Picton becomes passing yards king in Rams win over Manitoba

With one pass the Regina Rams got the win and Noah Picton became the U Sports all-time passing yards leader.

The record-breaking pass was a 35-yard touchdown to running back Kyle Borsa in overtime, which would end up being the game winner in a 32-31 showdown with the University of Manitoba Bisons.

It was a battle between the Rams’ third ranked defence against the Bisons’ third-ranked offence in Winnipeg Saturday.

Defense dominated the first half of the game, holding both teams to under 10 points.

Kyle Borsa would be the one weapon on the Rams that found any sort of daylight, with a 61-yard run. Borsa, who started his fourth game due to an injury to Atlee Simon, finished with over 100 yards in the first half. Borsa ended the game with 152 rushing yards overall.

Picton, who needed 278 yards to become the U Sports all-time leading passer, was held to just 95 yards in the opening half.

The Rams offense, along with their passing game, got going in the second half. The big play came from Picton finding wide receiver Ryan Schienbein for a 46-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to go up 25-8.

But the Bisons kept things close late, getting the game within a touchdown with under three minutes to go.

The Bisons defence got the ball back and Manitoba quarterback Des Catellier found Macho Brockru for a long touchdown pass to tie the game with 48 seconds remaining.

The Rams got the ball first in overtime and would quickly find the endzone, with Picton’s 35-yard touchdown pass coming on their second play, giving him 296 yards on the day. The pass pushed Picton’s all-time numbers to 11,497, which sits atop the passing yards list.

The Bisons would answer in overtime with Catellier finding Shai Ross for a 16-yard touchdown.

Manitoba elected to go for two but the Rams defence made one last big play to seal the victory.

The Rams move to 3-2 on the season and will enjoy their bye week before travelling to Alberta to meet the Golden Bears.