CALGARY – In front of their largest home crowd in decades the Calgary Dinos sent a stern message to the defending Vanier Cup champion UBC Thunderbirds. They wanted revenge for last year's Hardy Cup final loss. The Dinos were relentless in all facets of the game, while UBC took 14 penalties in the 35-8 Calgary victory.
The Dinos held the Thunderbirds to zero yards in the fourth quarter and just 235 in the contest while racking up nearly 500 of their own to improve to 2-0 on the season. UBC falls to 1-1 and will have to regroup as they head back to Vancouver and prepare for their big Homecoming game against Regina on Saturday, September 17th.
"I've said this already this season but we are going to have to find a way to respond in our next game," said UBC Head Coach
Blake Nill. "With a young team you are going to have ups and downs. We have to find way to be consistent and get better each and every week."
The Thunderbirds had trouble gaining traction all night as the Dinos defence made play after play, quickly responding each time UBC looked like it was about to gain momentum.
UBC pivot
Michael O'Connor found
Trivel Pinto for a two-yard touchdown on their first drive of the second half, after trailing 14-1 at the break. The score brought UBC within six points with plenty of football left – but on the ensuing kickoff, Calgary's Denzel Radford rattled off a 97-yard return to put the Dinos at the UBC six-yard line. Quentin Chown punched it in to restore the 13-point lead just 32 seconds after UBC's TD, and the Dinos never looked back.
"We've been talking a lot with the team about how to respond to adversity," said Dinos Head Coach Wayne Harris. "It's starting to reveal some of the character of our team, they're a bunch of hard working guys. We know nothing is coming easy and we'll have to work for everything that we get. Today, we got a good result from a good, hard effort."
The UBC defense's ability to create big plays was a bright spot on the evening. T-Bird defensive back
Stavros Katsantonis led the 'Blue and Gold' defense with an interception and a recovered fumble.
"It's week by week," said Katsantonis. "Our defensive coordinator,
Pat Tracey, is a great coach and he puts us in position to make plays."
It looks like UBC will be without the services of senior wide receiver
Alex Morrison for the considerable future. Morrison landed awkwardly on his left arm in the first quarter. He was taken to hospital for observation and was wearing a splint on the arm after the game.
The Dinos and Thunderbirds will meet once more this season, finishing off the campaign October 29th at Thunderbird Stadium.
UBC will play its homecoming game against the Regina Rams (1-1) Saturday at 5 PM at Thunderbird Stadium. The game can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv.
-with files from Ben Matchett
