Bisons Rally to Hand Huskies First Loss of the Season

WINNIPEG, Man. - In what was a tale of two halves at Princess Auto Stadium Saturday evening (Sept. 13), the University of Manitoba Bisons rallied from down 17-0 at halftime to hand the U SPORTS No. 5-ranked University of Saskatchewan (USask) Huskies their first loss of the 2025 season.

With the loss the Huskies drop to 2-1 and into a tie with the Calgary Dinos for second-place in the conference. The Bisons meanwhile separate themselves from the 0-3 Golden Bears and draw even with the UBC Thunderbirds at 2-1. 

The Huskies could not have asked for a better start to Saturday's contest. On the first drive of the game fourth-year quarterback Anton Amundrud showcased his dual-threat ability, flipping the field with a 39-yard scamper into Bison territory. The first half saw the Saskatchewan pivot take off on a few occasions before finishing the game with 41 rushing yards.

After settling for a field goal, the Huskie defence decided to dial up a big play early. 2025 CFL Draft pick Seth Hundeby laid a big hit on Bison running back Breydon Stubbs, knocking the ball free before Waterloo Warriors transfer defensive back Anesu Latmore was able to recover, setting the Dogs up at the Manitoba 35 yard line.

Six plays later, veteran running back Ryker Frank would walk into the endzone from 14 yards out for his first rushing score of the season and a 10-0 Huskie lead. Despite the loss, Frank continued a strong start to the season, totaling 98 yards on the ground.

After the Frank score, the two defensive units began to find their footing, exchanging forced punts as Saskatchewan and Manitoba shifted into the field position game. Luckily for the Dogs, kicker Lukas Scott was in peak form, recording three punts of 50+ yards and pinning the Bisons inside their own 20 yard line on a trio of kicks.

With just over three minutes remaining in the half, Latmore came up with a momentum-changing play as he took down Bison running back Braeden Smith for a loss at his own 53 yard line.

As Saskatchewan regained possession, All-Canadian receiver Daniel Wiebe cut through the Manitoba defence on back-to-back plays to set up the Dogs in plus territory. A few plays later, Amundrud found pass catcher Dawson Lennea in the middle of the field and behind a pair of Bison defenders for the game's first points in over 25 minutes. The score gave the Huskies a 17-0 lead headed into the half. 

Returning from the locker room, Manitoba's offence found life. Bison quarterback Jackson Tachinski led an 11-play, 83-yard drive to get the Bisons on the board with a major to Mula Yitna.

After forcing a Saskatchewan punt, the Bisons returned to the field with momentum on their side. Tachinski would connect on a pair of deep balls of 48- and 31-yards, with the second finding the endzone, to cut the Huskie lead to just three. 

After another Huskie punt, a Manitoba chunk play found the Bisons quickly in scoring territory once again. It was then that defensive lineman Charlie Parks found himself as a free rusher and disrupted a Tachinski pass attempt which fell into the waiting arms of Ethan Laing for the Dogs' second turnover of the evening.

With the Saskatchewan offence continuing to struggle against a revitalized Bison defence, it was the Huskie defenders who continued to pressure the home team.

Early in the fourth quarter, Parks returned to the Bison backfield, once again causing havoc to Tachinski's release. This time the quarterback's pass attempt found former Saskatoon Hilltop Riece Kack, who made a spectacular effort to secure his first career interception.

Unable to secure points off the turnover, the Bisons regained control but Hundeby and defensive lineman Reece McCormick had other plans as they brought down Tachinski for the Dogs' first sack of the former Canada West Player of the Year.

Forced to punt, the Huskies put together a fantastic drive to set Lukas Scott up for a 40-yard field goal and cut the deficit to one. 

Following a Manitoba two-and-out, Amundrud and the Huskie offence returned to the field with 1:05 remaining. 

Amundrud connected with receivers on four dropbacks, including two to Wiebe, to set the Dogs up in field goal range with 17 seconds remaining. However Scott's 43-yard attempt would go wide, with the Bisons returning the ball out of the endzone and avoiding the rouge to secure their first win of the season.

Next week (Sept. 19), the Huskies will return to Griffiths for a 2024 Hardy Cup rematch against the undefeated, and conference-leading, Regina Rams. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM CST with tickets to the first U-Prairie Challenge, presented by SaskMilk, showdown of the 2025-26 season available at HuskieTickets.com.