GOLDEN BEARS 44 RAMS 42

EDMONTON, Alta. – The University of Regina Rams erased a 16-point halftime deficit and nearly overcame a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, but eventually fell 44-42 to Alberta on Saturday night at Foote Field.

After the Rams tied it up in the third, Alberta responded with 15 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter. Jared Janotta caught a touchdown pass with 4:44 left to get within eight, and Noah Picton connected with Addison Richards for an 85-yard major with under a minute left but Picton was sacked on the ensuing two-point conversion and Alberta held on for the win.

Curtis Dell was 17-for-27 for 271 yards and threw four touchdown passes for Alberta, while Levon Hawreliak, Aundrey Webster, and Ed Ilnicki each rushed for over 50 yards in the win for the Golden Bears. Adam Zajdel was Alberta’s leading receiver with three catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Picton ended up with 431 passing yards, tied for the ninth highest single-game output by a Rams quarterback. And he didn’t come into the game until midway through the second quarter, when starting pivot Cayman Shutter was injured after absorbing a hit following an attempted pass. Picton completed 28 of his 36 pass attempts, with his completion rate of 77.8% standing as the second highest in the school’s single-game record book.

Richards finished with nine catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns, with his 225 receiving yards also going down as the second highest single-game total in school history. Janotta had 11 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown, while Riley Wilson had six receptions for 77 yards.

The Rams dominated most offensive categories, ending up with 705 yards of total offence to Alberta’s 463 and 36 first downs to the Golden Bears’ 20. But the Rams also had over 150 yards in penalties, including a 15-yard unnecessary roughness foul applied on the kickoff following Alberta’s final major that gave the Golden Bears an eight-point lead instead of a seven-point advantage. That extra point would eventually force the Rams into the two-point conversion attempt that failed with 57 seconds left on the clock.

Both teams move to 1-2 with Saturday’s result. Alberta hits the road next weekend for a game at UBC (0-3), while the Rams will prepare for a Saturday afternoon home game against Saskatchewan (2-1).

NOTES: The victory gave the Golden Bears their first victory since the 2010 season and also snapped Alberta’s six-game losing streak against the Rams … Janotta moved from sixth to fourth on the U of R’s all-time receiving yards list, passing former teammates Brenden Owens and Mark McConkey … Richards came into the game needing just 31 receiving yards to hit 1000 for his career and now has 1194.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh/U of R Athletics)