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Christian Katende
Piper Sports Photography
22
Alberta ALB 2-6 , 2-6
29
Winner Regina REG 3-5 , 3-5
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ALB Alberta 8 7 7 0 22
REG Regina 0 4 9 16 29

Game Recap: Rams Football |

Historic game by Katende helps Rams clinch postseason berth with comeback win over Alberta

Third-year running back runs for 228 yards, the third highest single-game total in school history

QUICKLY
Christian Katende's historic night helped the University of Regina Rams clinch a postseason berth with a 29-22 come-from-behind victory over Alberta on Friday night at a raucous Leibel Field in Regina.

THE COMEBACK
  • Despite the Rams allowing only a single offensive touchdown on Friday, Alberta led 15-4 at halftime and opened up a 22-4 lead thanks to Romeo Nash's 32-yard pick six early in the third quarter.
  • That's when Katende started to put the Rams on his back. They immediately responded with a 7-play, 72-yard touchdown drive which saw the third-year running back run for 57 of those yards off 5 carries, including a final 15-yard rumble to the end zone.
  • The Rams then took advantage of an Alberta unnecessary roughness penalty which pinned the visitors back on their own one-yard line. On the next play, Tarick Polius took down Alberta running back Ope Oshinubi in the end zone for a safety to cut the Golden Bears' lead to 22-13.
  • After yet another two-and-out forced by the Rams' defence, Noah Pelletier's offence took over at midfield and made it to the end zone six plays later with Pelletier himself finishing it off from two yards out to get Regina to within two points.
  • On the ensuing Alberta possession, the Golden Bears got a couple of first downs but were forced to punt after a blindside block penalty put them into a 3rd-and-25 situation. But the snap was high, and Jonathan Giustini had to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety which tied up the game at 22-22.
  • With all the momentum firmly on the Rams' side, Katende then put the Rams into the lead for good. He had consecutive rushes of 8, 9, and 24 yards and a key Pelletier pass to Emmett Steadman brought the Rams down to Alberta's 10. After a successful Pelletier rush on third down, Katende rumbled in from seven yards out to score his second touchdown of the night and put the Rams up 29-22.
  • The Rams got a huge sack from Brandon Wong on the next Alberta possession to force a punt, and more brilliance from Katende brought Regina well into Golden Bears territory before punting one final time. The defence brought it home, with a Jacob Tkachuk interception on a third-down heave by Alberta clinching the win.

HAVE IT YOUR WAY, CK
  • Katende had 5 rushes for 21 yards at halftime, but simply exploded in the second half behind the blocking of LT Ethan Graham, LG Cullen Wagner, C Riley Schick, RG Parker Hodel, and RT Connor Klassen. He finished with 26 carries for a total of 228 yards and 2 touchdowns, becoming the first Rams player in 7 years to go over the 200 mark and piling up the third most rushing yards in a single game in University of Regina history.
  • Katende also caught one pass for an 18-yard gain, giving him a total of 246 all-purpose yards in the win.
  • Only two U of R players have ever had more rushing yards in a single game than Katende's performance on Friday at Leibel. Neal Hughes victimized Alberta for a school-record 295 yards in a game back in 2003, while Ronald Arnold piled up 249 yards in a game against Saskatchewan in 2000.

OFF TO THE POSTSEASON
The Rams will watch Saturday's out-of-town scoreboard with interest. They know they'll be the No. 4 seed in the Canada West postseason and will play the first-place finisher in the conference standings, which will be either Manitoba or UBC. Those two teams will square off on Saturday with UBC needing at least a 23-point win to place first. Any other result will see the Bisons taking first place in the standings and setting up a date with the Rams in Winnipeg next weekend.

NOTES
  • Both D'Sean Mimbs and Nicholas Sirleaf had big games for the Rams. Mimbs made several catches in crucial moments and finished with 6 receptions for 101 yards, while Sirleaf also caught 6 passes for a total of 63 yards. Pelletier finished 20-for-32 for a total of 224 yards.
  • Time of possession was heavily slanted towards the Rams, who held the ball for 41:45 compared to Alberta's 18:15. The Rams also enjoyed a 512-262 advantage in total yards.
  • Polius had two tackles for loss, including the critical third-quarter safety. Wong's sack was the first of his U SPORTS career.
  • Michael Jourdan was credited with three pass breakups in the win while Jackson Sombach had two.

QUOTABLE
"I'm proud of the way our players responded after halftime and focused on playing Rams football. This team has had perseverance all season long and tonight it showed. The stakes were high tonight and our coaches and players all answered the call in a big way, and I can't wait to start getting ready for the opportunity we have waiting for us next weekend." - Rams head coach Mark McConkey
 
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