The Saskatchewan Huskies pulled off one of the most entertaining finishes in Hardy Cup history on Saturday afternoon at Griffiths Stadium.
The Regina Rams were leading 24-9 heading into the fourth quarter before a clutch performance led by rookie quarterback Jake Farrell — who indeed wrote his name into the Huskies' history books with the win — gave Saskatchewan their moment of redemption to avenge their loss to the Rams in last year's Hardy Cup.
This special season for the Huskies, who finished the regular season 7-1, their best record since 2022, had three Player of the Year recipients and eight Canada West All-Stars, will continue their story for at least another week.
The Rams appeared to be the better team for the majority of the game. Their offence dominated the second and third quarters, leaving little hope for a late comeback. But just when you thought Regina had the game locked down, the unthinkable comeback started to happen and ended with the Rams leaving without a trophy in hand.
It is now the Huskies' turn to represent the province of Saskatchewan in the Mitchell Bowl.
Here's how it all unfolded.
Huskies stun Rams late
Rams starting quarterback Owen Sieben and Huskies starting quarterback Jake Farrell duelled it out, each throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but both offences started very slowly.
The Huskies' game plan early on was clear: feed running back Ryker Frank. The fifth-year back rushed for 102 yards on 22 carries and served as Saskatchewan's primary tool to move the ball on offence through the first quarter.
That decision to stick with Frank paid off early. A four-play drive ended with Lukas Scott connecting on a 31-yard field goal for the game's first points just five minutes into the quarter. However, there wasn't much going for either offence for the remainder of the quarter.
Both teams had several two-and-outs that stalled any momentum on offence. It resulted in a very deadlocked first 15 minutes with the Huskies' field goal as the only points of the game heading to the second quarter.
That would soon change. The Huskies started the second quarter with a five-play drive that covered 21 yards and ended with another Scott field goal, this time from 27 yards.
That seemed to wake up the Regina offence, who began to find their groove on offence after going down 6-0 early in the second. The Rams responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive that featured a 40-yard bomb from Sieben to fifth-year wide receiver Rylan Sokul and ended with the third-year Kaleb Senz on an in-route snagging a four-yard pass from Sieben for the touchdown.
The Herd kept the pressure on and forced the Huskies to punt around midfield. Regina continued to find their groove in the air on the ensuing drive and connected on some explosive passing plays before stalling out and settling for a 20-yard field goal to take a 10-6 lead. Regina forced Saskatchewan into another quick two-and-out and used the opportunity to strike again with another touchdown to cap off a 74-yard, six-play drive.
However, the Dogs scraped back with a 33-yard field goal after driving 60 yards down the field with just a minute to go in the half.
Regina appeared to be in complete control, leading 17-9 at halftime. Saskatchewan had just begun to find its groove in the passing game at the half, but it was looking like the Huskies were hanging on by a thread.
The defences came out in the third and stole the show. Both sides created turnovers within mere minutes of each other, and when it was beginning to look like the Huskies might have a chance to break into the red zone in the second half, disaster struck.
A snap sailed over Farrell's head, and he was unable to cover the ball, leaving Brandon Wong a clear path to the ball as he took it 49 yards to the house to increase their lead to 24-9 late in the third. It was almost as if you could feel the Rams itching to start the celebration of their back-to-back Hardy Cup wins.
However, the game was far from over. Saskatchewan responded with a 101-yard drive that ended with Liam Piccinin catching a 20-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 24-16 three minutes into the fourth quarter. Six minutes later, the Huskies followed it up with another touchdown pass to Mason Grabowski from 19 yards out, moments after the Huskies recovered a loose football on the Rams' punt return.
The game was coming down to the wire with the score at 24-22 for Regina in the final five minutes.
The Rams would be forced to punt after an incomplete pass on second and four, giving the Huskies' offence a chance to win the game.
Saskatchewan drained the clock down as they worked their way down the field before entering field goal range at the 20-yard line with 30 seconds left. The Huskies set up for the field goal with their season's hopes all coming down to the foot of Lukas Scott.
And with the crowd collectively holding its breath, Scott took the snap and kicked it through the uprights to give the Huskies a 25-24 lead.
Regina, who led 24-9 just a quarter ago, found themselves on the brink of elimination.
The Rams had 30 seconds to save their season.
They pushed upfield thanks to two clutch passes and worked their way up to the Saskatchewan 44. Regina elected to bring out their punt team with four seconds left to try and score a game-tying rouge and force overtime, rather than attempt a field goal and win the game.
But the miracle fell short. The punt sailed into the endzone and was brought out by a Huskie defender, officially sealing the Hardy Cup comeback for Saskatchewan.
The Rams, who seemed to be on the brink of a second consecutive Hardy Cup victory, watched on as the Huskies stormed the field to celebrate one of the program's most memorable comebacks and their first Hardy Cup win since 2022.
Up next:
The Saskatchewan Huskies have punched their ticket to the Mitchell Bowl and will host the Yates Cup winners, the Queen's Gaels, at Griffiths Stadium on Nov. 15 at 2:15 p.m. CST.