Chris Dobko did it again.
The Calgary Dinos slotback broke the team record for the most receptions in a game with 14 in Saturday’s 78-54 shootout win against the Manitoba Bisons.
Last month in Winnipeg the high school product of the St. Albert High Skyhawks grabbed 13 passes and scored two touchdowns in the 33-12 victory over the Bisons, eclipsing the previous team high of 12 receptions he shared with Don Blair and Josh Borger.
“It’s pretty crazy to touch a ball that many times,” Dobko said.
Last year he tied the mark by grabbing 12 passes for 142 yards and one TD in the 36-23 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver. The accomplishment equaled the record set in 1994 by Blair, a former Hec Crighton Trophy winner, and Borger in 1980 and 1983.
The 2011 Canada West all-star established the new mark with two TDs and a career-high 182 yards, then surpassed his feat on a chilly night at McMahon Stadium while amassing 171 yards and one TD to tie Kit Hillis of the Saskatchewan Huskies for the second-most single-game catches in conference history.
The Canada West record of 15 catches was established by Chad Goldie of the Regina Rams in 2007.
The Canadian Interuniversity Sport record is 19, set by Andre Talbot of Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in 2000.
“It’s pretty surprising actually what I did,” Dobko said. “The thing with the 13 catches, it broke somebody’s record. With this one I had done it before.”
His longest reception Saturday was 39 yards.
“I had a lot of short ones. There were a couple where I ran for a little ways, but no real big ones,” said the Paul Kane High School graduate.
Dobko's 10-yard TD catch from Eric Dzwilewski made it 27-7 with 2:15 gone in the second quarter. Dzwilewski completed his first 18 passes and finished 25-for-27 for 318 yards – all in the first half.
The Dinos racked up 776 yards of total offence. Mercer Timmis carried the ball for a conference record-tying five TDs on 13 carries for 52 yards during a 20-minute scoring spree in the first half.
The teams combined for 132 points, shattering the Canada West record by 24. The Dinos also rewrote the conference record book for most points in a game, including 42 in the second quarter and 63 in the first half to lead by 49. It was 75-28 entering the fourth quarter.
“It was one of the longest games I’ve ever played. There were just so many stops in play. Every time you looked, someone scored a touchdown,” Dobko said of the last game before the teams meet again this Saturday in the Canada West semifinals in Calgary.
The Dinos (7-1), the four-time defending Hardy Cup conference champions and 2011 Mitchell Bowl finalists, are ranked third in Canada and the Bisons (4-4) are No. 10.
“We’re very excited and pretty confident. We’ve been waiting for eight weeks to get into the playoffs,” Dobko said.
The Dinos ramped up the intensity after they were upset 12-9 by the No. 7-ranked Rams (6-2) in Regina the week before.
“It wasn’t really that hard to get up for the game. We were all pretty upset what happened last week so everybody was pretty pumped up and into it,” said Dobko, the Dinos’ top receiver in the loss with seven catches for 83 yards.
The 2007 Haliburton Trophy winner as the pool B MVP in the metro Edmonton high school football finished the season with a team-leading 50 catches for 659 yards and five receiving TDs in six games.
Hillis led all Canada West receivers with 57 catches for 797 yards and eight TDs.
Last year Dobko was No. 1 in the conference with 56 receptions and eight TDs in eight games.
The record for most catches in a season by a Dino is Borger’s conference-record 59 in 1983.
Dobko, 22, is now 51 catches away from the all-time conference receiving record of 173 by Goldie, from 2004 to 2008 with Regina.
Career totals for the 2013 CFL draft prospect include 1,581 yards and 13 TDs.
“Any time you get to touch the ball that many times, and you’re the leading receiver on the team, it’s awesome. That’s why I play. I want to touch the ball. I want to be a part of what we’re doing,” said the co-MVP on the 2004 Football Alberta Tier 2 bantam provincial champion St. Albert 49ers.
