Scoring 23 unanswered points in the second half, the Saskatchewan Huskies secured their playoff spot and beat the Manitoba Bisons 27-4 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

The Week 7 matchup renewed the rivalry between these two teams, with even higher stakes thanks to a log jam of 3-3 teams in the Canada West standings — also including UBC. With the win, Saskatchewan improves to 4-3, while Manitoba falls to 3-4.

Updated seeding for these teams depends on the result of Alberta-UBC, a late afternoon matchup on Saturday.

It was a balanced attack for the Huskies, who had 493 yards of total offence and held Manitoba to just 252. Quarterback Kyle Siemens went 22-for-26 for 262 yards and a touchdown while also adding 84 yards on the ground to lead Saskatchewan.

For Manitoba, quarterback Des Catellier went 12-for-18 for 142 yards on a day when the team struggled to finish drives. Strong in the backfield, though, was Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette, who had 108 yards on eight attempts.

With the wind whipping up in the first half, both teams struggled to gain offensive momentum. The Bisons had the first big play of the game, as Jamel Lyles caught a 38-yard pass from Des Catellier to set up the Herd at the three-yard line. The Huskies defence responded, though, stopping Manitoba on three successive plays (aided by penalty) to hold them to a field goal.

Late in the first half, the Bisons answered with a goal line stand of their own, as free safety Jayden McKoy made an excellent tackle to keep the Huskies out of the end zone.
 

Great defensive play by Jayden McKoy! Comes in from behind for the goal line stuff on third down! #gobisons pic.twitter.com/h612kAlwru

— UM Bison Football (@MBBisons) October 20, 2018

Then, after the break, the Huskies started to put some drives together. The first major of the game came on a Siemens pass to Tyler Chow with 5:22 left in the third.

Late in the fourth, Saskatchewan broke the game open with two scores in quick succession. First, it was a three-yard dive by Chow for his second score. Then, defensive lineman Tristian Koronkiewicz grabbed a fumbled snap and ran it back 39 yards to make it 27-4.

Penalties also hurt Manitoba in this one, as they had 12 for 115 yards compared to the Huskies eight for 43. Saskatchewan also dominated time of possession, as they held the ball for 37:18.

Bison football will conclude their regular season with a matchup at home against the UBC Thunderbirds. Kickoff is set for Saturday, October 27 at 2 p.m. CDT.