VANCOUVER – Despite a furious second half rally that saw the UBC Thunderbirds (1-2) come within three points of the lead, the undefeated Regina Rams (3-0) showed their mettle, securing a late interception and scoring two touchdowns in the fourth to hand the T-Birds a 30-17 loss Friday night at Thunderbird Stadium.
Trailing 20-6 at halftime, the T-Birds found the end zone twice in the third, pulling back to a 23-20 deficit heading into the final frame.
Midway through the fourth, Rams quarterback Noah Pelletier put together a three play touchdown drive, his third of the game, Blake Laidlaw hauling in a 44-yard reception to restore the visitors' two-possession lead.
But with plenty of time on the clock,
Derek Engel drove the T-Birds into the red zone on a phenomenal grab by
Shemar McBean to make it first-and-goal at the two-yard line. But two plays later, the fifth-year pivot was intercepted by Liam LaBelle, essentially putting the game on ice for the defending Hardy Cup Champions who scored another major on the ensuing drive to secure their third straight victory to start the season.
"Let's call a spade a spade, we couldn't stop the run," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill, whose defence allowed over 200 yards rushing for the third straight game. "Despite that, like in most games, if you play hard you're going to have your moments and your opportunities and what hurt us is three times we're inside the 20 and we just left points on the board."
The No. 6 Rams had a very balanced attack overall Friday night. Pelletier finished with 360 yards passing, completing 25 of 33 attempts with three touchdowns. Canada West leading rusher Marshall Erichsen had another monster game with 196 yards and a touchdown, the game's final score with just 11 seconds left on the clock.
Engel, in his first start of the season, went 21-of-29 for 297 yards, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
McBean was electric, racking up 158 yards receiving, his first touchdown of the season and another 70 return yards.
But once again it was a rather sluggish start on offence for the 'Birds, despite opening scoring with a 20-yard
Kieran Flannery-Fleck field goal early in the first quarter.
Regina responded with an eight play, 5:29 drive to take the lead on a third-and-two red zone gamble when Pelletier found Rylan Sokul with a five-yard touchdown pass.
Ty Gorniak punched in the first of three field goals on the night to give the Rams a 10-3 advantage early in the second.
Following a Liam Pitt interception, the Rams made UBC pay by scoring their second major of the night, a 24-yard Pelletier pass to Nicholas Sirleaf who, like McBean, finished the night with 158 receiving yards.
Flannery-Fleck cut into the Rams' lead with his second field goal of the game from 25 yards out, but on the last play of the half, Gorniak nailed a 44-yarder to restore Regina's 14-point lead, heading into the break up 20-6.
"It was pretty intense in the locker room at half time," said Nill after his team produced just 122 yards of offence through the opening 30 minutes. "I'm challenging the guys to play the game with integrity, play the game the way it's meant to be. You got to get your nose bloodied and you got to get up and be ready to go again. That's a culture that takes a while to adjust to and we see signs we're able to do that, but we also see a lot of youth out there at various times. We have to go out and be tougher and more focussed."
The start of the second half was certainly more of what UBC expected of themselves, highlighted by McBean's biggest play of the night which came on UBC's first drive of the third. Engel launched a perfectly thrown ball, caught by McBean at the Regina 15-yard line, going untouched into the end zone for the 62-yard touchdown.
After another Gorniak try, Engel moved the ball down to the Regina two, thanks to a pair of first-down grabs by
Trey Montour.
Drew Viotto came in under centre and threw to a wide open
Jeff Curtis in the end zone, the rookie tight end's first career Canada West score, pulling UBC within three at 23-20 following the convert.
But the T-Birds would fail to score again, the Rams putting up 14 total points in the fourth to hand UBC their second straight loss and first at home in 2025.
"You've got veteran players who we need to be more consistent and we'll work towards that. We just got find a way to work together and come out and be on the same page between coaches and players and if we do that, we play pretty good football. When we don't, we have our issues."
The T-Birds will need a response next week when they face the Calgary Dinos for Homecoming 2025, especially after the Dinos posted a comeback win Friday night over Alberta to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Kickoff for Homecoming is 6:00 p.m. Friday, September 19 at Thunderbird Stadium.
Tickets are available online now!
