Box Score

In a display of contrasting offences, the University of British Columbia's football team took a 37-27 win over the Regina Rams on Saturday night in a Canada West game at Mosaic Stadium.

The Rams (1-3) took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter after a pair of Landon Buch touchdown receptions, but UBC (2-2) outscored Regina by a 21-7 margin in the final period and clinched the victory after putting a halt to a late Rams drive with the home team needing a touchdown to tie.

It was the ground game that powered UBC's offence in the win, as running back Brandon Deschamps rushed 35 times for 230 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Quarterback Carson Williams completed 14 of 23 pass attempts for 167 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown strike to Micha Theil early in the contest. Theil ended up as UBC's leading receiver with five catches for 68 yards.

Playing in his hometown, Yianni Cabylis had a fine game for the Thunderbirds and ended up with 8½ tackles, a forced fumble, and a blocked punt. Kareem Ba had a sack early in the contest which caused a Cayman Shutter fumble that was recovered by the Thunderbirds, and also teamed up with Donovan Dale for a sack later in the contest.

While UBC's offence concentrated on the rushing attack led by Deschamps, it was almost exclusively an aerial assault for the Rams. They called just five rushing plays, all of which came in the first half. The rest was all through the air, as Shutter ended completing 34 of his 57 pass attempts for 459 yards and three touchdowns. Addison Richards led all players with nine receptions, while Jared Janotta caught seven passes for a game-high 121 yards including a five-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Logan Brooks and Calvin Smith both had sacks for the Rams, while Michael Stefanovic had three solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles, and a fumble recovery.

UBC struck first after taking over the ball following Martin Park's recovery off the Ba sack and forced fumble, as Williams found Theil from 25 yards out to put the Thunderbirds on the board. The teams traded field goals for the remainder of the first half, as Regina's Taylor Wandler hit a pair and UBC's Quinn Van Gylswk hit three, including one with no time left on the clock after the Thunderbirds took over following Cabylis's blocked punt.

The Rams took their first lead of the game in the third quarter after scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions. On their first possession of the second half, Shutter marched the Rams 87 yards downfield on just seven plays and finished it off with a 31-yard strike to Buch. After forcing a punt on the ensuing Thunderbirds possession, the Rams took over on their own 24 and it took just two plays to get back in UBC's end zone. First was a 27-yard pass to Jared Janotta, then Shutter connected with Buch from 59 yards out to give the Rams a 20-16 lead.

But another Van Gylswyk field goal – his fourth of five on the night – on the first play of the fourth quarter would set the tone for UBC in the final period. On their next possession, a game-long 29-yard rumble by Deschamps got UBC into Rams territory and a 17-yard Deschamps run on third down brought the visitors all the way down to the Rams' one-yard line. Deschamps finished off the drive with a plunge into the end zone, and Williams found Joey Gabrick for a successful two-point conversion to put UBC up by seven.

The Rams responded with a fine 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a five-yard Shutter pass to Janotta which tied the game at 27-27, but that score would turn out to be the last one of the game for the U of R.

On the kickoff following the Janotta major, UBC's Alex Morrison busted out a 57-yard return to give the Thunderbirds great starting position. A pass to Patrick Bull got UBC a first down, and back-to-back rushes by Deschamps gave UBC a 34-27 lead with just over three minutes left. After a pair of two-and-outs, the Rams took over on their own 20-yard line with 1:33 left needing a touchdown to tie, but a Shutter pass attempt on third down fell incomplete as Addison Richards was just unable to corral the ball by the left sideline. Van Gylswyk's field goal from 35 yards out with 15 seconds left sealed the win for UBC.

UBC will host Saskatchewan (3-1) next Saturday afternoon in Vancouver, while the Rams will hit the road for a game against Manitoba (2-2) at the new Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

NOTES: Mark McConkey had seven catches tonight for 65 yards ... McConkey now has 169 career receptions and needs just five to surpass former teammate Chad Goldie as Canada West's all-time receptions leader ... Brooks is now second in U of R history with 12 career sacks and is one short of tying Stan Van Sichem for the school's all-time lead ... Shutter is now the CIS leader with an average of 416.5 passing yards per game ... Deschamps also leads the CIS with 171.2 rushing yards per game.