WINNIPEG – At the annual Homecoming Game for the Manitoba Bisons, the #6 ranked CIS football team won their second consecutive Canada West regular season game with a 34-19 home win against the Regina Rams in front of 2,824 fans and alumni at the Investors Group Field on Friday, October 2.

With the victory, the Bisons improve to 3-2 while the Rams remain winless for the 2015 campaign with a 0-5 record.

Both teams moved the ball the well as Regina totaled 579 yards on offence while Manitoba racked up 578 while Regina added 31 first downs to Manitoba's 27.

The difference was the home side rallying from a slow first quarter and scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter and then adding the dagger with a quick score only 24 second into the second half to lead by 21 and they did not look back to secure the 15 point margin of victory.

Manitoba only had two pass completions after the first 15 minutes but starting QB Theo Deezar found his rhythm in the second with TD passes of 30 yards to Alex Vitt, 21 yards to Dustin Pedersen and a five yard run by the pivot sandwiched in between a 30 yard touchdown run by Rams' Atlee Simon before the half ended.

The fans hardly had time to get back into their seats for the third quarter when Deezar launched a long pass that connected with Vitt for a 69 yard score on the very first play of the remaining 30 minutes.

Regina finally found the end zone again late in the third when QB Noah Picton found Ryan Schienbein for a 18 yard TD play and a safety ended the scoring but the visitors fell short, as there were no more points in the fourth during another entertaining game at Manitoba.

"I am happy we won the Homecoming Game but not happy the way we finished the game," commented Bison head coach Brian Dobie after the home victory. "We knew Regina was going to come at us hard and we played well but did not have the killer instinct. It is still nice to be at 3-2 and go into the break on a two game winning streak."

For the Bisons offence, Deezar had another strong outing as he went 21-33 for 413 passing yards (eighth highest in Bison history) with 3 TDs and rushed for 18 yards with one rush TD. CIS and Canada West Special Teams Player of the Week Jamel Lyles continue his assault on all-purpose yards by adding another 210 (game-high 128 rushing yards; 64 punt return yards; 16 kickoff return yards; 2 receiving yards) to his already conference leading totals. Vitt also had a fantastic output with six receptions for 182 yards and 2 TDs. 

Regina was led by receiver Davin Johnson. He grabbed a game-high 203 receiving yards on a whopping 13 catches with the longest of 62. Picton went 35-49 for 456 passing yards and one TD and one interception. Simon added 79 rushing yards and three other receivers had four of more receptions.

On defence, the Bisons were led by Jayden McKoy and his ten tackles (nine solo), Brett MacFarlane with 6.5 tackles and David Onyemata with six tackles and one sack. For the Rams, Ryan Serbu had 5.5 tackles and Mason Rossler registered five tackles in the road loss.

The conference bye occurs during the Thanksgiving weekend. Both teams get back in action afterwards when the home-and-home series resumes in Regina. The Rams will host the Bisons on Saturday, October 17 at 5 p.m. CT.

Bison Notes: Manitoba now is 9-5 in the last 14 Homecoming Games. Since Regina entered Canada West play in 1999, the Bisons now hold a 16-11 conference regular season record over the Rams over the last 17 seasons and hold a 11-3 record at home versus Regina.