Winnipeg, MB – In the final Canada West football game at University Stadium in Winnipeg, the fans in the Manitoba capital witnessed a thriller between UBC and Manitoba as the Bisons hung on to defeat the Thunderbirds 37-31.
BOX SCORE
BOX SCORE
Trailing 30-4 at the half, the Thunderbirds scored 27 straight points in the second half to lead 31-30; however, Anthony Coombs would score the winning touchdown with just under six minutes left to help the Bisons to their fourth win of the season and end the playoff hopes of the UBC Thunderbirds.
Windy conditions played a big part in Saturday afternoon’s affair and it was the Thunderbirds starting with the wind at their backs and getting on the board first thanks to a 31 yard field goal from Thomas Moult (Calgary, AB).
Bryan Rideout (Victoria, BC), the reigning CIS Defensive Player of the Week, continued his strong play picking off Cam Clark for his third interception of the season and putting the ‘Birds offense back on the field. Unfortunately, all they would get is a Moult single to go ahead 4-0.
UBC looked to be getting the ball back after Anthony Coombs was taken down for a big loss, but a questionable face masking penalty kept the drive alive. That would be the spark the Bisons needed as Kienan LaFrance capped off the drive with a 16 yard touchdown run. Manitoba went in front 7-4.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bisons would recover a short kick to keep their offense on the field. Another UBC penalty, this time a pass interference call in the end zone, kept the Manitoba offense on the field. Andrew Barry would punch it in from one yard out to put the Bisons in front 14-4.
It wouldn’t take long for Manitoba to get the ball back after a six yard punt into the wind by Moult. Starting in UBC territory the Bisons went to work. The Thunderbirds Jordan Bosa (Burnaby, BC) though thought he had an interception, but a penalty against UBC kept the ball in Manitoba’s hands. Anthony Coombs would run it in from 11 yards out to extend the Bisons lead to 21-4.
Offensively the ‘Birds struggled to keep drives alive. Their best drive of the game that started at their own 29 yard line was snuffed out at the Bisons 31 after UBC failed to convert on third and short.
Later in the half the Thunderbirds gave up a safety to try and change their fate with regards to the field position battle. The two points made it 23-4 Manitoba.
Starting from their own 35, the Bisons went to work and twice it looked like the drive would come to an end. Brendon Bowman’s run on a fake punt, picked up a first down and then another pass interference call in the end zone put Manitoba first and goal from UBC’s one yard line. Andrew Barry would score on the final play of the first half to put the Bisons up 30-4 at the break.
The second half didn’t get off to a good start for UBC as Billy Greene (Surrey, BC) threw his eighth interception of the season. Fortunately the Thunderbirds defence was able to hold the Bisons to no points in the third quarter.
The only points in the quarter came on a Greene 98 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Grieve (Salmon Arm, BC). UBC mised the convert and trailed 30-10 through three quarters of play.
UBC continued to push in the fourth quarter as Greene connected with Andrew Darcovich (White Rock, BC) from 18 yards out in the back of the end zone to cut the lead to 30-17.
The Thunderbirds would recover the short kickoff and Greene confident as ever went back to work. Third and long and down by 13, head coach Shawn Olson went for it and Greene found Patrick Bull (Vancouver, BC) who dove into the end zone for the major to get UBC within 6, down 30-24.
After the defence quickly forced Manitoba into a two and out, the ball was back into the hands of Greene. He would come through, hooking up with Darcovich on his second touchdown grab of the day from 30 yards out to put UBC up by one, 31-30.
The Bisons offense, which had been shutdown for the majority of the second half, had a response. Cam Clark connected with Anthony Coombs for the major and Manitoba was back in front. The two point convert failed, but they would get a single off the ensuing kickoff to lead 37-31 over UBC with just under six minutes remaining.
Next possession for UBC and Greene’s pass went off the hands of Ryan Couper (London, ON) and right into the open arms of Bisons defender Bami Adewale who returned it inside the Thunderbirds 10 yard line. However, after a great defensive stand, Chris Adams (Tsawwassen, BC) blocked the Nick Boyd field goal to keep it a six point game.
The Thunderbirds took over on their own three yard line and would take it all the way into Manitoba territory after Greene hooked up with Darcovich on a third and 10 to keep the drive alive. Unfortunately, Greene would take a couple of hard shots and was forced to leave the game. Dominik Bundschuh (Vienna, Austria) replaced him and on third and 12 his pass to Jordan Grieve went incomplete to end the comeback attempt. Pass interference could have been called, but there were no flags on the play. The Thunderbirds fall to 2-5 on the season, losing a heartbreaker 37-31.
Billy Greene finished the game 23-38 for 428 yards passing, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jordan Grieve had eight catches for 177 yards and one touchdown, while Andrew Darcovich continued to impress, racking up 102 yards on five receptions and two touchdown catches.
UBC wraps up the season next Friday night in Saskatoon as the take on the University of Saskatchewan. Kickoff is at 6:00 pm PST.
Source: Manitoba Sports Info W
INNIPEG – In the last-ever conference regular season football game played at University Stadium, it was fitting that the place went out with a bang and then some with a thrilling and eventful final game. In the end, the No. 10 ranked Manitoba Bisons eked out a 37-31 win over the UBC Thunderbirds in front of 700 hearty souls who braved the arctic winds that was the trademark of the 45 year place the Bisons called home over the seasons.
With the victory, Manitoba moves to a 4-3 record and secures a playoff spot for the first time in Canada West since winning the 2007 Vanier Cup Championship. UBC saw its two game winning streak snapped and now fall to 2-5 on the season and have been eliminated for the post-season picture.
“We were determined from the beginning to follow our game plan and stayed with it throughout the first half and held a big lead,” commented Bison football head coach Brian Dobie. “Billy Greens showed why he was the Hec Creighton award winner with his performance in the second half and the football game came down to the wire as both teams played hard and left on the field. I applaud all players and coaches for the effort on the field.”
The Bisons were reeling in the second half after taking a large 30-4 lead into halftime. UBC was jump started with a big 98 yard pass from QB Billy Greene (Surrey, BC) to Jordan Grieve (Salmon Arm, BC) to begin the last 30 minutes with the wind. The visitors continued to apply the pressure into the fourth and into the wind. Greene found WR Andrew Darcovich (White Rock, BC) for a 18 yard TD pass at 1:40 then Patrick Bull (Vancouver) with a 31 yard TD pass and Darcovich with a 30 yard TD pass at the halfway mark to erase the 26 point deficit and recapture the lead at 31-30.
Manitoba finally found their offensive footing again on the eventual winning drive when QB Cam Clark (Whalley, BC) located RB/KR Anthony Coombs (Winnipeg) on an eight yard TD pass with just under six minutes left. After a kickoff rouge, the Bisons defence bended but did not break as UBC was intercepted on the next possession and then stopped the Thunderbirds after they drove 63 yards at the end of the game but on a 3-and-12 there was a pass incompletion to Grieve by Greene with only ten seconds left to end the contest. Dobie continued, “It is great to be back in the playoffs as we were close the last couple of seasons and I feel extremely important for the program to make it back in the post-season. Internally, it was big to finish off University Stadium with a win and bring that winning culture into the new Stadium for next year.”
In the first half, it looked like the Bisons would run away as they notched touchdowns from RB Kienan LaFrance (Winnipeg) on a 16 yard run, FB Andrew Barry (Wellandport, ON) scored twice on one yard TD plunge and Coombs weaved his way for a 11 yard TD run.
Manitoba held leads of 7-4 (end of first quarter) then 30-4 (halftime) and 30-10 at end of the third.
The team stats stacked up with Manitoba ahead in first downs by a 31-26 margin while UBC led total offence yards with 539-397. The T-Birds held the advantage in passing yards with 428-116 while the Bisons led on rushing yards at 282-161. The penalties were 19-173 yards for UBC and 16-115 for Manitoba.
In time of possession, Manitoba held the advantage for the first time all season by a 32:21 to 27:29 margin. UBC had three turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble) and three losses of downs while Manitoba has three turnovers (one pick and two fumbles) with no loss of downs.
For the visitors, Greene was spectacular as he went 23-28 for 428 passing yards, two interceptions and four TDs plus added another 70 rushing yards on ten carries. Brandon Deschamps (Prince George, BC) churned up a team-high 83 rushing yards on 14 attempts. In receiving, Grieve was tops with 177 yards on eight catches and 1 TD; Darcovich had five grabs for 102 yards and 2 TDs. On defence, DB Jordan Bosa (Burnaby, BC) led with 8.0 total tackles and one forced fumble, LB Pierre Lacerte (Quebec City) added 5.5 tackles, LB Kareem Ba (White Rock, BC) with 4.5 tackles and DB Chris Adams (Tsawwassen, BC) had 4.0 tackles plus one forced fumble and block kick. DB Bryan Rideout (Victoria) also had an interception.
The Bisons were led by Coombs with 177 rushing yards on 19 carries (8.9 average) with 1 TD plus added one reception for an eight yard TD. LaFrance added 40 rush yards on eight carries with 1 TD while Clark went 9-19 for 116 yards with 1 TD and one pick. SB Andrew Smith (Nanaimo, BC) had three receptions for 54 yards and RB/KR Nic Demski (Winnipeg) added two grabs for 28 yards along with Danny Turek (Winnipeg) two catches for 24 yards. Safety Teague Sherman was busy with a game-high 12.0 total tackles followed by LB Bami Adewale (Brampton, ON) with 6.0 total tackles, one interception for 65 yards and one forced fumble. LB Thomas Hall (Winnipeg) contributed 5.5 tackles with one sack and DL Evan Gill (Winnipeg) added 4.5 tackles (one for a loss) and one break-up. Manitoba received an interception by DB Brett MacFarlane (Winnipeg) and another sack by DL Lauren Kroeker (Stonewall, MB)
In the last week of the 2012 Canada West regular season, Manitoba will travel to play at Calgary (6-1) on Saturday, October 27 at 5 p.m. MT while UBC finishes at Saskatchewan (4-3) on Friday, October 26 at 7 p.m. MT.
Game Notes: For 45 years (spanning 1967-2012 – with one year away in 1973), the Bisons football home has been University Stadium (originally named Pan Am Stadium) where three Manitoba teams have captured the Vanier Cup (CIS National Championship) and six Hardy Cup (Canada West conference championship). Manitoba record at University Stadium during the 45 seasons was: 92-82-3 in regular season plus 3-3 in playoffs.
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