SASKATOON, Sask. — The Saskatchewan Huskies racked pulled away with a late fourth-quarter surge, capping off an evening which saw the No. 3-ranked team in the nation generate over 600 yards of offence on their way to a 39-20 win over the Manitoba Bisons Friday nigh (Oct. 16) at Griffiths Stadium. The win officially clinched a ticket to the postseason for the Dogs, who continue to sit atop Canada West with a 5-1 record heading into the final two weeks of the 2026 season.
Despite outgaining Manitoba 604-255 by the final whistle, the Huskies were still forced to work for the win after a series of turnovers and penalties kept the visitors within striking distance for much of the contest.
Quarterback
Anton Amundrud delivered one of his best performances of the season, completing 36 of 44 passes for 474 yards and three touchdowns. The fifth-year pivot not only contiued his bid for Canada West Player of the Year, but he also set up a potential record-breaking performance next week at home. Amundrud needs just 218 yards and two touchdowns to surpass Huskie great Brent Schneider as the program lead in both career passing yards and touchdowns.
Amundrud has the luxery of on of the deepest receiving corps in the nation, and on this night his favourite target was receiver
Dawson Lennea, who hauled in 12 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown, while
Rhett Vavra added five catches for 108 yards and a major of his own.
The Huskies opened the scoring midway through the first quarter when Amundrud connected with Vavra on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cap an 86-yard drive. The home team then doubled their lead on the very next offensive possession as Amundrud found Lennea for a 31-yard score, giving the home side a 15-0 lead.
Manitoba responded with a drive that produced a field goal from Maya Turner for their points of the night. Two drives later the Huskies lined up for a punt at the Manitoba 50-yardline and the snap sailed over the head of
Lukas Scott before being recovered by the visitors inside the Saskatchewan redzone.
A few plays later, Aidan Wiberg ran in a one-yard score to cut the Huskie lead to a single score headed into the break.
The visitors continued to apply pressure in the third quarter. Turner's second field goal trimmed the Saskatchewan lead to just four points at 17-13 before
James Keane answered with a 19-yard field goal to restore a seven-point cushion.
The game swung decisively early in the fourth. Backed up at their own one-yard line, the Huskies engineered a 109-yard touchdown drive. Amundrud capped the march with a 22-yard touchdown strike to
Keaton Belsher, pushing the lead to 27-13.
Following a Manitoba punt and a penalty on the return that gave Saskatchewan excellent field position, the Huskies struck again. A 39-yard completion to Vavra set up a one-yard touchdown run by
Jake Farrell, extending the advantage to 34-13.
Manitoba answered with a late touchdown from Ishe Matanga, but Saskatchewan's defence slammed the door for the remainder of the contest. The Huskies recorded their second safety of the night in the final minute before Keane booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired to complete the 39-20 result.
The field goal as time expired not only put a bow on convincing victory, but also secured the tiebreaker in the event the Huskies and Bisons draw even in the conference standings by the end of the regular season.
Along with Amundrud's prolific passing night, Saskatchewan received 112 all-purpose yards from
Aulain Penner and a team-high 11 tackles from linebacker
Kenten Effa. The Huskies' balanced effort proved too much for Manitoba, securing another important conference win as the Dogs fight to secure the No. 1-seed in the postseason.
Saskatchewan's next action comes in a weeks time (Oct. 23), when the Huskies will host the Alberta Golden Bears in their final home game of the 2026 regular season. Kick off is set for 7:00 PM.
