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Noah Pelletier
Piper Sports Photography
28
Saskatchewan SSK 0-2 , 0-2
33
Winner Regina REG 2-0 , 2-0
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SSK Saskatchewan 7 21 0 0 28
REG Regina 8 14 1 10 33

Game Recap: Rams Football |

Rams outlast Huskies in U-Prairie Challenge thriller

Pelletier goes 26-for-31; sets school record with 83.9% completion percentage

QUICKLY
Renzel Arinaza's first U SPORTS touchdown early in the fourth quarter put the University of Regina into the lead for good and Noah Pelletier set a school record as the Rams outlasted Saskatchewan for a 33-28 victory on Friday night in a U-Prairie Challenge thriller at Mosaic Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Rams couldn't have written a better script to open the game. The U of R defence forced a two-and-out on Saskatchewan's first possession, then Pelletier set the tone for the night with a 16-yard completion to Arinaza and a 45-yard deep ball to D'Sean Mimbs for the game's opening touchdown.
  • Saskatchewan got on the board shortly after a Rams fumble gave the visitors the ball on Regina's 50. Eight plays later the Huskies were in the end zone, courtesy of an Anton Amundrud pass to Daniel Wiebe from six yards out.
  • The Rams threw a big punch early in the second quarter, starting with Pelletier finding Nicholas Sirleaf for a 43-yard touchdown strike up the right sideline. Two plays later Michael Jourdan picked off Amundrud and ran it back to Saskatchewan's 13-yard line, which set up Pelletier for a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Rams up 22-7.
  • But disaster struck for the Rams late in the first half as Saskatchewan scored three touchdowns in the span of 3:42 to take a 28-22 lead into the break. Another Rams fumble led directly to a 60-yard touchdown from Amundrud to Wiebe, then Saskatchewan's Kayden Miller scooped up the ball following a blocked punt and ran it in for the major. A big 38-yard punt return by Wiebe set up Saskatchewan's fourth touchdown of the half, which came on a Ryker Frank touchdown run from a yard out.
  • After a quiet third quarter, the Rams broke through early in the fourth. Pelletier found Arinaza up the middle for a 39-yard catch to get into the red zone, then found the rookie receiver with a shovel pass which Arinaza finished off by diving into the end zone for the touchdown.
  • The Rams defence did the rest, allowing only two first downs the rest of the way. Back-to-back sacks forced Saskatchewan to concede a safety with just over a minute to go which put the Rams up five, and the Rams sealed the win after an Amundrud pass on third down in Rams territory was incomplete.

PELLETIER'S RECORD
Pelletier finished with video game numbers in the win, completing 26 of his 31 passes to set a U of R single-game record with an 83.9% completion percentage. The previous record was 78.8%, which Noah Picton set in a game against Saskatchewan back on Oct. 30, 2015 at the old Mosaic Stadium.

STANDINGS
Off to a 2-0 start for the second time in four seasons under head coach Mark McConkey, the Rams will head into Week 3 tied for first in the Canada West standings with Manitoba. Alberta and Calgary both sit at 1-1, with Saskatchewan and UBC at 0-2 to start the year.

RAMS HIGHLIGHTS
  • Besides his completion percentage record, Pelletier threw for a career-high 359 yards and matched his career best with three touchdown passes.
  • Tarick Polius was a menace on the defensive line for the Rams, tying for the team high with 5.5 tackles while collecting 1.5 sacks and also coming up with a pass breakup on a third-down gamble by Saskatchewan.
  • Mimbs led all players with 9 receptions and set a new career high with 135 receiving yards.
  • Playing in his first Canada West game, Arinaza finished with 7 catches for 91 yards. Sirleaf had 3 catches for 62 yards.
  • Jevon Garwood again led the Rams in rushing, getting 6 carries and finishing with exactly 50 rushing yards for the second consecutive game.
  • The Rams finished with four sacks in the win. Chopper Hippe helped out on one of the Polius sacks, Cameron Mah had a huge late-game sack, and Toryn Swystun-Bernes and Jacob Dakiniewich shared the other.
  • Polius, Hippe, Jackson Sombach, Carson Sombach, and Swystun-Bernes all had pass breakups in the win.

QUOTABLE
"The goal this week was to win the week and we did exactly that. We made it hard on ourselves with our turnovers, but good teams find a way to win. I'm extremely proud of the way our guys responded to the adversity tonight." - Rams head coach Mark McConkey

NEXT UP
The Rams are right back at home next weekend. They'll host UBC on Saturday with a 2:00 PM start time at Mosaic Stadium.
 
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