VANCOUVER – Three touchdowns from Isaiah Knight and a fourth quarter defensive performance for the ages saw the UBC Thunderbirds secure a berth in the Hardy Cup playoffs with a 35-29 win over Saskatchewan Saturday afternoon, ending the Huskies' undefeated record.
Limiting the Huskies (6-1) to just ten points in the second half, the T-Birds (4-3) have now won three straight, setting up a semifinal playoff matchup with the Regina Rams in the first week of November.
Trailing 29-22 with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and without starting quarterback Garrett Rooker who left with an injury early in the game, the T-Birds got a clutch late touchdown from Shemar McBean to tie the game with 2:15 on the clock.
A forced fumble by the defence and a key sack on Huskies pivot Mason Nyhus led to two Kieran Flannery-Fleck field goals to give UBC the six-point lead while Saskatchewan's offence fell just short in the red zone as time expired.
"Big win. There was a little bit of a cloud with what happened with our quarterback there, but what I tried to tell these guys is you go to play the hand you're dealt," said UBC Head Coach
Blake Nill following the statement win. "To their credit, 58 minutes without their leader, and they got it done."
Knight finished the game with 231 yards of total offence and three touchdowns, two of them in the air, while Derek Engel was solid in relief at quarterback, throwing for 160 yards and two TDs.
"There's no question that number six can play the game. You also got to remember he gets a fraction of the reps in practice, we're going to have to tweak the offence to what works best for him and he's going to have to be our guy going forward," Nill said of his backup quarterback while also praising his leading running back. "The thing about Isaiah is that he's a real competitor, a leader. He's not afraid to take responsibility and take ownership and that I think is his biggest strength."
For the second time this season, the T-Birds scored a major on their opening drive when Garrett Rooker found Isaiah Knight out of the backfield. The second-year running back turned on the jets for his third touchdown of the season, a 45-yard catch-and-run to take the early 7-0 lead.
The T-Birds got the ball back quickly after forcing Saskatchewan into a two-and-out and after a shanked punt, UBC had terrific field position. Forced out of the pocket, Rooker was taken down awkwardly and had to be helped off the field as Derek Engel came in behind centre.
On his very first play from scrimmage, Engel connected with Knight on a nearly identical play from the previous drive as the star running back scored his second major of the opening quarter for a two possession UBC advantage.
Entering the game as the conference's leading passer, Saskatchewan veteran pivot Mason Nyhus showed exactly why on the Huskies' ensuing drive. Pressured by the T-Birds, he scrambled out of the pocket and heaved up the ball to receiver Daniel Wiebe for a mammoth 73 yard touchdown, cutting the UBC lead in half in what was quickly turning into a high scoring affair at Thunderbird Stadium.
Before the quarter was out – and following a conceded safety – the number two ranked Huskies earned their first lead of the game when Nyhus found Caleb Morin for a 25 yard score. The successful convert made it 16-14 Saskatchewan heading into the second frame.
Already with two touchdowns in the opening quarter, Knight added to his career day early in the second when he took a handoff and blazed 54 yards to the end zone to restore UBC's lead, 21-16 with the Flannery-Fleck convert.
The second half saw a significantly slower scoring pace with no change on the scoreboard until the early moments of the fourth quarter. The Huskies ended a long 12 play, six-and-a-half minute drive with a David Solie field goal on the first play of the frame – a 19 yarder – to tie the game 22-22.
Just 2:20 later, Nyhus – who finished the game with 441 yards passing going 33-of-49 with one interception by Ronan Horrall – threw his third touchdown pass of the game finding Rhett Vavra in the back of the end zone, giving Saskatchewan their first lead since the second quarter, up 29-22 still with more than 11 minutes remaining on the clock, setting up the late game heroics from the T-Birds offence.
Clutch first down catches, including a remarkable grab from Lliam Wishart, got the ball into the red zone. In the process of being tackled, Engel then managed to connect with McBean who caught the ball at the ten yard line, escaped a Huskies defensive back and hustled into the end zone, tying the game again with the convert.
The Huskies still had over two minutes to work with in an attempt to re-take the lead, but on their first play following kickoff, rookie defensive lineman
Taaj Jhooty forced a fumble with
Natale Frangione coming up with the football, putting it right back in their offence's hands while Flannery-Fleck secured the final points of the game.
With a win over Calgary earlier Saturday, the Regina Rams clinched second place in the conference, also meaning UBC is now locked in third place heading into the final week of the regular season.
"This is going to go a long way to upping the confidence of this group and hopefully create momentum going into the playoffs," added Nill. "We got it done. Sometimes it's not the prettiest but when the plays were made, we ended up making one more than they did."
Next week, the 'Birds will head to Edmonton to face the Golden Bears with Alberta needing a win to have a chance at securing the final Hardy Cup playoff berth.
The Huskies close out the regular season at home to the Calgary Dinos.
