FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Rams’ Picton, Bisons’ McKoy & Christie honoured for huge Week 9

NEW WESTMINSTER, BC – The 2014 Canada West football regular season reached its conclusion over the weekend with exciting clutch performances as each game had major playoff implications. The Manitoba Bisons upset the #2 Calgary Dinos, 50-31, to clinch the third seed, while the Regina Rams came back to beat the Alberta Golden Bears, 35-31 to get into the last playoff slot. The playoff picture was finalized after the Saskatchewan Huskies thwarted the UBC Thunderbirds' postseason hopes by securing a 38-18 road victory in Vancouver live on Shaw TV.

The Regina Rams' Noah Picton and the Manitoba Bisons duo of Jayden McKoy and Alex Christie have been selected as the Canada West Football Players of the Week. This is Christie's second time being honoured after having been selected for Week 2 honours in September.

OFFENCE: #4 Noah Picton, Quarterback (Regina Rams)

Rookie quarterback Noah Picton led the University of Regina Rams into the postseason with a 35-31 win over Alberta on Saturday afternoon in a wild game at Mosaic Stadium.

Picton completed 27 of his 40 pass attempts and finished the game with 467 passing yards, one touchdown pass, and his first career rushing touchdown on a brilliant 20-yard scramble early in the fourth.

He also engineered what would turn out to be the game-winning drive. Facing a three-point deficit with just over five minutes remaining, Picton and the Rams marched 85 yards downfield in just six plays, taking 2:42 off the clock. The big play was a 42-yard strike to Jared Janotta on second down that brought the Rams all the way to Alberta's 29-yard line, and Atlee Simon was in the end zone three plays later to give the U of R its only lead of the game.

Three of Picton's receivers hit triple digits in receiving yards, including Janotta with 148, Addison Richards with 113, and Mitchell Picton with 101. Picton's touchdown pass was an 11-yard strike to Richards late in the third quarter.

Picton's 467 passing yards are the fourth-highest single-game total in U of R history. He finishes the season with 2,029 passing yards, becoming the first rookie quarterback in Canada West history to collect over 2,000 in a single season.

The Rams go on the road against Calgary on Saturday, November 8 in the Canada West Semifinal. The game kicks off at 3 p.m. MST and will be aired live on Shaw TV.

DEFENCE: #7 Jayden McKoy, Halfback (Manitoba Bisons)

During the Manitoba Bisons football team's stunning home win over the #2 Calgary Dinos by a 50-31 score on Saturday, November 1 that secured third place in the conference standings, rookie defensive back Jayden McKoy created numerous impact plays throughout the game.

McKoy made two athletic interceptions (one returned for 39 yards) that snuffed out any potential momentum by the Dinos in the second half. In addition, he grabbed a blocked kick fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter plus added 4.5 total tackles (three solo).

The Winnipeg native has continued to impress in his rookie campaign and made a leaping grab off Calgary starting quarterback Andrew Buckley when he was trying to find a receiver on the sideline at the end of the third quarter. At the start of the fourth, Calgary tested McKoy again and the 5'11", 185 lbs. halfback intercepted a deep ball with another leaping catch on the far sideline and turned around and returned it 39 yards.

Both interceptions led directly to Manitoba touchdowns on the next possession and eliminated any chance for a comeback for Calgary.

McKoy also found the end zone when he recovered a blocked kick and ran it back for a 60-yard touchdown in the first. He finished with 4.5 total tackles in the home victory.

McKoy completed his first year in Canada West in sixth in conference total tackles with 40 (36 solo) and second in Canada West with five interceptions while starting and playing in all eight conference games this season.

Manitoba (4-4) travels to play #8 Saskatchewan Huskies (6-2) in one of the Canada West Semifinal matchups on Friday, November 7 at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live on Shaw TV.

SPECIAL TEAMS: #33 Alex Christie, Running Back/Kick Specialist (Manitoba Bisons)

Manitoba Bisons running back/kick specialist Alex Christie contributed two huge plays on special teams. His first blocked kick was a momentum changer early in the contest as the Bisons stunned the #2 Calgary Dinos by a 50-31 score on Saturday, November 1, securing third place in the conference standings.

In the first quarter, the second year player made a leaping punt block on Dinos' Johnny Mark as they punted from Manitoba's 46 yard line. The resulting fumbled ball off the blocked kick was then recovered by Jayden McKoy for a 60 yard TD return. At the time, the game was only 7-5 in favour of the home side and gave all the momentum to the Bisons as they extended the lead to 21-6 by the end of the first.

At the beginning of the fourth, Christie made another leaping blocked kick on Mark when the Dinos were deep in their end and Jordan Linnen recovered the ball for a seven yard TD return.

Both blocked kicks directly resulted in Bison touchdowns on the same play.

Plus, the 5'9", 195 lbs. versatile player also had one kickoff return for 37 yards and added 44 rushing yards along with a ten yard TD run in the home win.

Christie finished with four block kicks during the 2014 season. He was first in this category (three more blocks than second place) and set a new Bison team record for most blocks in a single season.

Image Credit: Regina Rams/Manitoba Bisons

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association

Canada West is the premier athletic conference in the country and is home to champion student-athletes that excel on the field, in the classroom and in their communities. As the winningest conference in the CIS with over 100 national championships in the past decade, Canada West and its 17 member institutions commit to a student-athlete experience where competitive excellence, scholarship and sportsmanship equally contribute into molding our future professional athletes and leaders. Find out more by logging on CanadaWest.org and following @CWUAA on Twitter.

Contact: Pic Ocampo (sportsinfo@canadawest.org)

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