story, the 32-year-old discussed the enormity of the rebuild the Blades had to undergo when his father, Mike, purchased the charter Western Hockey League franchise in September of 2013, transitioning to his new position, the experienced staff he surrounded himself with and the challenge of being the boss’s son.

    While talking about a variety of subjects, Priestner was upbeat about the possibilities that lay ahead for the team.

    Part of the discussion that didn’t make the story included the brilliant work Blades president Steve Hogle has done putting on great pre-game and post-game events over the past three seasons.

    The next of those is coming on Sept. 25, when the Blades host their regular season home opener at 2 p.m. against the Swift Current Broncos. The Blades will honour late hockey icon Gordie Howe that day. Howe’s ashes along with those of his wife, Colleen, will be interred at the Gordie Howe statue that sits in front of the SaskTel centre in a private ceremony at 9:30 a.m. that same day.

    Priestner’s aim is to get the action on the ice during the game to equal the happenings that Hogle has going on around the game.

    “He (Hogle) is just a tireless worker,” said Priestner. “He cares about the city and cares about the people.

    “You sometimes just take for granted how many great things we’ve tried to do. The unfortunate part is when you have a losing team and you have a great pre or post-game event, it is still a losing team. When you do lose 4-1, people forget about the powerful ceremony before the game.

    “Hogle has done so many great things with the game day (experience). I just feel like I and we all owe it to him on this side to bring that winning team to really show the people of Saskatoon all the great things we are doing.”

    The Express cover story on Priestner can be found right here.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Huskies dominate on the ground

The Huskies defence stuffs Rams tailback Atlee Simon.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies weren’t going to get beaten on the ground this time.

    In opening the Canada West football season with two straight losses, the Huskies gave up an average of just over 260 yards rushing in each of those contests. On Friday night at Griffiths Stadium, the Dogs game up only 53 yards rushing to the visiting University of Regina Rams in earning a 33-18 victory before 6,476 spectators.

    Rams star tailback Atlee Simon, who ran for 396 yards in his club’s first two games, only managed 33 yards running on 11 carries against the Huskies. The U of S starting defensive line of Evan Machibroda, Liam Graham, Tristian Koronkiewicz and Donovan Dale needed to answer the bell, and they did.

    On offence, the Huskies hit top gear with their running attack piling up a season high 230 yards rushing as a team. Feature back Tyler Chow collected 124 yards on 15 carries, while change of pace back Shane Buchanan ran the ball 14 times for 87 tough yards between the tackles scoring one touchdown.

    The effectiveness of the Huskies rushing attack allowed fourth-year quarterback Drew Burko to have his most effective game of the season completing 19-of-30 passes for 243 yards, three touchdown strikes and no interceptions. Receiver Mitch Hillis was the main target catching nine passes for 135 yards and two scores.

    The Huskies (1-2) weren’t perfect and did make mistakes, but Friday’s effort was a total team victory, which caused the Rams to remain winless at 0-3.

    Early on, it appeared the Huskies struggles were going to continue. The Rams opened the scoring in the first quarter on a nine play, 95-yard drive culminating in a two-yard TD run by Simon. The score was set up when Rams quarterback Noah Picton hit Riley Wilson on a 31-yard post pattern that set the visitors up on the Huskies two.

Shane Buchanan rumbles downfield for the Huskies.

    The Dogs cut the gap to 7-5 on a field goal and safety before the game’s momentum really swung in their favour. On the ensuing kickoff after the Rams gave up a safety to make the contest a two-point game in the second quarter, Yol Piok had a monster return for the Huskies to set the hosts up at the Rams 15. Two plays later, Burko hit Hillis for a 15-yard scoring strike to put the Huskies up 12-7.

    A short time later, Huskies defensive back Chris Friesen intercepted Picton and returned the pick 42 yards to the Rams 15. Two plays later, Burko hit Piok for a 13-yard scoring toss to put the Huskies up 19-7.

    The Rams kicked a field goal just before halftime to cut the Huskies edge to 19-10. That set the stage for the Huskies to overcome another bad trend.

    In their first two contests, the Dogs scored a total of 14 combine points in the second halves of both those outings. They matched that total in the second half against the Rams.

    After U of S linebacker Dane Bishop recovered a Rams fumble in the third quarter, the Huskies manufactured a seven play, 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by a two-yard Buchanan TD run.

The Huskies kick cover unit takes down Ryan Schienbein of the Rams.

    Early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies recovered a Rams fumble on a punt return and turned that gift into another seven points, when Burko hit Hillis for a nine-yard scoring strike to put the hosts up 33-10.

    The Rams closed the game’s scoring when Noah Picton hit Mitchell Picton on a 37-yard scoring strike, and the two proceeded to connect on a two-point convert attempt.    

    Noah Picton had success through the air completing 28 of 43 passes for 422 yards, which included hitting Wilson six times for 141 yards. The Rams couldn’t survive the turnovers they committed and the fact they couldn’t run the ball.

    The Huskies looked better than they had all season and took a big step forward. They will try to keep taking steps forward in the current Canadian Interuniversity Sport season this coming Friday, when they travel to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    Following that clash, the Huskies face the powerhouse U of Calgary Dinos (3-0) in a home and home series. The Huskies and Dinos meet on Oct. 3 in Calgary and again on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

    If you want to pass along any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Check out Twitter for more game photos @StanksSports.