Box Score CALGARY – A 17-point first quarter gave the Calgary Dinos a lead they would never relinquish as they defeated the Western Mustangs 44-3 on Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium in the Centaur Mitchell Bowl.
 
"It's one of those games where everything that could go wrong did go wrong," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "It started with Will right off the get-go, he kind of pulled that hip and he wasn't the same. They gave it to us on special teams, they gave it to us on defence, and we dropped the ball. Sometimes when things go sideways like that it's hard to get it back on the rails. Credit to Calgary, they did a great job – a great job on special teams, they had a good offensive game plan, they threw the play action well."
 
The Dinos were led by the combination of Hec Crighton nominee Mercer Timmis and quarterback Andrew Buckley as the duo powered Calgary to 512 yards of total offence. Timmis racked up 139 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Buckley had 211 yards through the air with two scores.
 
Calgary's special teams were a key factor in the victory, returing a punt for a touchdown, converting a pair of third downs off of fake punts, and blocking a field goal. The team also dominated the turnover battle, picking off two passes and recoving four fumbles, while failing to turn the ball over themselves.
 
Yannick Harou paced the Mustangs offence with 87 yards rushing, while an injury to starting quarterback Will Finch limited him to three quarters of play with 105 yards passing and one interception. Brian Marshall led the receiving corps with 45 yards on three receptions.
 
Senior linebackers Pawel Kruba and Sean Blake led the purple and white defence with seven and 6.5 tackles respectively. Calgary's Brad Friesen led all players with eight tackles.
 
The Dinos started out strong, opening the scoring with a 31-yard field goal from Johnny Mark before scoring the first major of the day on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brett Blaszko. Calgary added another seven points prior to the end of the quarter on an 80-yard punt return from Rashaun Simonise.
 
Things continued in the Dinos favour in the second quarter, however it was the Mustangs who were first on the board off of a 26-yard field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu. Mark added the only other points of the quarter, hitting a 17-yard kick as time expired to make it 20-3 for the Dinos at halftime.
 
In the second half the Calgary offence scored three touchdowns along with another field goal from Mark to make it a 44-3 final for the host Dinos.
 
Marshall emphasized that despite the final score the players put forth a strong effort on the field.
 
"I'm disappointed in the outcome of the game, but I'm not disappointed in our players, I never am," said Marshall. "I'm proud of our players, I'm proud of the effort they put forward. I'm disappointed that it didn't go the way we planned, but I'm certainly not ever disappointed in the kids in there. In the last couple of weeks they beat two of the best teams in the country. Calgary outplayed us today, sometimes that'll happen."
 
With the win the Dinos advance to the 49th Annual Vanier Cup against the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Johnny Mark 31-yard FG, 4:16, 3-0 CGY
CGY – Brett Blaszko 15-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 7:34, 10-0 CGY
CGY – Rashaun Simonise 80-yard punt return TD (Johnny Mark convert), 10:16, 17-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
WES – Liriam Hajrullahu 26-yard FG, 12:26, 17-3 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 17-yard FG, 15:00, 20-3 CGY

3rd Quarter
CGY – Jake Harty 24-yard TD catch from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 6:27, 27-3 CGY

4th Quarter
CGY – Mercer Timmis 41-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 1:36, 34-3 CGY
CGY – Doctor Cassama 71-yard interception return TD (Johnny Mark convert), 5:19, 41-3 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 22-yard FG, 6:42, 44-3 CGY