Calgary and UBC battled each other and the weather in Canada West semifinal action Saturday (David Moll, University of Calgary) More

After a thrilling Manitoba Bisons-Saskatchewan Huskies Canada West semifinal on Friday night – won narrowly 37-36 by the Bisons – the UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos had a lot to do to match the excitement of their conference comrades on Saturday at McMahon Stadium.

With an assist from Mother Nature, they did just that.

The visiting Thunderbirds put together a quick 17-0 first quarter lead before the No. 3 nationally ranked Dinos stormed back and eventually won 42-28, with the game-changing touchdown coming courtesy of potential Hec Crighton finalist and Dinos running back Mercer Timmis, his first of two final-quarter scores.

The footing was unsteady at best and the yard lines and hash marks were virtually undetectable, but the teams still managed to combine for nearly 900 yards of offence. UBC’s Brendan Deschamps had another big night with 184 yards on 22 carries

Timmis was hard at work for the Dinos all night, touching the ball 36 times. Of those, 32 came along the ground for 164 yards and two touchdowns, while he added four catches for 44 yards to that total. Andrew Buckley completed 22 of 31 passes for 218 yards, along with one touchdown and one interception. His top target was Chris Dobko, who caught eight passes for 78 yards.

“I haven’t had much time to think about the next game but it’s certainly something we’ll prepare hard for,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill. “We’re playing the right team. Manitoba was my pick to win it and they have two very good players in Demski and Coombs as well as a very good young quarterback. It’s going to be a great game and a great challenge for us.”

The Dinos defeated Manitoba 48-24 on Sept. 20 in the teams’ only meeting of the season in Calgary. The Hardy Cup champion will host the Ontario champion in the Mitchell Bowl Nov. 16 for a chance to advance to the Vanier Cup.

The other six of the final eight teams in the quest for the Vanier Cup are also set with conference bowl games taking place next weekend between Calgary and Manitoba, Western and Queen's, Laval and Montreal, and Saint Mary's and Mount Allison.

OUA Yates Cup will feature Western, Queen’s

The Western Mustangs and Queen’s Gaels will meet once again in the Yates Cup, a rematch of the 2009 Faulds-Brannagan classic.

The No. 1 nationally ranked Mustangs dominated the No. 8 ranked McMaster Marauders 32-3 in the OUA semifinals and will host the Gaels, who earned their berth in the final after defeating the Guelph Gryphons 34-17 earlier on Saturday.

Lirim Hajrullahu tied a CIS and OUA playoff record with six field goals while running back Yannick Harou scored two second-half touchdowns – although there’s a cause for concern should be made as he left the game with an apparent ankle injury early in the fourth quarter. Two of Western’s running backs Adam Sinclair and Garret Sanvido are already likely done for the season (there’s a slight chance Sanvido may come back).

Despite the injury picture which will become clearer this week, the performance against a strong McMaster squad, one that had knocked the Mustangs out of the playoffs the past two years, was indicative that the Mustangs may have something special this year. The redemption was a cause for brief celebration for Western.

“[McMaster’s] been a bit of our nemesis the last couple of years,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall. “It feels good to kind of put a stamp on it. I know we did it in the regular season, but you’ve got to do it in the playoffs, and that was as convincing a win as we’ve ever had against McMaster.”

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