The Friday night lights weren’t too bright for the Saskatchewan Huskies, especially for two-star offensive players as the Dogs bounced back in a big way after a surprising loss to Manitoba last week to open their Canada West season. The Huskies defeated the Calgary Dinos 44-24, handing them their first loss while Saskatchewan earned their first win. Veteran receiver and kick returner Daniel Kubongo set a record as he returned a missed field goal for 123-yards while rookie receiver Keaton Belsher broke out in only his second career Canada West game with seven receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

On the opening drive of the night and third play of the game, third year running back Javin Boyton took the handoff from quarterback Anton Amundrud and rushed down field for an 81-yard touchdown to give Saskatchewan the early lead. Calgary would later pin the Huskies deep on their side of the field, forcing Lukas Scott to give up the safety and give Calgary their first two points of the night. Later in the opening quarter, fourth-year quarterback out of Los Angeles David Jordan connected with Evan Smith after marching the ball from their own 35-yard line to take their first lead of the game. Jordan found Matt Sibley for the two-point convert giving Calgary a 10-7 lead.

Saskatchewan wouldn’t be down for long as Anton Amundrud connected with rookie receiver Keaton Belsher for a 47-yard pickup before the end of the first and connected with him again for a 22-yard gain to open the second quarter. Saskatchewan’s drive ended with Amundrud finding Thomas Jule in the endzone to put the Huskies back on top 14-10. Saskatchewan’s defence started to cause headaches for the Dinos in the second quarter, forcing them to punt once again and giving Amundrud and his offence another opportunity to increase their lead. Amundrud slowly marched down field, highlighted by a 28-yard reception with his favourite receiver of the night, Keaton Belsher. At Calgary’s 1-yard line and facing down after two previous unsuccessful short-yardage pushes, Javin Boynton finally pushed his way into the endzone for his second major of the night and giving the Huskies a 21-10 lead going into halftime.

Calgary started with the ball to begin the second half but was still unable to solve Saskatchewan’s defence as they forced a two-and-out for the Dinos and giving the Huskies good field position at the Calgary 51-yardline. Anton Amundrud found Javin Boynton for a 17-yard pickup and ended the drive with a 22-yard touchdown reception from Keaton Belsher putting the Dogs up 28-10. Saskatchewan seemed poised to ride the lead into the fourth quarter, but David Jordan responded on Calgary’s next possession from their own 28-yardline. Receiver Trey Loupelle left early with an injury, making room for first-year receiver Pasquale Delmonaco as the two connected for an 11-yard pickup early in the drive while ending it with an 8-yard touchdown reception to pull the Dinos back in, now only down 28-17. The team’s traded two-and-outs for much of the remaining quarter until the final play, which looked to be another two-and-out for Calgary turned into a 52-yard touchdown pass to Matt Sibley, cutting Saskatchewan’s lead to just four.

With the Dinos now pressing, Saskatchewan opened the quarter with a massive 47-yard return by Daniel Kubongo, giving his offence a good starting point at Calgary’s 46, but the Dinos defence came up big stopping Javin Boynton on third down, forcing a turnover. The Huskies defence did just enough to force Calgary into a 47-yard field goal attempt, that would sail wide left and allow Daniel Kubongo to take the missed attempt back the distance, a 123-yard return to break the Huskies record. The touchdown proved to be a momentum changing one as Calgary turned the ball over on third down on their following drive, and on the first play Anton Amundrud found Keaton Belsher for a 35-yard touchdown reception, his second of the game giving the Dogs a 42-24.

Homecoming brought in an announced attendance of 8052 on a brisk September evening, but it will be the only home game played this month for Saskatchewan as they hit the road for their next two games beginning next Friday in Edmonton for a tilt with the Golden Bears. Following are postgame audio scrums with Huskies head coach Scott Flory, quarterback Anton Amundrud, receivers Daniel Kubongo and Keaton Belsher, as well official game stats courtesy of Canada West……

Head Coach Scott Flory

Quarterback Anton Amundrud

Receiver Daniel Kubongo

Receiver Keaton Belsher

STATS – TEAM

STATS – PLAYER