EDMONTON — You couldn’t have scripted a better finish to the Canada West Football regular season. All three games have some sort of playoff implications.
The Alberta Golden Bears and Saskatchewan Huskies are both tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with 2-5 records. Thanks to a 38-26 win in Week 2, Alberta holds the tiebreaker over Saskatchewan. So here’s how the playoff picture will play out:
Alberta advances to the playoffs if:
– The Regina Rams defeat the Saskatchewan Huskies
– Alberta defeats the Calgary Dinos
Saskatchewan advances to the playoffs if:
– Saskatchewan defeats Regina and Alberta loses to Calgary
In other words, the best bet for Alberta is to hope Regina wins its first and only game of the season Friday at Mosaic Stadium. Should Saskatchewan win, the Bears have the unenviable task in trying to hand the (1) Calgary Dinos their first defeat of the season. (Watch LIVE on Shaw TV on Saturday at 1 p.m.)
In their last meeting, the Bears were humiliated at McMahon Stadium. Calgary put up 975 yards offense en route to a crushing 80-18 win over Alberta. Bears Head Coach Chris Morris refuses to look back at that game and is instead focused on trying to win.
“This game is all about what happens on Saturday afternoon and how well we play that game. That’s our message.”
It’s unclear if the Dinos plan to rest many of their starters, but you can bet two key parts of their offense will suit up in an effort to make their way into the CIS record book.
Quarterback Andrew Buckley needs just 437 passing yards to set the record for most yards in a single season (3,136). In his last game against the Bears, Buckley put up 452 yards passing and added three touchdowns. He’s also looking to finish the season without throwing a single interception.
Kicker Johnny Mark is four field goals away from tying the CIS record for most in a single season (26).
As for Saskatchewan, they certainly can’t afford to take the Regina Rams for granted. Sure the Rams are winless this season, but they were five minutes away from defeating the Manitoba Bisons two weeks ago, before losing on a field goal with under two minutes to go.
Either Saskatchewan or Alberta will visit the Calgary Dinos next week in the Hardy Cup Semi Final.
The other semi final features the (8) Manitoba Bisons and (9) UBC Thunderbirds.
On Saturday, an early glimpse of that match up, as the two teams lock horns on the West Coast. The game does have some significance as the winner will have home field advantage in their semi final match up.
A reminder: the Hardy Cup Playoffs can be seen on Global TV starting Saturday, Nov. 7.
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