Box Score

Making his first career Canada West start, University of Regina quarterback John Kiesman engineered a 75-yard drive that he finished off himself with under a minute left to give the Rams a 25-20 win over Alberta on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium.

Trailing 20-18 after an Alberta rouge with just under four minutes remaining in the game, the Rams (2-4) took over on their own 35-yard line and Kiesman went to work. The big play on the drive was a Kiesman toss to Mark McConkey for an 11-yard reception, and a 15-yard face mask penalty tacked onto the end of it brought the Rams down to Alberta's 14. Facing a 2nd-and-8 situation, Kiesman rumbled all the way down to the one-yard line himself to grab the first down and set up his own one-yard plunge for the major that would stand as the winning score.

Alberta (0-6) had one final chance to drive down for the win, but Calvin Smith stuffed Alberta's Curtis Dell on a designed keeper play on first down and two incomplete passes turned the ball back over to the Rams.

Kiesman completed 18 of his 31 pass attempts for 231 yards including a second-quarter touchdown pass to Jared Janotta. The Rams had a season-high 191 rushing yards, as Michael Kiapway had 19 carries for 120 yards and Kiesman kept the ball himself 14 times for a total gain of 71 yards. Janotta had a team-high six receptions for 67 yards, while Addison Richards had three catches for a team-high 83 yards. Mark McConkey and Riley Wilson had four catches apiece for the Rams.

Logan Brooks had his 14th career sack in the third quarter as the fifth-year defensive lineman passes Stan Van Sichem for the school's all-time lead. Jeff Propp also had a sack for the Rams, while Kahlen Branning had an interception and Tevaughn Campbell had a trio of pass breakups.

Ryan Schwartz got the start at quarterback for the Golden Bears and ended up 18-for-30 for 243 yards and a touchdown. Curtis Dell came on for Schwartz in the third quarter and completed 13 of his 19 passes for 162 yards, but also threw a key interception to Branning on his first drive deep in Rams territory. Running back Ed Ilnicki had 10 carries for 88 yards and added six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown, while Tylor Henry had eight catches for 83 yards and Tak Landry collected seven receptions for a game-high 103 yards.

Connor Ralph led the Alberta defence with 6.5 tackles and was in on a pair of sacks, while Reid Knox had 4.5 tackles, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

With the south wind at their backs, the Golden Bears scored touchdowns on their second and third possessions of the game. Ilnicki got Alberta on the board with an eight-yard touchdown run with a rouge on the ensuing kickoff, and Schwartz finished off a lengthy 73-yard drive with a one-yard plunge of his own to put the visitors up 15-0 early.

The Rams responded with 15 consecutive points of their own, starting with a 36-yard Taylor Wandler field goal just before the conclusion of the first quarter. Janotta made a great grab on a Kiesman pass in the second quarter on a 34-yard touchdown, and the Rams added a safety off a bad snap and another Wandler field goal to draw level with Alberta heading into halftime.

Stephen Fabian's rouge was the only scoring of the third quarter and gave the Golden Bears a 16-15 lead heading into the fourth. Wandler gave the Rams their first lead of the game after his third field goal of the contest just short of the five-minute mark of the final quarter, but the Bears responded on their next possession with a field goal of their own to retake a 19-18 lead.

Fabian's punt into the end zone with four minutes left gave Alberta a two-point advantage, but also gave the Rams the ball at their own 35 to start what would turn out to be the game-winning drive.

Canada West has a conference-wide bye week upcoming before the schedule resumes. The Rams will have an Oct. 18 road game at undefeated Calgary (6-0), while Alberta will travel for a game at UBC (3-3) on Oct. 19.