REGINA – Vince Triumbari kicked the game-winning field goal with just 1:03 left on the clock and the Calgary Dinos were able to ice the game away from there for a big 23-20 road win over Regina on a windy Saturday afternoon from Mosaic Field.

Calgary trailed for nearly the entire game, but tied things up with 5:20 remaining in the fourth quarter before a seven-play, 53-yard drive set up Trimbari's 29 yard kick for the lead and the win.

"This was a must-win game for us on the road," Calgary head coach Ryan Sheahan said. "To bounce back after a couple weeks of disappointment where we were in games and just needed to find a way to finish really says a lot about this team. We had to do this on the road, five players short and with 80 kilometre-per-hour wind gusts making things interesting today.

"I said before the game, it would be the team that was going to manage the weather the best that was going to come out the victors. We weren't perfect, but we limited our mistakes and made a number of big plays when it mattered the most." 

With the win, Calgary (2-4) moves into a three-way tie with Regina and Alberta for fourth place with two games left in the regular season.

After a pick-six by Regina on the second play from scrimmage that gave the hosts an early 8-0 lead after the rouge, the Dinos responded in a big way.

Starting with the ball on their own 35-yard line, Calgary methodically marched down the field in seven plays. Matthieu Clarke had 53 yards rushing on this drive alone and helped get the ball down to the five yard line, where quarterback Dom Britton dropped back and rolled left before running it in himself to make it an 8-7 ballgame with less than five minutes gone by.

"I'm really proud of the first quarter drive that ended in a touchdown," Sheahan said. "After a blunder right out of the gates, we came right down the field and answered, with the wind in our face, no less. The O-line really stepped up on that drive, Matthieu Clarke made a strong statement early and Dom finished things off with the touchdown. I thought that drive really was huge for us the rest of the way in the tone that it set."

The Rams took an 18-7 lead early in the second quarter, only to see the Dinos once again answer back. 

First, it was Triumbari's first field goal of the game, cutting the gap to 18-10 with 9:37 left in the second. 

Then, the Dinos were the first to connect on a big play through the air on the blustery day, as D. Britton laid one out perfectly for Luke Gutek for a 52-yard strike down to the Regina five. Clarke took the handoff on the next play and muscled the ball across the goal line to make it a two-point game at 18-16.

Conditions worsened after halftime and both defences buckled down.

Calgary allowed Regina to score just one single via a missed field goal attempt over the final 30 minutes and continued to claw back.

Despite the lack of scoring, the Dinos completely owned the fourth quarter. 

Using a nine-play drive that went 85 yards and used up nearly five minutes off the clock, Calgary picked up chunk play after chunk play and a Matt Sibley catch and run set things up at the two yard line and primed to take the lead. But, D. Britton's pass was deflected and popped up in the air for Carson Sombach to pick it off and snuff out what felt like an inevitable Dinos' score.

On the ensuing possession, pinned deep in their own territory and going up against the wind, the Rams couldn't move the ball out of the shadow of their own endzone and elected to play the field position game and concede a safety, tying the game up at 20-20 with 5:20 left in regulation.

After a Dinos punt, Everett Schmuland hauled in his first U SPORTS interception to set up the game-winning drive.

The Dinos moved from their own 36 all the way down to the Regina 21 before turning to their fourth-year kicker from Stoney Creek, Ont. for the 29-yard field goal.

"It was really about managing the frustration (from the weather)," Sheahan added. "You could tell at the end of the game that our guys were handling it better. We really were able to capitalize when the win the wind was at our back."

Despite the windy day, D. Britton finished throwing for 234 yards on 14 completions. He also ran the ball efficiently, being credited with seven carries for 24 yards and one score. 

Clarke finished just three yards shy of the century mark with 97 yards on 20 carries.

Defensively, Deakon Taylor-Young led all players in this one with nine tackles, while Nate Beauchemin racked up eight.

Calgary's defence limited Noah Pelletier to just 102 yards passing on 17 completions.

Marshall Erichsen was the bright spot for Regina Saturday, carrying the ball 22 times for 169 yards.

After a week off for all six Canada West football programs next week, the Dinos return from the bye week to take on UBC for the second time in three games on Friday, Oct. 18 from Vancouver. Kickoff from Thunderbird Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT.

-UC-