Manitoba Bisons dethrone Calgary Dinos for Hardy Cup, complete unlikely CIS football final four

The real Manitoba Bisons stood up to end the Calgary Dinos' monopoly on the Hardy Cup.

It probably stems from being the most travel-intensive football conference in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, but Canada West has long had a phenomena of .500 regular-season teams getting hot for two playoff games. That hasn't materialized during the Dinos' six-year run, but Manitoba made it happen with a 27-15 win. While Calgary committed 10 turnovers and lost Hec Crighton Trophy nominee Andrew Buckley to a hamstring injury, Manitoba kept humming. Quarterback Jordan Yantz (17-of-26, 263 yards) and tailback Keinan LaFrance (30 rushes for 155, including a slashing 40-yard TD run) kept the chains moving.

The Bisons were all over the map in the regular season — coming within a missed field goal of winning their first game with the Dinos, contriving to lose to Alberta — but found their form. With the win, coach Brian Dobie's Bisons will face No. 2 Montreal in the Uteck Bowl national semifinal on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360/Radio-Canada).

The result also makes for a Semifinal Saturday next week that will not include Calgary or Laval for the first time since 2007. It will be just the third since 1998 without both Calgary coach Blake Nill and Western coach Greg Marshall.

"Today, Manitoba was the best team," said Nill, whose team was 6-2 (with a forfeit loss) in the regular season. "We were lucky to win one here (the 42-41 game) against them — they have a focus and a drive. I'm not saying our guys weren't focused, but it's not going to happen when you turn the ball over 10 times.

"They did a great job going after the football. They were looking to strip the ball, and their secondary played us well. We did not execute, and when we had a little momentum, we just shot ourselves in the foot."

Calgary started in familiar fashion when Mercer Timmis went house for an 81-yard touchdown on the day's first play. The next Dinos possession was a truer portent , as Buckley was intercepted by Manitoba's Jonathan Jones for a 22-yard pick-six TD. LaFrance also gave the Bisons their first lead with his long run later in the quarter.

The Bisons, who last reached the Vanier Cup in 2007, pulled off a 10- to 14-pont swing in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Calgary was trying to assemble a two-minute drill when Tyler Fong intercepted and returned deep into Dinos territory.

Off the turnover, Yantz pounced with a seven-yard scoring toss to Zach Regert that opened a 10-point lead.

That turned out to be the last major of the day. It wasn't quite the "crazy shootout" that was widely anticipated, but Calgary having 10 turnovers in a big game at home certainly covered off the crazy aspect. An end-zone interception from Jayden McKoy in the fourth quarter deep-sixed Calgary's last best chance to get back in the game and all but sealed the outcome.

As noted, the result means there will be a different look for the semifinal bowls:

Some devotees of the university game will probably be happy to see a couple different teams playing on the penultimate weekend.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.