VANCOUVER – In the midst of an unrelenting deluge of heavy rain from kickoff until the final whistle, the UBC Thunderbirds lent themselves well to the elements to produce a 21-5 victory over the Calgary Dinos Friday night, the team's fifth straight victory to secure at least second place in the Canada West standings and a Hardy Cup semifinal home playoff berth.
Isaiah Knight had yet another massive day on the ground with 163 yards and a touchdown while the T-Birds (5-2) held the Dinos (2-5) offence completely off the board, all five Calgary points coming via special teams with two safetys and a rouge.
"Those were tough conditions, our run game enabled us to create some momentum. Defensively we just did not allow them to get on track and that's the story of the game," set a rain-soaked UBC head coach,
Blake Nill following the playoff clinching victory. "We prepared for this weather all week and said we got to win the turnover battle, we got to protect the ball and I thought all of our guys did that."
The 'Birds gave up the ball just once while the Dinos committed seven turnovers in total – three of them on downs during desperation time in the fourth quarter.
Given the conditions, both teams relied heavily on the ground game while offence in general was hard to come by. UBC put up 269 total yards of offence while limiting Calgary to just 180.
UBC quarterback
Garrett Rooker handed off the ball 37 times between Knight,
Dane Kapler and
Caleb Yang. The fourth-year pivot threw for just 30 total yards to Calgary quarterback Dom Britton's 106 – numbers which also tell much of the weather story at Thunderbird Stadium.
On UBC's third drive of the opening quarter,
Kieran Flannery-Fleck expanded UBC's early lead to 5-1 with a 34 yard field goal.
The start of the second frame saw the two sides trade blunders with the ball. Rooker was intercepted by Gideon Agyei at the Dinos 54, giving the visitors terrific field position to start a new drive of their own. But on their first play from scrimmage, Calgary gave the ball right back when Britton fumbled, pounced on by rookie linebacker
Deacon Sterna making it first down UBC near midfield.
Back-to-back big gains by Knight and Kapler put the 'Birds well inside Calgary territory. UBC kept the ball on the ground the rest of the way, inching closer to the end zone before Kapler rushed in from two yards out for his fourth major score of the year, expanding the T-Birds' lead to 12-1 with the convert.
Calgary fumbled the ball for the second time when Britton was strip sacked by
Ronan Horrall, recovered by
Taaj Jhooty at the Dinos' 41. Given the intense rain, once again UBC offensive coordinator
Stevenson Bone kept the ball on the ground with a mix of Knight, Kapler and Yang – along with a completed pass to
Brad Hladik – to once again work inside the Dinos' five yard line. This time it was Knight who finished off the drive, a three yard rush through a perfectly protected gap by the offensive line for his seventh touchdown of the season and a 19-1 UBC lead heading into the break.
A Flannery-Fleck rouge served as the lone point scored by either team in the third quarter with a combined five punts within the frame.
Trailing by 19 and with the clock quickly becoming their biggest enemy, the Dinos managed to put together a solid drive with a rare visit to the red zone. But facing third and goal at the UBC four, the T-Birds defence once again came up clutch,
Aiden Bertuzzi wrapping up Dinos running back Matthieu Clarke for a loss as Calgary turned it over on downs.
Holding the 'Birds to a two-and-out with UBC electing to concede a safety, the Dinos went back to work on offence with another attempt to dig out of what was now a 17 point deficit.
Given the waning clock, Britton elected to go to the air and managed a couple big gains on completed passes to Matteo Civitarese and Evan Smith. Another third and short gamble, however, once again took the wind out of Calgary's sails.
Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown led a gang tackle to halt Clarke well short of the first down marker, putting the ball back in UBC's hands just shy of the three minute warning.
Friday night's victory ensure the T-Birds will finish at least second in the conference and the right to host a Hardy Cup semifinal at Thunderbird Stadium. The final week of the regular season sees the T-Birds fly to Winnipeg to face the first place Manitoba Bisons. Should the Bisons lose to Alberta in their week seven game Saturday, it sets up a potential winner take all for first place, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
"We got another big game at Manitoba and no matter what the situation is you got to be able to go out and get it done," added Nill who believes Friday night's rain soaked affair will benefit his team in the long run.
The Dinos failed to take a major step toward securing their first Canada West playoff berth since 2019. Calgary remains in a race to the finish to secure one of the final two spots and will likely need a win next week at home to Saskatchewan in order to do so.
UBC's five straight wins equals their longest streak of 2023 that saw the T-Birds win the final two games of the regular season followed by their three home post-season contests.
Next Saturday's game against the Bisons is set for 12:00 p.m. PT at Winnipeg's Princess Auto Stadium.
