EDMONTON — The Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 29-20 at Foote Field on Friday night to wrap up the first weekend of Canada West football.
It was Stevenson Bone's first game as head coach of the Golden Bears, but it ended in a loss to a familiar foe as Alberta dropped to 0-1 on the season.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan came out on top and proved why they are ranked as one of the best teams in the nation, winning a come-from-behind victory in Edmonton.
Huskies quarterback Anton Amundrud and Golden Bears quarterback Eli Hetlinger had a duel for the ages as both signal callers topped the 200 passing yard mark.
Hetlinger came out ahead with 334 yards compared to Amundrud's 245 yards, but it was the Saskatchewan gunslinger who recorded more touchdowns with three compared to Hetlinger's one.
It was a massive night for running back Ryker Frank, who recorded 155 yards — 93 rushing and 62 receiving yards — and two receiving touchdowns in the win.
And for Alberta, it was Kolby Hurford who came up clutch with a team-leading 82 receiving yards and one touchdown on five receptions.
Getting to the action, it was a slow start for the Huskies, who came out behind in the first quarter.
The Golden Bears found themselves with an early 10-0 lead thanks to a touchdown from Hurford, which lasted until the final minute in the first.
Ryker Frank took an 18-yard dump pass to the house and got the Huskies on the board. Saskatchewan rebounded nicely in the second and took a 14-10 lead midway through the quarter off a pick six from linebacker Seth Hundeby at the Alberta 46-yard line.
Then it was the Seth Poelzer show. The Alberta rookie broke free on a 17-yard run in the waning minutes of the half and found a way through the Huskies' defence to secure his first career touchdown.
As the second quarter came to a close, Alberta was leading 17-15, and all signs pointed to a thrilling finish.
However, things would come to a screeching halt for the Golden Bears in the second half. Alberta would only score three points in the final two quarters as the Huskies' offence and defence came alive and took over the game.
Nine minutes into the half, Saskatchewan scored on a third-down pass from the Alberta five-yard line to wide receiver Rhett Vavra on the left side of the endzone on an out route.
The Huskies went up 22-17 as they capped off an eight-play 77-yard drive and never looked back. Midway through the fourth quarter, Ryker Frank would find the endzone for the second time, this time from a screen pass to his quarterback's right for a 33-yard score.
The Golden Bears had an opportunity to put points on the board late, but missed on a field goal from 32 yards out and all but sealed the deal for the Huskies.
While Saskatchewan head coach Scott Flory is happy to get the win and start 1-0, he felt there was "a lot to improve on" for the dogs.
"There were a lot of penalties. We've got to clean that up. We got some discipline stuff that we've got to get cleaned up. Executionally, I mean, we made a bunch of mistakes. Hats off to the University of Alberta... they played a great game," Flory said post-game to OB.SESSED.
"We missed some things that were uncharacteristic of our quarterback. Our running back dropped a touchdown there. And things like that, that was just a little bit sloppy."
Now heading back to Saskatoon, the Huskies will prepare for the UBC Thunderbirds at home on September 5.
"I trust those guys, I know they're going to respond next week."
On the other sideline, it was Stevenson Bone's first game as the University of Alberta's head coach — and his first ever game in that position. Bone called the transition "fairly easy" and noted he was impressed with his rookie running back's play.
"He did absolutely amazing tonight," Bone said on Seth Poelzer's rookie debut post-game to OB.SESSED. "His run game was amazing ... he's going to have a great career. We knew he was someone at training camp that we felt could contribute right away."
Poelzer did all that and more, recording his first touchdown and a team-leading 80 yards on the ground from 17 rushing attempts.
Bone said he expects the running back game to be done "by committee" this season and that Poelzer was the hot hand, which played into the decision to continue putting him as RB1.
"Normally when someone starts feeling it a little bit in the game, you want to start to get into the flow of it ... by no means takes away anything from Ope [Oshinubi]," he said.
The Golden Bears will now head to Regina for a matchup against the reigning Hardy Cup champion Regina Rams, who are coming off an overtime win against the Calgary Dinos.
Bone said he hopes to take some positives, like Hetlinger's strong performance, into next week's matchup.
"I thought he [Hetlinger] played well. He's a great leader," Bone explained.
"Eli and I now have a very good understanding of how each other works. That's always a very tough relationship to establish... to me, we [as a team] took a step in the right direction."