Box Score

The University of Regina Rams scored three consecutive touchdowns in the third quarter and withstood a fourth-quarter charge by Saskatchewan to record a 35-26 victory over the Huskies at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

The No. 9-ranked Rams led 14-12 at halftime and extended that lead to nine after Kolten Solomon's third touchdown of the game early in the third. A pair of Michael Kiapway touchdown runs just over two minutes apart late in the quarter gave the Rams a commanding 35-12 lead, but the Huskies mounted a fourth-quarter comeback as Kit Hillis caught two touchdown catches in the first six minutes of the final frame.

But the two Hillis touchdowns proved to be the final scoring of the contest. Rams quarterback Marc Mueller engineered two late drives that chewed well over six minutes off the clock and the U of R defence held strong, with a Ryan Wellman sack on 3rd-and-6 sealing the victory.

The victory improves Regina's Canada West record to 3-1 as the Rams move into sole possession of second in the conference standings pending tomorrow's matchups. Saskatchewan drops to 2-2 on the season.

Mueller ended up completing 29 of his 37 pass attempts, breaking his own school single-season record with a 78.4% completion rate. Solomon was his top target, as the fourth-year wide receiver caught a game-high nine passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns and added another major with a one-yard plunge in the first quarter.

Jared Janotta caught eight passes for 73 yards, while Catlin Schneider broke out with seven catches for 82 yards. Kiapway had another strong game on the ground for the Rams, recording 84 rushing yards and collecting two touchdown runs for the second time in the last three weeks.

Wellman was a disruptive force on the line for the Rams, registering five solo tackles, four assisted tackles, and a pass breakup to go along with his drive-ending sack at the end of the game. Kirby Kezama had a 36-yard interception return which set up Kiapway's second touchdown, while Benton Gieni chipped in with a sack and a pass breakup.

Hillis ended up with seven catches for 115 yards and three touchdowns for Saskatchewan, which lost starting quarterback Drew Burko just before halftime. Both Burko and backup Chase Bradshaw ended up 14-for-23 in the loss, while Jeremy Andrew matched Kiapway with 84 rushing yards.

The Saskatchewan defence sacked Mueller five times, with David Rybinski getting in on three of them. Levi Steinhauer and Andrew Abbs also had sacks, while Corbin Eskelson had 9.5 tackles and a fumble recovery for the Huskies.

After a Saskatchewan single on a missed field goal to open the scoring early in the game, the two teams traded majors in the first. Playing under centre with the Rams deep in Saskatchewan territory midway through the quarter, Solomon finished off a short drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The Huskies answered immediately, as Burko engineered an 11-play, 73-yard drive that finished when he found Hillis from 11 yards out for a touchdown.

After a Cole Samson rouge for the Huskies midway through the second, Solomon hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Mueller following a muffed punt by Saskatchewan that Brady Aulie recovered to give the Rams possession deep in Saskatchewan territory. Samson added a 27-yard field goal just before halftime to make it 14-12 for Regina going into the break, setting the stage for Regina's third-quarter surge.

The Rams are back at home next weekend, as they'll host Manitoba (2-1) on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.

NOTES: Solomon becomes the first U of R player to score three touchdowns in a game since former WR Jordan Sisco scored three at Saskatchewan on Nov. 7, 2009 ... Mueller collected his 6000th career passing yard during the win, joining Teale Orban as the only two U of R pivots to hit the milestone ... the Rams' win over Saskatchewan is their first road victory over the Huskies since 2007.