The Manitoba Bisons defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 21-20 to win their home opener at Princess Auto Stadium in a game that came down to the last play on Saturday night.
Manitoba was searching for its first win of the season after losing to UBC and Calgary. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan was looking to maintain its perfect record and improve to 3-0 after a 51-14 win over the Thunderbirds last week.
Bisons quarterback Jackson Tachinski proved why he was named 2024 Canada West Player of the Year in the win over the Huskies, throwing for 258 passing yards and three touchdowns on 24 of 32 completed passes.
But Tachinski is known for being a dual-threat quarterback, and his running game showed up in a big way for Manitoba on Saturday. He rushed for 65 yards on nine carries — an improvement from the 41 yards on eight rushes last week in Calgary — and kept the Saskatchewan defence on its toes in the second half.
He wasn't the only one who caused the Huskies' defence some headaches, though. Running back Breydon Stubbs recorded his best stat line of the season with 107 yards on the ground on 14 attempts — a significant increase from his 39 rushing yards on 13 attempts against the Dinos and 92 yards the week before against UBC.
And don't forget about receiver Nathan Udoh, who torched the Saskatchewan secondary for 158 receiving yards and one touchdown on 12 receptions.
The Huskies struggled to replicate the same success on their side. Receiver Daniel Wiebe continued his hot start to the year with 99 receiving yards on nine receptions in the loss, but outside of him and Dawson Lennea, who caught the team's only passing touchdown, it was a slow night for the receiving core.
Anton Amundrud walked away with 187 passing yards and one touchdown, while running back Ryker Frank provided consistent results out of the backfield and rushed for 98 yards and one touchdown.
A game that came down to the wire
It wasn't looking like the Bisons had any chance of making a comeback after a quick start from the Huskies saw Manitoba down 10-0 halfway through the first.
Thanks to Ryker Frank's 14-yard rushing touchdown and a 37-yard field goal from Lukas Scott, and Ryker Frank's 14-yard rushing touchdown on Saskatchewan's first two drives of the game, the Huskies were firmly in the driver's seat early.
It would only get worse for Manitoba when Huskies Dawson Leanna found the endzone to push the Saskatchewan lead to 17-0 in the last seconds of the half.
But the Bisons had an ace up their sleeve as the game hit the third quarter.
The Bisons' first two drives out of the break ended with a receiver ending up in the endzone. Tachinski from the three-yard line found Mula Yitna on an in-route for the first score and then connected with Nathan Udoh streaking down the near sideline for a 31-yard touchdown to bring the Huskie lead to 17-14 in the third.
But they weren't done just yet. Tachinski found Vaughan Lloyd on a corner route to the left side of the endzone for a 12-yard touchdown pass for the Bisons' first lead.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game, it was coming down to the wire. Saskatchewan had generated two turnovers on defence that gave them excellent chances to break their scoring drought in the second half, but nothing had materialized to that point.
The Huskies managed to get into field goal range on a return and kicked a 40-yard field goal to bring the Bisons' lead to 21-20 with five minutes remaining.
Saskatchewan would force Manitoba to punt on the ensuing drive and set up shop at their own 42 with 57 seconds left in the game. The Huskies marched their way to the Manitoba 36 after five plays.
And with only seconds left on the clock, the Huskies lined up to take a 43-yard field goal that could win them the game. However, Lukas Scott missed it wide to the left and sealed the game for the Bisons in their home opener.
Pierre earns his first win as head coach
The win was a special one, not only as the team's first of the season, but also the first under their new head coach, Stan Pierre.
"Honestly, I've done this for so long. It doesn't feel that much different," Pierre said post-game. "If I was the coordinator and we won a game like that, I'd feel the exact same way... every time we win, it's like such a relief, and every time we lose, it's like the end of the world, so it's nice to feel relief."
Pierre also mentioned how he thought his team did a good job of stepping up to make plays on both sides of the ball to help spark the comeback.
"We weren't tackling very well in the first half, that's for sure. I just don't think we were physical enough in the first half," said Pierre.
"Then Jackson [Tachinski] made some plays... I thought everybody was doing their job and, you know, I think if we hadn't taken so many penalties in the second half, we could have made that a couple-score game."
Bisons quarterback Jackson Tachinski credited his receivers and the team sticking to their game plan for the reason they came back into the game in the second half.
"Things just worked out," Tachinski said post-game.
"We were trying to go back to that backside. Nathan is a great receiver, big body, great route runner, and he was just putting in the work today ...other guys picked it up, too. Vaughan [Lloyd] got a big touchdown, and Mula [Yitna] had a touchdown. So if that's how we're playing. I think we're gonna be unstoppable."
"We all believed. I was looking around, telling people that, you know, we're still in this, lots of football left, and guys were buying in."
Up next:
The #5 Saskatchewan Huskies (2-1) will head back to Saskatoon for a matchup with their provincial rival, the #7 Regina Rams (3-0), on Friday, Sept 19.
The #11 Manitoba Bisons (1-2) will stay in Winnipeg as they host the Alberta Golden Bears (0-3) on Saturday, Sept 20.