Huskies win, Rams lose in final week of Canada West regular season

The playoff matchups are set in Canada West football — and both semifinals will be played in Saskatchewan.

The first-place University of Saskatchewan Huskies (7-1-0) are to face the fourth-place University of Manitoba Bisons (4-4-0) at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon. The second-place University of Regina Rams (5-3-0) are to entertain the third-place UBC Thunderbirds (4-4-0) at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.

The start time for the Huskies-Bisons game wasn’t immediately known. The UBC-Regina contest is set to start at 4 p.m.

The Huskies wrapped up their regular-season schedule Saturday with a 24-1 victory over the University of Calgary Dinos at Griffiths Stadium. The U of S finished with its best regular-season record since 2009.

Regina completed its regular-season slate with a 44-30 loss to Manitoba at Mosaic Stadium.

In Saskatoon, Huskies quarterback Mason Nyhus completed 19 of 34 pass attempts for 350 yards with three touchdowns — 85- and 62-yarders to Rhett Vavra and a 15-yarder to Ryker Frank.

Nyhus finished the season with 2,803 passing yards, a single-season school record. He broke the previous mark of 2,572 held by Kyle Siemens.

David Solie added a field goal and two converts for the Huskies, who also got a convert from Vincenzo DeRosa. Chris MacLean kicked a single for the Dinos (1-7-0).

Vavra caught three passes for 159 yards in the game, while Daniel Perry added eight receptions for 92 yards. Kayden Miller led the rushing attack with 74 yards on nine carries.

The Huskies accumulated 26 first downs and 533 yards of total offence, while Saskatchewan’s defence limited Calgary to six first downs and 167 yards of total offence.

At Mosaic Stadium, the Bisons scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for the come-from-behind victory.

Manitoba quarterback Des Catellier completed just 13 of his 23 pass attempts, but those completions generated 314 yards.

Catellier threw two touchdown passes (42 and 75 yards) to AK Gassama, who caught five passes for 210 yards. Breydon Stubbs rushed 10 times for 132 yards with two- and 21-yard scoring runs for the Bisons, who got a 19-yard TD run from Vaughan Lloyd. Niko DiFonte added three field goals and five converts for Manitoba.

The Bisons led 17-1 in the first quarter before the Rams rallied to take a 26-20 advantage at halftime and a 30-27 lead through three quarters.

But the Bisons’ defence clamped down in the fourth, allowing the Rams just 44 yards of total offence on 12 plays. The Manitoba offence ran 19 plays for 198 yards and scored on three straight possessions in the quarter.

Rams quarterback Noah Pelletier was 18-for-33 passing for 231 yards, with touchdown passes to Ethan Kiefer (19 yards), Bennett Stusek (20 yards) and Ethan Marshall (13 yards). Backup Bryden O’Flaherty completed nine of 18 pass attempts for 62 yards.

Aldo Galvan kicked a field goal, three converts and two singles for the Rams, who recorded two safeties.