Dinos’ Sinagra on fire as Huskies drop home scrap
Adam Sinagra lugged his shredder from Calgary to Saskatoon and put it to work Friday night at Griffiths Stadium.
The Calgary Dinos quarterback put up a game for the record books, hitting 32 of 40 passes for 569 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-28 football victory over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Only one quarterback — Calgary’s Greg Vavra, in 1983 — has put up more yards in a Canadian university game.
Vavra, Sinagra’s former position coach, posted a record 627 yards against the Huskies in 1983.
“I just felt like I was locked in on my guys, and I knew where to go with the ball every time,” said Sinagra, who wasn’t aware that Vavra’s long-standing record was within reach. “It’s never perfect, but I’m glad we got the W.”
Despite Sinagra’s gaudy numbers, the Huskies stayed close in a scrap featuring the only unbeaten teams left in Canada West. Calgary is now 3-0 and Saskatchewan 2-1.
“We were within grasp, but what it takes to get to that next level is we’ve got to go through some of this fire,” said Huskies special teams co-ordinator Jerry Friesen, who served as the team’s interim head coach Friday while Scott Flory received Canadian Football Hall of Fame honours in Hamilton.
The Huskies struck first Friday night, turning the opening kickoff into a four-play, 54-yard touchdown drive. The Dinos scored on their first possession, too, and built a lead slowly. Sinagra completed his first 14 passes before throwing two incompletions in the final minute of the second quarter.
The Huskies trailed 31-16 after three quarters, fought back in the fourth, but couldn’t get over the top.
“Looking back, I think there’s going to be a lot to learn on almost every play. That’s a good thing,” said Huskies’ slotback Colton Klassen, who caught seven balls for 134 yards and two scores. “It’s good to say we only lost by (nine) in a game where we made a lot of mental mistakes. I’m confident in this group of guys. We’re going to learn from it, and come out strong next week.”
The Huskies return to action Friday with a home game against the 2-1 Regina Rams, who beat the UBC Thunderbirds 19-17 Friday.
Huskies defensive back Bowan Lewis said Rams quarterback Noah Picton, like Sinagra, is a double-threat pivot.
We had opportunities to take players down; that’s where the plays get extended, and that’s where the yards come
“The film will show that a lot of (Sinagra’s yardage) was catch-andrun,” Friesen said. “We had opportunities to take players down; that’s where the plays get extended, and that’s where the yards come. That’s something we can learn from, and those are the things that can take us to another level.
“Coach Flory always talks about how every game we want to get better and better and better. I think we found out today what the level of play is in order for us to be competitive at the conference top.”
The Huskies got TD catches of nine and 72 yards from Klassen, and Sean Stenger booted field goals of 33, 46, 45 and 27 yards.
Calgary got a 69-yard touchdown run from Jeshrun Antwi, touchdown catches of 12 and 50 yards from Jalen Philpot, and a nineyard TD reception from Hunter Karl. Niko Difonte added field goals of 30, 20 and 42 yards.
Friday’s game began with a tribute to former Huskies head coach Brian Towriss, who parted with the program after the 2016 season. The university announced that Stadium Crescent, which runs in front of Griffiths, will be renamed Brian Towriss Crescent.