Rams, Huskies ready to renew fierce provincial football rivalry
Twice is nice for Steve Bryce.
The University of Regina Rams’ head coach is in favour of playing the archrival University of Saskatchewan Huskies two times per season — an arrangement that isn’t always possible due to Canada West’s scheduling format.
The teams met only once last season, for example, but will play in each other’s home stadium this year.
“It is such a powerful rivalry between those two schools,” Bryce said Wednesday. “The fact that we get them twice ... I would be in favour of always playing the U of S twice.
“I think everybody should name a rival and have that game be played twice every year. I think it’s good for football. They get a great crowd when we come up there. We draw a great crowd when they come down here. It’s always an exciting, electric game.”
The electricity is already building for Friday’s Rams vs. Huskies showdown (7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium). The teams will meet again on Oct. 26 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, on the final weekend of regular-season play.
When asked about making two meetings a fixture on the schedule, Huskies head coach Scott Flory wasn’t as emphatic as Bryce.
“I don’t know how it works, and I don’t bother trying to worry about that,” the Huskies’ second-year field boss said.
“I will agree that it was kind of weird only playing them once last year, just given the proximity and everything, and given the provincial showdown angle, but I’ll leave that to the schedulers and the decision-makers.”
Canada West’s scheduling rotation is designed to balance out over a five-year period. Therefore, the Huskies (as an example) will play any given school both home and away in three of those years, at home only in one year, and on the road only in the other year.
The current rotation is in its fourth of five years. As part of that cycle, the Rams and Huskies played twice in 2015 and 2016, in addition to this year’s home-and-home set. The teams met last season (in Saskatoon) and will collide only once next year as well (in Regina).
The scheduling of the looming matchup is timely, considering that both teams own a 2-1 record.
“We’re the provincial showdown and there is quite the buzz, and there should be,” Flory said. “It’s going to be a fantastic game. There are two good football teams going head-to-head. It’s going to be a tough, physical game.”
The Rams will be looking to shut down Huskies running back Tyler Chow, who has 298 yards after three games and is averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
“We’re getting ready to face what I think is the best offensive line in Canada West, and probably the best, most consistent running attack,” Bryce said.
“We haven’t faced a running attack like this. Tyler is an outstanding running back. I think he’s probably right now one of the best backs we’re going to see in Canada West, so we’d better be ready for the run game, for sure.”
The Rams’ running game has been effective even though their No. 1 tailback, Atlee Simon, has missed the past two games with a bruised shoulder. His status is dayto-day, according to Bryce.
Even if Simon does not play Friday, sophomore Kyle Borsa has demonstrated that he can anchor the running attack. Star quarterback Noah Picton — the 2016 Hec Crighton Trophy winner — is also someone with whom the Huskies will have to contend.
“He’s a great young man,” Flory said of Picton. “He’s got a really quick release. He’s got good feet. He can move. He can run. He makes great decisions. He’s a really good college quarterback, no doubt about it.
“He won the Hec two years ago and was an all-canadian last year, and is absolutely deserving of it. He’s going to put up numbers. We know that. You can’t defend everything and you’re not going to limit him to 80 yards passing. I just don’t think that’s going to happen. We’ve just got to understand that and play sound and do our part and play connected football from top to bottom.”