CWUAA RECAPS: Thunderbirds blitz past Bears, Mark ties CIS FG record in Dinos victory [stats]

The University of Alberta Golden Bears football team dropped its third consecutive game, this one a 39-21 decision to the No.10 ranked UBC Thunderbirds, and fell to 2-3 on the season on Saturday afternoon at Foote Field in Edmonton.

With the loss, Alberta drops from a four-way tie for second place into a two-way tie for second last along with the 2-3 Saskatchewan Huskies who lost also lost on Saturday to the Calgary Dinos. The Manitoba Bisons defeated Regina on Friday to improve to 3-2, leaving the Bisons and T-Birds tied for second place with just three games remaining in the 2015 conference season.

The Canada West teams all head into the annual Thanksgiving weekend ‘bye’, but the Bears will return to action on October 17 when they travel to Vancouver for a rematch with UBC.

Ed Ilnicki, Jimmy Ralph and quarterback Brad Baker scored for the Golden Bears, as Baker made his CIS debut following an injury to Alberta’s other rookie starting QB Ben Kopczynski.

Kopczynski was hurt after being horse collar tackled in the second quarter, and Baker was able to make the most out of his inaugural game by completing 20 of 33 passes for 207 yards and two TDs with one interception. Before going out of the game, Kopczynski completed 10 of 15 passes for 109 yards giving the Bears 316 yards through the air.

Ralph caught eight of those passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Ilnicki was the benefactor of the other TD toss. The third-year runningback also rushed 19 times for 94 yards, and the Golden Bears collected 455 offensive yards in total.

UBC, however, started the game with a 21-0 lead on the strength of two touchdowns, two field goals and a safety and never looked back. The Birds amassed 480 offensive yards, including 203 through the air as CIS rookie Michael O’Connor connected on 21 of his 32 passes and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball six times for 48 yards, while veteran runningback Brandon Deschamps rumbled for 86 yards and a major on 16 carries.

Thunderbirds kicker Quinn van Gylswyk nailed field goals from 38 and 19 yards in the first half, while receiver Alex Morrison and Deschamps found the endzone to spark the Birds to big 21-0 lead.Ilnicki darted into the endzone at the 12:31 mark of the second to make it a 21-7 game at half-time.

UBC scored 13 more points in the third quarter, while Baker snuck into the endzone for his first career CIS major, leaving the T-Birds with a 34-14 advantage by the end of penultimate quarter.
After van Gylswyk’s fifth field goal and 17 point of the day, Ralph took a dump pass from Baker and juked 15-yards into pay dirt for the final score of the game, making the final 39-21 for UBC.

The two teams will meet again on October 17 in Vancouver in a game that could decide the playoff fates of both teams. If Alberta can win the rematch they’ll remain in the playoff picture with a 3-3 record, but if UBC completes the home-and-home sweep of the Golden Bears they will improve to 4-2 and essentially lock-up a postseason berth.

Alberta also has games left against Manitoba, in Winnipeg on October 23, and the Calgary Dinos on October 31 at Foote Field, while UBC will take on the Huskies in Saskatchewan (October 24) and Manitoba in Vancouver on Halloween.

Source: Evan Daum, Canada West Universities Atheltic Association 

Top-ranked Dinos pull away from Huskies in second half

CALGARY – A 39-point second half propelled the University of Calgary Dinos past a pesky Saskatchewan Huskies team Saturday afternoon en route to a 59-19 Canada West football victory.

On a cold and windy afternoon at McMahon Stadium, most of the scoring took place for the team that enjoyed the stiff north wind – until the middle of the third quarter, when the Dinos broke open the game and went on to win going away. No. 1-ranked Calgary improves to 5-0 on the season, while eighth-ranked Saskatchewan drops to 2-3.

Taking advantage of the wind, the Huskies found themselves down just two points midway through the third quarter when Drew Burko found John Trumpy for a 35-yard touchdown strike to bring the score to 20-18 for Calgary, with the Dinos offence sputtering. Second-year returner Will Maxwell provided a spark the Dinos needed, however, returning the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to give Calgary the ball inside the Huskies’ 45-yard line. Three plays later, Andrew Buckley found Austen Hartley for a 5-yard touchdown pass, and the Dinos never looked back.

“We knew Saskatchewan would come out strong, and we knew we’d be challenged throughout the game,” said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris. “They play a physical brand of football, and the first half was not pretty at all times. The offence struggled, and defensively we gave up a few too many plays. But our guys played a full 60 minutes, and we’re starting to just wear teams down.”

Turnovers hurt the Huskies’ ability to come back as they coughed up the ball on three consecutive drives with a pair of interceptions and a fumbled punt return spanning the end of the third and the start of the fourth. While the Dinos managed just one touchdown off those turnovers, they snuffed out promising Saskatchewan drives – with one of the picks coming on the eight-yard line. Following the Trumpy TD, Calgary outscored the Huskies 39-1 in the final 21 minutes of the game to remain undefeated.

Third-year receiver Hartley had a career outing, hauling in five passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. His second major was spectacular: with the Dinos backed up to their 5-yard line after a penalty on a punt return, Hartley found an opening in the defence and took a Buckley pass 105 yards to the end zone, tying the school record for longest completion in the process early in the fourth quarter. The game put him in the top five in the conference in receiving, and with two TDs he’s second only to teammate Rashaun Simonise in that category.

“I knew Austen was a good receiver, but he’s such a tough runner after he catches the ball,” explained Harris. “He has the ability to take plays that should be five, 10, 15 yards and turn them into 50, 60-yard plays. He’s not easy to take down, and that really inspires our offence.”

Buckley finished 22-for-37 for 486 yards and four TDs for Calgary, while Burko completed 15 of 25 passes for 314 yards, two TDs, and three interceptions. His longest completion of the night was to Mitch Hillis less than four minutes into the game, a 78-yard bomb that ended up in the end zone and gave the Huskies an early lead. Hillis finished with 145 yards on five catches, while Julan Lynch hauled in six catches for 105 yards for Saskatchewan.

After the early Hillis touchdown, the Dinos managed to slowly work their way back into the game and, despite not finding the end zone until late in the half, chipped away thanks to the reliable foot of Johnny Mark. The fifth-year kicker was good on five of his six field goal attempts in the game, tying him with current Calgary Stampeder Tyler Crapigna for the CIS all-time record with 84 in his career. Along the way, he put up 23 more points to bring his own national scoring record to 489 with three games left in the season.

A one-yard Jimmy Underdahl TD put the Dinos on top 16-10 late in the second quarter, and it was 20-10 at half time for Calgary. After Trumpy and Hartley scored their TDs less than a minute apart, Calgary found the end zone four more times: a 29-yarder to Denzel Radford, Hartley’s 105-yard highlight, a 29-yard catch deep in the end zone by Simonise, and the capper, a 9-yard run by Bryce Harper in the final minute.

Harper, filling in for the injured Mercer Timmis at tailback, picked up 102 yards on 14 carries in the game. His counterpart on the other side, Calgary native Tyler Chow, had 24 carries for 126 yards in a losing cause for the Huskies.

Defensively, Connor McGough had an outstanding outing for Calgary with seven solo tackles and a pair of sacks, while Micah Teitz added 7.5 tackles. Tanner Doll had six tackles and an interception, while Robert Woodson hauled in a pair of picks for Calgary. Saskatchewan’s defensive leader was linebacker Dane Bishop with 7.5 tackles, while Brett Boechler added seven more while Justin Filteau picked up 6.5.

Both teams will enjoy the Thanksgiving bye next week before returning to action in a repeat engagement, this time in Saskatoon. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT Friday, Oct. 16 at Griffiths Stadium, live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv.

FINAL

No. 8 Saskatchewan       07  03  09  00 – 19

No. 1 Calgary                      03  17  14  25 – 59

 

SCORING SUMMARY

1^st Quarter

SASK – Mitch Hillis 78-yard TD pass from Drew Burko (Sean Stenger convert), 3:55, 7-0 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark 35-yard FG, 8:31, 7-3 SASK

 

2^nd Quarter

SASK – Sean Stenger 28-yard FG, 0:36, 10-3 SASK

CGY – Johnny Mark 27-yard FG, 4:05, 10-6 SASK

CGY – Johnny Mark 29-yard FG, 7:21, 10-9 SASK

CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 11:19, 16-10 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark 85-yard kickoff single, 11:19, 17-10 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark 44-yard FG, 13:14, 20-10 CGY

 

3^rd Quarter

SASK – Sean Stenger  47-yard missed FG single, 6:12, 20-11 CGY

SASK – John Trumpy 35-yard TD pass from Drew Burko (Sean Stenger convert), 8:46, 20-18 CGY

CGY – Austen Hartley 5-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 9:40, 27-18 CGY

SASK – Sean Stenger 41-yard missed FG single, 11:04, 27-20 CGY

CGY – Denzel Radford 29-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 14:36, 34-19 CGY

 

4^th Quarter

CGY – Austen Hartley 105-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 3:17, 41-19 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark 27-yard FG, 6:12, 44-19 CGY

CGY – Rashaun Simonise 29-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 9:18, 51-19 CGY

CGY – Johnny Mark 85-yard kickoff single, 9:18, 52-19 CGY

CGY – Bryce Harper 9-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 14:22, 59-19 CGY

Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information

UBC vs. Alberta at Edmonton, AB 10/3/2015 at 1:00 PM
UBC 39	Alberta 21