EDMONTON – The Battle of Alberta always promises to bring memorable games, and this one was no different. However, both teams will remember tonight for two very different reasons.
The Calgary Dinos capitalized on a last-minute touchdown drive to win 23-19 over the Alberta Golden Bears at Foote Field Friday night and capture the season's first Battle of Alberta matchup.
The Dinos were looking for their second consecutive win after defeating the Manitoba Bisons 15-14 last week in Calgary.
Meanwhile, the Golden Bears were in search of their first victory of the season — and first under new head coach Stevenson Bone — after dropping 47-23 to the Rams in Regina in Week 3.
However, Alberta will have to wait at least another week to secure their first win of the season, despite quarterback Eli Hetlinger throwing for over 300 passing yards and two touchdowns – both of which were taken to the house by wide receiver Carter Kettyle.
The Golden Bears won the passing game by a long shot, outpacing the Dinos quarterback, David Jordan's 173 passing yards, but it ultimately would not be enough.
Calgary dominated the run game, picking up 215 yards on the ground as a team. A much better result than Alberta's combined 68 rushing yards on the night.
Eri Olarubofin took most of the carries out of the Dino backfield and rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown on 17 attempts in the win.
It was a tightly contested game through the opening quarter. Alberta and Calgary had chances to put points up on the board, but both Hetlinger and Jordan overthrew their receivers in the endzone when they had chances to come up with the game's first points.
The game remained scoreless into the second until Calgary put up a field goal from 37 yards out to take a 3-0 lead. Alberta would respond later in the quarter with a field goal of their own after defensive back Zach Chulsky intercepted Jordan at the Calgary 20-yard line and set up shop for the Golden Bears at the four-yard line.
Neither Alberta nor Calgary were able to find the endzone in the first half. In fact, a wild rabbit found the endzone first while it was running loose on the field throughout the early parts of the game, before the Golden Bears or Dinos would put up the game's first major.
However, that would change as the second half got underway. The Golden Bears found the game's first touchdown after Calgary nailed a field goal from 47 yards out on their first drive of the half, thanks to a nine-yard lateral pass to Carter Kettyle from Hetlinger's right that the wide receiver would take to the endzone late in the third.
The touchdown gave Alberta their first lead of the night, but the game was only just beginning to get started.
Calgary responded by rushing the ball six consecutive times on a drive that started at their 31-yard line and ended with Evan Smith pushing through his offensive line from two yards out for a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead at the end of the third.
The Dinos would add another field goal not long after and extended their lead to 16-10 with 10 minutes remaining in the game. It was beginning to feel like the next score could be the one that seals the game, and for a moment, it seemed like Alberta had done just that.
The Golden Bears forced the Dinos to take a safety after starting a drive at their own eight-yard line, and kept fighting to stay in the game. Hetlinger would connect with Kettyle on a post route for a 64-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive, sending the fans into a frenzy with the go-ahead score.
Leading 19-16 with 3:20 remaining, it seemed the Golden Bears were on the home stretch to their first win of the season, but it was not meant to be. Calgary started their drive at their own 26 and capped it off with an 18-yard rushing touchdown from Eri Olarubofin to to take a 23-19 lead in the final minute of the game.
Alberta would attempt to mount a comeback, but failed to move the chains on a third and one at their 38-yard line and turned the ball over to Calgary, which sealed their win.
Calgary head coach Ryan Sheahan called the match "one of those Battle of Alberta classics" in a post-game interview with OB.SESSED and was not shy to shout out the Dinos' rivals' effort.
"I think they're a good football team ... I thought that they played strong offensive football ... they've got some dangerous guys when they touch the football."
Sheahan was also quick to praise his new American transfer quarterback, David Jordan and the team's rookies for not giving up in a close game.
"One of the most important things you can do as a ball club is learn how to win. And these guys are learning how to be resilient and lean on each other. We've got some key vets in some key spots, but a lot of young players," said Sheahan post-game.
"The fact that these guys are learning how to battle and be resilient and lean on each other is some of the most important lessons we could teach them as men."
"He's [Jordan] getting a little bit better at a time. So once he completely figures it out, I think he's going to be very, very dangerous."
And for Alberta, despite being 0-3, wide receiver Carter Kettyle is remaining optimistic about the Golden Bears' season.
"The thing that we can take away from every week is we've been in close games every single week, right. Obviously, the Regina score doesn't necessarily look like a close game, but it was a one-score game most of the game," Kettyle said post-game to OB.SESSED.
"We have a lot of good things to take away from the games, but obviously ... we just got to clean up some things and continue to be more disciplined."
"We still have an opportunity to go 5-3, and that's a great season in the Can West if you ask me."
Head coach Stevenson Bone also mentioned post-game that he thought the Golden Bears were playing great defence up until the second half.
"I think initially we had a really good plan on how to contain [David Jordan], and then I'm not sure why we strayed away from that, and I thought that we lost our aggressiveness down the stretch," Bone said in an interview with OB.SESSED.
"I think whenever you're a younger team and you're playing a more experienced opponent, I think those are the moments that they have to know how to finish. And unfortunately, this team in the past has had those issues."
Ahead of a matchup out east in Manitoba, Bone stressed the importance of refocusing with the season hitting the midway point.
"We have to fight now because we've put our backs against the wall early in the season," Bone shared. "We have to figure out a way to find a win, and that's going to take everybody. It's going to take coaches coaching better, the players playing harder."
"My high school coach used to say, you can't win the last one, but you've got to win the next one."
Game Notes
Alberta quarterback Eli Hetlinger passed the 5,000 career passing yard mark tonight with his 301-yard performance.
Golden Bears running back Seth Poelzer saw 13 of the 17 rushing attempts come his way in the loss. It was a change from what head coach Bone had explained in his post-game interview from Week 1, when he expressed his desire for the run game to be done by committee.
Bone clarified to OB.SESSED post-game that while Poelzer did run the football well, his pass protection also played a part in the decision for him to be the lead running back in the match.
A surprise on Alberta's special teams has been wide receiver Carter Kettyle serving as the team's punter.
Kettyle explained post-game that he has experience punting in his minor football career and was offered a chance to battle for the spot and won it in training camp after being the team's backup for the past few seasons.
Up next:
The #14 Calgary Dinos (2-1) head to Vancouver for a matchup with the #8 UBC Thunderbirds (1-2) on Friday, Sept 19.
The Alberta Golden Bears (0-3) will head east to Winnipeg for a clash with the #11 Manitoba Bisons (0-2) on Saturday, Sept 20.