A playoff berth is on the line as the 3-3 Manitoba Bisons host the 2-4 Calgary Dinos at 1 pm CT at Princess Auto Stadium.Â
Currently in third place and in a position to advance to the Canada West semi-finals for a historic seventh year in a row, the Herd can secure their post-season destiny with a victory over Calgary, who are fighting with 2-4 UBC, and the Herd for the final two playoff spots in the conference.Â
The Dinos currently own the tie breaker over Manitoba after a 15-14 win at home in week two, in a contest that came down to the final play.
Manitoba drove the field and scored in the final minute on a
Breydon Stubbs red zone rushing touchdown, and they could have tied the game and sent it to OT with a convert but instead they went for the win. Bisons quarterback
Jackson Tachinski's five-yard toss to
Braeden Smith on an out route was unfortunately called incomplete on a play that garnered plenty of discussion online as to whether it was a catch or not.
The Herd will look to claim the last laugh on Saturday. They are also aiming to go undefeated at home in the regular season for the second year in a row, a feat that haven't accomplished in back to back years since 2006 and 2007.
Offensively, receiver
Nathan Udoh is not the same player he was when the two sides faced off in week two. Since then, he's amassed over 100 yards receiving twice, with his 33 receptions ranking fourth in Canada West and his 435 yards ranking fifth. With six more grabs he'll enter the top ten for most grabs in a season by a Bison, and he's just 152 yards away from the top ten in a single season.Â
Quarterback
Jackson Tachinski -- one of 19 seniors playing in their final regular season home game on the weekend --Â is also coming off his best performance of the season, throwing for a season-high 241 yards with just five incompletions while rushing for 45 more and finding the end zone three times. His 21 career rushing touchdowns are the most by a Bisons pivot in school history, while 1,627 career rushing yards are also the most by a quarterback. Tachinski is also third in school history with 381 career pass completions.Â
On defence, Manitoba is second in Canada West with 12 sacks, led by a career high four and a half from captain and senior
Jack Shaffer. The Herd got to Dinos quarterback David Jordan three times in their week two contest, paced by two sacks from Shaffer. In the pass game, the Herd have 22 combined breakups, led by five each from
Marcus Wahl and
Carter Dallas.