Ryker Frank scored a touchdown with just seven seconds left on the clock to give the Saskatchewan Huskies a 16-11 win over the Calgary Dinos football team Saturday afternoon from McMahon Stadium.
The Dinos took an 11-9 lead early in the fourth after a 33-yard field goal by Vince Triumbari, but they weren’t able to ice this one away, as a big special teams play set up the Huskies’ final score.
Calgary finishes the 2024 season with a 2-6 record, narrowly missing out on the fourth and final playoff spot in Canada West. In fact, five of those losses were by one score, with their total point differential for the year finishing at just -23 in a season that proved to be so close under first-year head coach Ryan Sheahan.
“I just finished telling the team that I was proud of the way that they fought,” Sheahan said postgame. “There was no quit. They were out there trying to win the football game and unfortunately, (the Huskies) just made a few more plays than we did.
“It was a tight game for four quarters. We had a chance to put it away and we didn’t and in competitive sports, as we all know, when you don’t take the time to put teams away, it comes back and haunts you. It happened right in front of our eyes.
“Despite the result, I’m proud of the way this team battled. Their attitude was great and they never stopped believing.”
After an early single by Saskatchewan, it was Calgary that was first to find the end zone, doing so on their opening possession. It was the Britton connection once again as Dom Britton found brother Ben Britton for a 19-yard pass to the far corner to give the Dinos an 8-1 lead just 7:26 into the game.
The score would stay the same until midway through the second. The Huskies got the ball past midfield when Anton Amundrud connected with Daniel Wiebe for a short pass, but Wiebe made a nice spin move and turned on the jets down the sideline for a 46-yard score to tie things up.
Saskatchewan kicker Lukas Scott would add another single just before halftime for a 9-8 lead at the break.
Fast-forward to just under one minute left in the fourth quarter, with the Dinos leading 11-9 and setting up for a 42-yard field-goal attempt. Triumbari’s kick went just wide, and Rhett Vavra caught the ball deep in the end zone – weaving his way through the field and running it back to the Calgary 45 yard line to instantly inject life in the Saskatchewan side.
A big run by Frank got the ball in the redzone before the fourth-year running back plowed in from four yards out to give the Huskies the go-ahead lead with just seven seconds remaining.
Frank was the player of the game for Saskatchewan, finishing with 147 yards on 17 carries. Amundrud passed the ball for 273 yards on 26-40.
Dom Britton went 26-for-37 for 316 yards and the toouchdown. Ben Britton proved to be his favourite target on the day, hauling in a career-best 10 catches for 150 yards.
Saskatchewan will now turn its attention to the postseason as the No. 3 seed in this year’s playoffs, traveling to UBC next Saturday for a semifinal contest with the Thunderbirds. Manitoba hosts Regina in the other semi.
Meanwhile, the Dinos will now focus on the offseason and gearing up for the first full year under Sheahan.
“I think year one has been a year of discovery,” Sheahan stated. “This is a team that took the offseason very, very seriously. They had a great approach to training camp. They bought in to the new model. There are some changes that took place here and really, we’re an organization that is still undergoing change management. There are some pieces we can move forward with here and we have to make our year-end evaluations and figure out which parts need improvement and which parts need to hit the accelerator.”