EDMONTON, Alta. — The Saskatchewan Huskies delivered their most complete performance of the young season Friday night (Sept. 18), overwhelming the Alberta Golden Bears 65-12 at Foote Field in Edmonton. The victory marked the most points scored in a single gme since a 2011 67-3 win over Alberta and improves Saskatchewan to 2-1 while showcasing an explosive offense and opportunistic defense that dominated all four quarters.
It took just over three minutes for the Huskies to put points up the board, and from there the visitors never looked back.
After Saskatchewan's defense forced an interception on Alberta's opening possession, third-year defensive back
Lucas Scheck returned the ball to the Alberta 11-yard line. Just two plays later, quarterback
Anton Amundrud found veteran receiver
Rhett Vavra for a nine-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
James Keane later connected on a 30-yard field goal to give the visitors a 10-0 advantage after one quarter.
The Huskies then proceeded to turn the heat up in second quarter.
Special teams set the tone when
Owen Mazur blocked an Alberta punt which
Javin Boynton recovered at the Alberta four-yard line.
Aulain Penner punched in the major one play later. Saskatchewan's defense then forced another turnover, and Keane added his second field goal of the night before Amundrud began picking apart the Alberta secondary.
The fifth-year pivot connected with
Dawson Lennea for a 27-yard major, then hit first-year receiver
Keaton Belsher on a 53-yard strike less than two minutes later. After Alberta finally got on the board with a field goal, the Huskies closed the half in style, marching 75 yards in under two minutes before Amundrud found Vavra for his second score of the game with just 10 seconds remaining.
The visitors carried a commanding 41-3 lead into halftime, and showed no signs of slowing down upon their return to the field after the break.
Belsher found the endzone for the second time of the night, taking a jet sweep 59-yards to the house early in the third quarter. Moments later, Mazur blocked his second punt of the game, helping set up another short field.
While Alberta managed its lone touchdown drive of the evening shortly after, the Huskies immediately answered, with Amundrud hitting Boynton for a 19-yard touchdown to restore a 43-point cushion. The score was Amndrud's sixth touchdown pass of the game, the second most in a single game in program history, with Brent Schneider's 1994 eight-touchdown performance serving as the program mark.
Amundrud finished an exceptionally efficient night completing 13 of 19 passes for 285 yards, moving into fourth-place all-time in career passing yards by a Huskie quarterback.
Saskatchewan's quarterback room continued to add to the fireworks, as
Jake Farrell threw for 91 yards and a touchdown while
Elias Flory added 24 passing yards. The Huskies amassed 400 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns on just 28 attempts.
Belsher led all Saskatchewan receivers with four catches for 123 yards and two scores.
Kyle Conteh added 121 yards and a touchdown on three receptions, including a 62-yard scoring strike from Farrell in the fourth quarter, while Vavra caught two touchdowns and
Dawson Lennea and
Javin Boynton also found the end zone through the air.
Defensively, Scheck starred with two interceptions and seven total tackles, while Mazur's two blocked punts helped swing momentum decisively in Saskatchewan's favour on special teams. The Huskies also forced four turnovers, recovered three fumbles, recorded two sacks and held Alberta to just 12 points.
By night's end, Saskatchewan had piled up 512 yards of offense, scored eight touchdowns and turned a conference road game into a showcase performance, leaving no doubt who controlled the contest from start to finish.
The Huskies will now turn their attention to the Regina Rams, with another road contest set for Saturday, September 26 at Mosaic Stadium. Kick off is set for 2:00 PM in another critical game for the Dogs, as both the teams enter the week tied at 2-1 following a Regina loss to UBC.
