The Huskies finished first in Canada West
with a record of six wins and two losses, beat the University of British
Columbia Thunderbirds, 24-9, in the conference final and then beat
Bishop's Gaiters, 41-13, to win the Churchill Cup.
For the Huskies, it was the second straight
year they advanced to the Vanier Cup final at the Skydome in Toronto and
this time, it was against St. Mary's Huskies. Saskatchewan dominated
the early going, as quarterback David Earl engineered a 78-yard drive
culminating in a four-yard touchdown run by Rob Symchyk.
They opened up the lead to 14-0 when Earl
passed to Dan Farthing for a 13-yard touchdown.
St. Mary's got one touchdown back in the
second quarter, struck for another in the third quarter and the game was
tied at 14-14.
Saskatchewan moved ahead again on Phil
Guebert's 11-yard field goal and then a nine-yard touchdown run by Earl
and Guebert's convert. That put Saskatchewan up, 24-14. Chris Flynn
rallied the St. Mary's team again, hitting Ian MacDonald with a 20-yard
touchdown pass and then the convert pulled the easterners to within
three points.
There was a storybook finish to the game.
St. Mary's tried to win with a last-minute drive. In one of Flynn's
scrambling plays, he was hit by Saskatchewan defensive end Don Bristow,
Flynn fumbled the ball and Saskatchewan’s Rob Dutton recovered the ball
to preserve the victory.
Earl passed for 244 yards and won the Ted
Morris Memorial trophy as most valuable player in the game, adding to
the laurels he had won earlier as MVP in the Churchill Bowl game.
Nine Huskies - Rod Lessmeister, Dan
Farthing, Errol Brown, Kim Pasloski, Kelvin Sander, Scott Hundseth, Greg
Mamer, Phil Guebert, and Jason Huel - were voted Canada West all-stars
and Brian Towriss was selected as Canada West coach of the year.
Paslowski and Hundseth were voted to the All-Canadian team.
With the win, the Huskies became the
first-ever Saskatchewan team to win a Canadian Intercollegiate football
championship.
Front row: Dan Dewar, Bart Arnold,
Kelvin Sander, Tim Irvine, Raymond Weins, Barry Radcliffe (Coach), Greg Galan (Coach),
Mike Harrington (Coach), Brian Towriss (Head Coach), Jerry Friesen
(Coach), Mark Anderson (Coach), Terry Eisler (Coach), Rob Symchyck, Dean
Eiwanger, Scott Hundseth. Second row: Dale Pitura, Calvin
Hobbs, Phil Guebert, George Grant, Lee Evans, Marc Olson, John Kalmakoff, Rob Revering,
Jeff Reinson, David Blackburn, Jason Olynyk, Scott Lessmeister, Errol Brown, Kyle
Doerksen, Jason Huel, Rob Dutton, Dan Farthing, Scott Reeves, Tyler Sotnikow, Ryan Russell,
Mike Schmolke, Don Bristow, Mark Loopkey, Rod Lessmeister, Kendall Kowalyk, Derek
Wilkinson, Jeff Slabik, Whitney Kot, Dwayne Dmytryshyn, Ryan Parchman (Team
Manger), Kim Pasloski, Greg Mamer. Back row: Shane Reider, David Earl, Mark
Dobrow, Todd Baker, Cory Flaman, Carey Prokop, Mark Poelzer, Trevor
Fleischfresser, Joel Flory, Russell Dawson, Dan Stewart, Milan Casic,
Mervyn Brice, Blair Lee, Wade Shrimpton, James Rakochy, Blaine Pho, Brad
O’keefe, Lane Francis, Sam Khuber, David Strathdee,
Sue Mamer (Trainer), Dr. Walter Hader (Physician). Missing: Val Schneider (Coach), Paul Rogal
(Coach), Rod Outhwaite (Coach), Trainer Al Bodnarchuk (Trainer), David
Rowe, Jeff Hagerty, Brian Eltom, Keith Putz, Shawn Stevens