WINNIPEG – It was an exciting conclusion to the home schedule for the Manitoba Bisons (4-3) on Saturday, as they shocked the No. 4 ranked Calgary Dinos (5-2) at IG Field, winning 43-29.

By beating the Dinos for the first time since 2014, Manitoba also punched their ticket to the Hardy Cup playoffs. The win concluded a perfect 4-0 season on home turf, as the Bisons will go on the road for the semi-finals in two weeks.

The recipe for Manitoba's success came from their defence, who had two interceptions and a sack fumble at critical points in the game, allowing them to hold onto an early lead.

"I thought our defence played very well," said Bisons head coach Brian Dobie. "That's the University of Calgary, that's their M.O. for the last ten years — it's offence. [Calgary quarterback Adam] Sinagra won the Hec Crighton a year ago. Their offence is highly respected, it's outstanding. Our defence played great against that."

The Dinos didn't help themselves with penalties, as they took 12 for 146 yards — compared to 13 for 73 on the Bisons side.

"Every time we don't take penalties, and the other team takes a bunch, and every time we don't turn the ball over and the other team does, we win," said Dobie. "And every time it's the opposite, we lose. It's just that."

Manitoba opened the game strong, as Colby Kyliuk partially blocked a Hunter Karl punt to set the Bisons up near the Dinos red zone. Bisons QB Des Catellier then capitalized on a bootleg, scampering for a five-yard score to put the home team up 7-0.

Bisons kicker Matt Riley would add two field goals, only offset by a Dinos rouge, to put Manitoba up 13-1 after a quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Bison would strike again, using a 56-yard reception by Macho Bockru to set up a touchdown pass-and-catch to Abdul Karim-Gassama, the first major of his U SPORTS career.

After another Riley field goal, the Dinos answered with their first major of the game as Sinagra connected with Dallas Boath for a five-yard score, set up by seven completed passes by the outstanding Calgary QB.

The Bisons weren't done, though, as the Dinos took two bad penalties on a drive late in the quarter, then followed it up with a short punt. Set up at their opponent's 23, running back Michael Ritchott punched in a touchdown. After another Riley field goal, the Bisons went into halftime up 33-7.

To start the second half, the Dinos looked much more composed. After Manitoba missed a field goal on their first drive, Sinagra completed six of his next seven passes, concluding in a Nathanael Durkan touchdown and a two-point convert to make it 33-15.

With momentum on their side, the second half's biggest play came when 2018 U SPORTS All-Canadian halfback Shae Weekes jumped a route on Calgary's next drive, got out of two tackles, and returned an interception 89 yards for a Bisons touchdown. The play tied the longest INT return in program history, going back to 1995.

"At that point, I think Calgary was playing with confidence and had closed the gap a little bit," said Dobie. "That just blew up. It was a huge play, because in the second half we only scored that and a field goal."

Though Calgary would score two more touchdowns on a Josiah Joseph run and a touchdown pass to Jalen Philpot — who led all players with 172 receiving yards — it wasn't enough to cut into the Bisons lead built to that point.

Manitoba concludes their regular season on the road next weekend at Regina, while Calgary returns home to play UBC.