The University of Regina Rams scored the game's first 16 points, but a big Manitoba comeback gave the Bisons a 21-17 victory on Saturday afternoon in a Canada West game at IG Field in Winnipeg.
The Rams mounted an impressive drive in the game's final two minutes that started from their own four-yard line and featured a 44-yard reception by
D'Sean Mimbs and a 32-yard scramble by quarterback
Josh Donnelly, but a Donnelly pass to
Bennett Stusek in the end zone on third down fell incomplete to seal the win for Manitoba.
Mimbs was impressive in his debut for the Rams, catching five passes for a game-high 97 yards. Donnelly finished with 256 passing yards with touchdown passes to both
Kyle Borsa and
Cameron Cross while
Garth Knittig,
Cody Peters,
Jackson Sombach, and
Josh White all had solo sacks for the U of R defence.
Michael Clow and
Jaxon Ford teamed up for another, giving the Rams a total of five.
The Rams opened the scoring late in the first quarter on a great play that featured Donnelly faking two handoffs - first to Borsa, then to Bennett Stusek - before finding a wide-open Borsa for a 10-yard major. Two drives later, the Rams took advantage of solid field position and a big 36-yard completion to Riley Boersma set the table for Donnelly to find Cameron Cross from 11 yards out for what was Cross' first touchdown of his entire football career.
Just over two minutes before halftime the Rams gambled on 3rd and 3 at the Manitoba 46, but turned the ball over and the Bisons responded almost immediately with their first score of the game. Des Catellier completed a 51-yard bomb to Kai Madsen for a touchdown, and a two-point conversion followed by a Rams single on an Aldo Galvan punt made the score 17-8 for the Rams at halftime.
The only scoring of the third quarter was a conceded Rams safety to make it 17-10. Cole Sabourin hit from 34 yards out from Manitoba to get the Bisons to within four points, but what happened next turned out to be the game-defining play. Manitoba's Brock Gowanlock jumped on a ball following a botched Rams handoff and the lineman took it 31 yards to the house to give Manitoba a 20-17 lead.
Gowanlock had a game-high seven tackles to go along with his fumble return touchdown, while Connor Kyliuk was in on two of the Bisons' three sacks. Madsen had just two catches, but still led all Manitoba players with 81 receiving yards.
The Rams (0-1) will now prepare for their home opener on Oct. 2 against Calgary. The Dinos open up their Canada West schedule later on Saturday at home against Saskatchewan.
