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From adapting to a time change for kickoff to a team bus that wouldn’t run properly, the University of Regina Rams had plenty of excuses to come out flat on Saturday night in Saskatoon.
Instead, the Rams are headed to the 89th Hardy Cup after they exacted some revenge on the road against their provincial rivals in Canada West semifinals to keep their season alive.
Regina found the end zone three times in the second quarter and held off a late University of Saskatchewan Huskies comeback in the second half to capture their playoff opener by a 39-27 final.
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Head coach Mark McConkey said the 4-4 Rams took an “us against the world” approach and was proud of how they dealt with the hurdles thrown their way.
“They moved the game time to 7 p.m., our (defence) bus breaks down,” McConkey said.
“We’re about adversity and little did they know that we love it, we love adversity. So change the game time, we don’t care. I hope our bus breaks down on the way home today, because that’s just what we’re about.”
Rams rookie running back Carter Ashman led the offence with 139 yards rushing and a touchdown in the second quarter to help Regina clinch its first berth in the Canada West football championship since 2024, when they defeated the Huskies 19-14 in the title game.
Ashman said the focus is already shifting to next weekend’s Hardy Cup tilt in Vancouver, as the Rams will visit the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds for the conference’s 2026 crown.
“It’s not done yet,” Ashman said. “We got to go back home, watch film and then reset for next week against UBC. That’s all we got on our minds right now.”
TOUCHDOWN RAMS! It's a 63-YARD TD RUN for Ashman and the Rams go up 19-3! https://t.co/hwYLgBDg58
— University of Regina Rams (@reginarams) November 8, 2026
After a sloppy first quarter from both teams, the Rams exploded in the second quarter with 20 points and built up a lead which the Huskies were never able to close.
Turnovers proved to be costly for Saskatchewan, with fifth-year quarterback Anton Amundrud throwing four interceptions in his final U Sports contest and the team committing six total turnovers on Saturday.
Huskies head coach Scott Flory said it’s a bitter way for their 2026 season to end, considering they entered the final week of the regular season with a conference-best record of 6-1 and laid the groundwork for a deep playoff run.
“We got to find a way to win a home playoff game and we didn’t do it,” Flory said. “It wasn’t our day and that’s unfortunate. With some time, we’ll have some clarity and figure out how to move forward.”
Five Huskies fifth-years are set to depart the program following their semifinal loss in Amundrud, running back Kayden Miller, defensive lineman Riece Kack, offensive lineman Jack Warrack and receiver Rhett Vavra.
Recording a season-best 183 receiving yards and a touchdown in the loss, Vavra reflected on his time with the Huskies and the impact he hopes to leave behind.
“Being a fifth, sixth-year guy, you can’t go back anymore,” Vavra said.
“I’m not glad we lost, but that fuel to the fire that these younger guys have. (They) can now feel this feeling and take it into the next year.”
Leading 6-3 early in the second quarter, Regina got their offence going with a Nicholas Sirleaf 28-yard touchdown reception on a throw from quarterback Owen Sieben to boost their lead to 12-3 after a failed extra point conversion.
Regina continued to tack on the points with a second-and-short scenario near midfield, as Ashman turned a small gain into a 63-yard gallop to the end zone to break the game open by a 19-3 score.
Near the end of the second quarter, the Rams began airing out the ball with Sieben finding Kaleb Senz on a 39-yard reception, before Adley Mayala hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass while under coverage to boost their lead to 26-3.
Saskatchewan’s sputtering offence finally found the end zone with 30 seconds remaining in the first half, with Amundrud hitting Aulain Penner on a seven-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 26-10 at the break.
Offensive issues continued in the third quarter for the Huskies however, with another Amundrud throw tipped into the air by the Saskatchewan receiving corps and returned 41 yards by Rams defensive back Chase Murray.
On the very next play, Sieben skied a throw to the back of the end zone for Michael Eagle Bear to make it a 33-10 score just 2:04 into the third quarter.
The defending Canada West champions showed some life as the quarter went along, as Amundrud led a march downfield with a 25-yard bullet throw over the middle to a leaping Vavra, cutting the deficit to 16 points.
An Amundrud touchdown pass to Thomas Jule on the opening play of the fourth quarter kept the comeback attempt alive for the Huskies to bring the hosts within nine points of Regina.
Saskatchewan closed the gap to 33-27 with 8:47 remaining off a 35-yard field goal by James Keane, an unanswered run of 17 points by the Huskies in the second half.
Rams kicker Ty Gorniak made good on two late field goals to give the visitors some late breathing room, while an Amundrud interception over the middle to Regina’s Kaeden Brennan stopped Saskatchewan’s miracle comeback in its tracks.
“They’re an extremely good team,” Ashman said. “We knew that they were going to score, we knew we were going to score. We knew it was going to be a dogfight and that’s what it was.”
Only the Rams have handed the Huskies losses on the turf at Griffiths Stadium dating back to the 2024 Canada West season, something McConkey and his group take pride in.
“This is a hard place to win,” McConkey said. “In the last 16 games (at Griffiths Stadium), the Huskies (were) 15-1, now 15-2. The only two losses, the Rams.”
A date with UBC awaits the Rams next weekend with the Hardy Cup on the line, as they’ll also look to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Thunderbirds.
McConkey is confident they’ll be able to build on their semifinal victory and get the job done on the West Coast.
“All I know is that I’ve been coaching at this level for 11 years,” McConkey said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times, I’ll leave it at that.”
University of Saskatchewan Huskies quarterback Anton Amundrud (right) threw for 387 yards passing, three touchdowns and four interceptions in his final U Sports game on Nov. 7, 2026 (Electric Umbrella / Huskie Athletics)
Final chapter for Amundrud with Huskies
Minutes after throwing the final pass of his university career, Amundrud walked out of the Huskies locker room for one final time to embrace his teammates on the field he’s called home for five years.
One of the greatest quarterbacks in program history, he said it’s been an honour to play one final season.
“I’m super happy that I was able to come back and play one last year here,” Amundrud said. “I’ll be forever grateful for that, and the moments and memories I had with my teammates. It’s something I’ll hold onto forever.”
The Lloydminster, Alta. product will graduate from the Huskies as the program’s all-time leader in regular season passing yards, with 8,797 yards to his name.
It’s his resilience to return from a T-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis last fall for one final Canada West season that Vavra reflects on the most, with the pair ending their university careers on the same night.
“Insane what he’s battled through,” Vavra said.
“At the end of last year, nobody would have thought he’d be back on this field. Especially doing the high-calibre stuff he’s been doing, it’s amazing. He’s a great guy and I’m glad he was my quarterback throughout my years of college ball.”
Amundrud is a candidate to be nominated for the Hec Crighton Trophy at the end of the season, awarded to the most outstanding athlete in U Sports.
But it’s not the awards or titles that Amundrud will miss the most.
Instead, he said it’s the connections he made with teammates and Huskies fans over five years which helped him through the darkest days of his life.
“They pushed me to come back and be able to play this year,” Amundrud said. “The support I got when I was going through my sickness last year is next to none. I’ll never forget that.”
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