EDMONTON - The Saskatchewan Huskies dominated the second-half after an exciting start from the Alberta Golden Bears to win a thrilling Canada West opener 29-20 Friday night at Foote Field.
It was Alberta head coach Stevenson Bone's first career game, and while they were outscored 14-3 in the second half, it was an exciting start to the former three-year UBC Offensive Coordinator. The Bears outgained the Huskies 495 to 344 in offensive yards, and saw an impressive performance from fourth-year QB Eli Hetlinger who threw for 340 yards and a touchdown. Bone's impact went well beyond player development, as the new coach called seven third down conversion attempts, including two onside punts, and was successful with six of them, not to mention a fake punt on the Bears own 18-yard line late in the game that went for 39 yards.
The Huskies were paced by a great defence, and a phenomenal performance by fifth-year running back Ryker Frank who rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 attempts. He also caught three passes for 29 yards, one of which was a touchdown. Fourth-year quarterback Anton Amundrud played a largely mistake-free game, completing 20 of 28 pass attempts for 248 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears were able to put together five drives of seven plays or more, but the Huskies redzone defence was at their best under pressure, holding the Bears to just two overall touchdowns on the day. They also saw a pick-six from linebacker Seth Hundeby in the second quarter, taking advantage of a rare Hetlinger error to tighten the visitors deficit in the first half.
With the win, the CW top-ranked team leaves Edmonton 1-0, breaking a two-game road losing streak to the Bears. Alberta slides to 0-1, however leaves the game with a ton of positives en route to improving upon last season's 2-6 record.
The first drive of Bone's career was an incredible look at the exciting direction of this young squad. After an immediate two-and-out, Hetlinger took the snap on third down and punted the ball 40 yards downfield, where it was promptly recovered for a wild onside punt to maintain possession. Hetlinger found Kolby Hurford on a toe-tap corner touchdown two passes later for an early 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game. After holding the Huskies to a four-play drive, the Bears took possession at their own three-yard-line, and promptly drove 82 yards in 12 plays to set Eric Swartz up to make a 32-yard field goal for a 10-point advantage. However, the second-highest scoring offence in the CW last season would get the gears turning with a minute left in the quarter, with Amundrud completing four straight passes, including an 18-yard touchdown strike to Ryker Frank, to crawl back to a 10-7 scoreline headed into the second quarter.
The flags were flying in the second quarter, with the Huskies taking eight penalties to the Bears six, and it impacted the frame greatly. After a 46-yard pick-six from Seth Hundeby to put the Huskies up 14-10, the Bears started a drive from their own 23. After a Huskie unnecessary roughness to bump them up the field, the Bears faced a 3rd-and-5 in Saskatchewan territory. A perfect blitz call forced an incompletion from Hetlinger, but an illegal contact penalty gave them their third third-down conversion of the half, and it set up a 17-yard touchdown dash from rookie running back Seth Poelzer to put the Bears up three. Punter Lukas Scott, who was phenomenal all day as the Huskies punter/kicker, added a rouge as time expired and the teams went into the locker rooms at half with a 17-15 Alberta lead.
After a quick three-and-out from the Bears to start the second half, Amundrud and the Huskies engineered a eight-play, 62 yard drive that culminated in a third-down touchdown pass to Rhett Vavra on a beautifully-run post route that grabbed the visitors a 22-17 lead. Both defences tightened up for the rest of the quarter, with the Huskies only allowing an 18-yard field goal from Schwarz as the visitors entered the fourth with a slim 22-20 advantage.
Enter Ryker Frank, who already caught a touchdown pass earlier on the night, as after a costly second down illegal contact penalty against Alberta, he housed a 33-yard run, his longest of the night, to put the Huskies in the driver's seat 29-20. The Bears had momentum at midfield with minutes left in the game, but a 3rd-and-1 attempt from Poelzer came up inches short as the Huskies managed the clock enough to make a comeback near-impossible. Though Hetlinger impressed on the final drive of the game, going a perfect seven-for-seven, it was too late as Saskatchewan held on for the 29-20 win.
Next Friday, Alberta visits the defending Hardy Cup champion Regina Rams, while the Huskies play host to the 1-0 UBC Thunderbirds.
