Defensive momentum is on the Saint Mary’s Huskies’ side heading into the Mitchell Bowl.
The Huskies, who visit the Calgary Dinos for Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. Canadian Interuniversity Sport football semifinal live on TSN, will march into McMahon Stadium on an impressive six-game winning streak.
They’ve allowed fewer than eight points per game, 91 yards rushing and 136 yards passing while posting 13 interceptions and 23 of their nation-leading 28 sacks.
“We’ve done a good job of stopping the pass when we need to, stopping the run when we need to, and forcing turnovers,” said Huskies all-star linebacker Jeff Hecht. “We’re riding a hot streak with our wins and our defence has played strong throughout that streak.”
But the Dinos, as Huskies fans are well aware, provide a much more formidable threat than any of the Atlantic University Sport teams the Huskies have beaten during their streak.
It was the Dinos — led by two-time Hec Crighton winner and former Huskies star Erik Glavic — who put 38 points on the board in last year’s blowout win over Saint Mary’s in the national semifinal in Halifax.
They’ve been crushing teams during a current four-game winning streak, averaging 42 points per outing.
“They were a very good team last year and they’re a very good team this year — nothing’s really changed,” said Huskies tailback Devon Jones.
“It’s going to be a hell of a game. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
The closest the Huskies came to playing a team as good as the Dinos this season was when they faced the Laval Rouge et Or in Week 2. They lost 45-7.
“We’ve flipped things around (since then) and we’re playing the kind of football we expected to play all year,” Hecht said.
“We want to keep that rolling.”
