The University of Regina Rams scored on the first offensive play of the game and led the rest of the way in a 31-17 victory over Alberta on Saturday afternoon at Foote Field in Edmonton.
But the Rams didn't get the help they needed on the out-of-town scoreboard. To stay alive in the Canada West playoff hunt, the U of R needed not only a win over the Golden Bears but also a road victory by first-place and No. 4-ranked Calgary over Manitoba. That didn't happen, as the Bisons rolled to a 43-29 win over the Dinos on Saturday to clinch the final playoff spot and eliminate the Rams from postseason contention.
The Rams opened up Saturday's game with a bang. Playing in his first game since before the bye week,
Josh Donnelly went deep on the first play from scrimmage and found
Ryan Schienbein for an 80-yard touchdown which goes down as the veteran's longest career reception.
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That wasn't the only huge play for the Rams, as Donnelly also connected with
Riley Boersma for a 69-yard major five minutes before halftime which helped the visitors to a 20-11 lead at the break.
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Alberta briefly made it a one-score game with a field goal midway through the third quarter, but the Rams answered shortly thereafter with Donnelly's third touchdown pass of the game. This time he found
Kyle Moortgat from 24 yards out which put the Rams up 28-14 after a single on the ensuing kickoff, and the teams traded field goals in the fourth quarter for the only scoring of the final period.
Donnelly completed 14 of his 25 pass attempts for 339 yards with Schienbein as his leading receiver with six catches for 151 yards. Boersma finished with three catches for 91 yards, while
Semba Mbasela rushed 20 times for 63 yards.
Josh White led the U of R defence with a pair of sacks and
Brandon Gandire had a fourth-quarter interception and ran it back 20 yards to set up the U of R's final field goal of the game.
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Alberta's Brad Launhardt completed 36 of 55 passes for a total of 436 yards. Ben Kopczynski caught 11 of them for 150 yards, while Tyler Turner had seven catches for 94 yards and Matthew Peterson had a game-high 69 rushing yards.
NEXT UP
The Rams will close out the 2019 season at home next Friday with a game against Manitoba at Leibel Field.
NOTES: The huge game-opening major by Schienbein was his 18th touchdown catch of his career as he moves past Michael Thomas into sole possession of fourth place on the U of R's all-time list ... Schienbein is now tied with current Rams offensive coordinator
Mark McConkey for second all-time with 180 receptions, and is fourth with 2411 receiving yards ... Jared Janotta is the U of R's all-time receptions leader with 191 while Janotta, Chad Goldie, and
Mitchell Picton are ahead of Schienbein on the school's receiving yards list with 2579, 2458, and 2431, respectively.
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