Manitoba wins over Alberta in game with 11 turnovers

The University of Manitoba Bisons football team earned their first victory of the 2011 after overcoming three fumbles and three interceptions. Manitoba posted a 22-20 victory on Saturday, September 10 night before 1,078 fans at Foote Field in Edmonton.

Alberta, which now drops to 0-2, recovered from a slow start but had their own series of struggles protecting the ball, giving up four interceptions, one fumble, and one turnover on downs. Receiver Jess Valleau scored on a 100-yard kickoff return, while running back KK Sonuga added a fourth-quarter TD rush as well. Steve McCaffrey, in his first season as a CIS kicker, nailed a pair of field goals and earned a 40.7 punt yard average.

The Bisons, meanwhile, improve to 1-1 after getting touchdowns from receivers Brendon Bowman (73 yards) and Tyson Takasaki (27 yards). Kicker Nick Boyd was also good on a pair of field goals.

In a first half only a mother could love, the teams combined for a whopping nine turnovers and a dismal three points (2-1 lead for Manitoba), as the Bisons forced Alberta into conceding a safety at 7:46 of the first quarter, and then McCaffrey picked up a punt single midway through the second quarter for the only scoring through 30 minutes.

The halftime stats read like a horror show for both teams: Golden Bears starting quarterback Julian Marchand had completed three of 15 pass attempts for 42 yards and three interceptions, while Bisons QB Khaleal Williams had connected on six of 15 passes for 38 yards, with three interceptions and two sacks, to go along with a pair of team fumbles.

Leading the defensive feast was Alberta cornerback Brent Krawchuk, who banked two of those interceptions, while defensive back Lane Dell and veteran safety Jason Hetherington each recovered a first-half fumble.

Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, the offence simply stalled out when in possession, or turned it right back over to the Bisons.

After McCaffrey opened the second-half scoring with a 21-yard field goal, Manitoba stormed ahead when Williams found Bowman on a seam pass, and the speedy receiver burned up 73 yards into the endzone at 5:08 of the third quarter.

The Bisons appeared to be running away with it three minutes later, as they marched on the Bears and punched in another major, this time on a 27-yard TD strike from Williams to Takasaki.

On the ensuing kickoff, however, Valleau sped past the entire Manitoba special teams unit, untouched, and picked up a 100-yard touchdown return, the third longest in Golden Bears’ team history.

It seemed to be the spark Alberta needed, as Marchand and offence began to roll, putting drives together and protecting the football.

Even after Boyd’s first field goal of the night, at 1:21 of the fourth quarter, the Bears marched right back down and capped off a six-play, 75-yard drive with a seven-yard rushing TD from fourth-year Sonuga to draw within two points. The Bears elected to go for the two-point convert, but the pass attempt to receiver Brad Quartel was just out of reach.

Despite that setback, Alberta still managed to grab their first lead of the game, at 7:23 of the fourth quarter, when McCaffrey picked up his second FG of the evening. But, just over five minutes later, Boyd retaliated from 27 yards out to put the Bisons back in front, 22-20, with under three minutes to play.

When the Golden Bears’ offence failed to move the ball, and was forced to punt, Alberta’s defence came to the rescue once again as veteran linebacker Duncan Morris sacked Williams for a loss of seven yards, which forced the Bisons to punt back to Alberta.

However, with under a minute to go and yardage needed, Marchand was intercepted once again, this time by safety Teague Sherman, to effectively end the game.

Golden Bears’ running back Sonuga simply got better as the game wore on, finishing with 22 carries and 113 yards, plus a touchdown. Alberta’s top receiver was Porter Brown as he caught three balls for 49 yards. Hetherington, moved to strong side linebacker position for the game, picked up 15 total tackles, plus a fumble recovery, while Morris had six tackles and a game-high two sacks. Freshman linebacker Connor Ralph had seven tackles as well.

Manitoba’s Williams finished his night by completing 12 of 27 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns along with 58 rushing yards on nine carries, while running backs Kienan LaFrance (72 yards) and Anthony Coombs (67) each had 12 carries for a combined 139 yards along the ground. Bowman had a game-high 87 reception yards on two catches plus had a 39.0 punting average with Takasaki notching 40 yards on two receptions.

Defensively for Manitoba, DL Louie Richardson led with six tackles then DL Adam Hindley had 4.5 tackles and DB Pete Adams with 4.5 tackles along with two break-ups. S Teague Sherman contributed two interceptions, DB Grayson Wells and LB Thomas Hall added one interception each. Rookie DL Evan Gill added a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

The Golden Bears are next in action next Saturday in Vancouver against the UBC Thunderbirds (1-1), while the Bisons return home to face the Saskatchewan Huskies (2-0) in the annual Homecoming Game on Saturday, September 17 at 1 p.m. CT.

Manitoba Sports Info

It wasn’t pretty, but the Manitoba Bisons will take it. Despite three fumbles and three interceptions, the University of Manitoba managed to spoil the Alberta Golden Bears’ football home-opener by posting a 22-20 victory, Saturday night before 1,078 fans at Foote Field in Edmonton.

Alberta, which now drops to 0-2, recovered from a slow start but had their own series of struggles protecting the ball, giving up four interceptions, one fumble, and one turnover on downs. Receiver Jess Valleau scored on a 100-yard kickoff return, while running back KK Sonuga added a fourth-quarter TD rush as well. Steve McCaffrey, in his first season as a CIS kicker, nailed a pair of field goals and earned a 40.7 punt yard average.

The Bisons, meanwhile, improve to 1-1 after getting touchdowns from receivers Brendon Bowman and Tyson Takasaki. Kicker Nick Boyd was also good on a pair of field goals.

In a first half only a mother could love, the teams combined for a whopping nine turnovers and a dismal three points, as the Bisons forced Alberta into conceding a safety at 7:46 of the first quarter, and then McCaffrey picked up a punt single midway through the second quarter for the only scoring through 30 minutes.

The halftime stats read like a horror show for both teams: Golden Bears starting quarterback Julian Marchand had completed three of 15 pass attempts for 42 yards and three interceptions, while Bisons QB Khaleal Williams had connected on six of 15 passes for 38 yards, with three interceptions and two sacks, to go along with a pair of team fumbles.

Leading the defensive feast was Alberta corner back Brent Krawchuk, who banked two of those interceptions, while defensive back Lane Dell and veteran safety Jason Hetherington each recovered a first-half fumble.

Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, the offence simply stalled out when in possession, or turned it right back over to the Bisons.

After McCaffrey opened the second-half scoring with a 21-yard field goal, Manitoba stormed ahead when Williams found Bowman on a seam pass, and the speedy receiver burned up 73 yards into the endzone at 5:08 of the third quarter.

The Bisons appeared to be running away with it three minutes later, as they marched on the Bears and punched in another major, this time on a 27-yard TD strike from Williams to Takasaki.

On the ensuing kickoff, however, Valleau sped past the entire Manitoba special teams unit, untouched, and picked up a 100-yard touchdown return, the third longest in Golden Bears’ team history.

It seemed to be the spark Alberta needed, as Marchand and offence began to roll, putting drives together and protecting the football.

Even after Boyd’s first field goal of the night, at 1:21 of the fourth quarter, the Bears marched right back down and capped off a six-play, 75-yard drive with a seven-yard rushing TD from fourth-year KK Sonuga to draw within two points. The Bears elected to go for the two-point convert, but the pass attempt to receiver Brad Quartel was just out of reach.

Despite that setback, Alberta still managed to grab their first lead of the game, at 7:23 of the fourth quarter, when McCaffrey picked up his second FG of the evening. But, just over five minutes later, Boyd retaliated from 27 yards out to put the Bisons back in front, 22-20, with under three minutes to play.

When the Golden Bears’ offence failed to move the ball, and was forced to punt, Alberta’s defence came to the rescue once again as veteran linebacker Duncan Morris sacked Williams for a loss of seven yards, which forced the Bisons to punt back to Alberta.

However, with under a minute to go and yardage needed, Marchand was intercepted once again, this time by safety Teague Sherman, to effectively end the game.

Golden Bears’ running back Sonuga simply got better as the game wore on, finishing with 22 carries and 113 yards, plus a touchdown. Alberta’s top receiver was Porter Brown as he caught three balls for 49 yards. Hetherington, moved to strong side linebacker position for the game, picked up 15 total tackles, plus a fumble recovery, while Morris had six tackles and a game-high two sacks. Freshman linebacker Connor Ralph had seven tackles as well.

Manitoba’s Williams finished his night by completing 12 of 27 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, while running backs Kienan LaFrance and Anthony Coombs each had 12 carries for a combined 137 yards along the ground.

The Golden Bears are next in action next Saturday in Vancouver against the 1-1 UBC Thunderbirds, while the Bisons return home to face the 2-0 Saskatchewan Huskies.

Alberta Sports Info

Manitoba vs. Alberta at Edmonton, AB 9/10/2011 at 7:00pm
Manitoba 22	Alberta 20

Box Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final

Alberta (0-1)	0	1	10	9	20
Manitoba (1-0)	2	0	14	6	22
Edmonton, AB | Foote Field

Box Score Drive Summary Play by Play

Prd Time Scoring Summary Manitoba – Alberta

1	07:14	Manitoba – Team safety	2 – 0
2	06:18	Alberta – TEAM rouge point.	2 – 1
3	10:46	Alberta – S. McCaffrey 21 yd field goal.	2 – 4
3	09:52	Manitoba – Brendon Bowman 73 yd pass from K. Williams. (Nick Boyd kick is good). Drive: 2 plays, 75 yards in 0:54.	9 – 4
3	06:56	Manitoba – Tyson Takasaki 27 yd pass from K. Williams. (Nick Boyd kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 45 yards in 1:40.	16 – 4
3	06:41	Alberta – Jess Valleau 100 yd kickoff return. (S. McCaffrey kick is good).	16 – 11
4	13:39	Manitoba – Nick Boyd 13 yd field goal.	19 – 11
4	11:42	Alberta – O. Sonuga 7 yd run. (2pt conversion pass by Julian Marchand failed). Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards in 1:57.	19 – 17
4	07:37	Alberta – S. McCaffrey 33 yd field goal.	19 – 20
4	02:29	Manitoba – Nick Boyd 27 yd field goal.	22 – 20

Manitoba STATISTICS Alberta

24	FIRST DOWNS	19
8 12 4	Passing Rushing Penalty	7 6 6
419	TOTAL NET YARDS	277
67 6.3	Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play	58 4.8
199	NET YARDS PASSING	163
12-27 7.4 4 for 24 3	Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted	13-33 4.9 0 for 0 4
220	NET YARDS RUSHING	114
40 5.5	Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush	25 4.6
8 for 312	PUNTS: Number-Yards	11 for 449
39.0	Average	40.8
186	TOTAL RETURN YARDS	168
7 for 86 3 for 63 4 for 37	Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards	6 for 26 3 for 135 3 for 7
9 for 100	PENALTIES: Number-Yards	6 for 69
3-3	FUMBLES: Number-Lost	3-1
0 for 0	SACKS: Number-Yards	4 for 24
4 for 37	INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards	3 for 7
33:12	TIME OF POSSESSION	26:48

Manitoba Alberta

Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT K. Williams 12-27 199 2 3	Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT Curtis Dell 2-2 5 0 0 Julian Marchand 11-31 158 0 4
Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD Anthony Coombs 12 67 5.6 17 0 Brendon Bowman 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 K. Williams 9 58 6.4 13 0 Kienan Lafrance 12 72 6.0 18 0 Nic Demski 3 7 2.3 4 0 Andrew Barry 3 17 5.7 10 0	Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD Julian Marchand 2 2 1.0 2 0 Smith Wright 1 0 0.0 0 0 Olukayode Sonuga 22 112 5.1 26 1
Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD Anthony Coombs 1 8 8.0 8 0 Brendon Bowman 2 87 43.5 73 1 Tyson Takasaki 2 40 20.0 27 1 K. Williams 0 12 0 0 Xavier Johnson 2 17 8.5 15 0 Jared Ralko 1 6 6.0 6 0 C. Hansen 2 19 9.5 11 0 Stu Schollaardt 2 10 5.0 6 0	Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD Ryley Richardson 3 26 8.7 15 0 Jess Valleau 1 43 43.0 43 0 Laine Rogers 1 12 12.0 12 0 Olukayode Sonuga 1 -4 -4.0 0 0 Yembeh Moiba 1 3 3.0 3 0 Brad Quartel 3 35 11.7 15 0 Porter Brown 3 48 16.0 29 0
Kicking FG LG XP PTS Nick Boyd 2/3 27 2/2 8	Kicking FG LG XP PTS Steven McCaffrey 2/2 33 1/1 7
Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20 Brendon Bowman 8 312 39.0 50 0 1	Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20 Steven McCaffrey 11 449 40.8 56 0 4
Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB Nick Boyd 3 171 57.0 0 0	Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB Steven McCaffrey 3 160 53.3 0 0
Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Anthony Coombs 2 57 28.5 32 0 Nic Demski 1 6 6.0 6 0	Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Jess Valleau 3 135 45.0 100 1
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Anthony Coombs 6 86 14.3 23 0 Nic Demski 1 0 0.0 0 0	Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Brent Krawchuk 1 2 2.0 2 0 Dillon Prince 3 17 5.7 7 0 Jess Valleau 2 7 3.5 4 0
Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD Teague Sherman 2 35 17.5 35 0 Grayson Wells 1 -3 -3.0 0 0 Thomas Hall 1 5 5.0 5 0	Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD Brent Krawchuk 2 0 0.0 0 0 Darren Miner 1 7 7.0 7 0
Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC K. Williams 1 1 Nic Demski 2 2	Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC Brent Krawchuk 1 0 Olukayode Sonuga 2 1

Defensive Statistics (Final)

##	Manitoba	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL/Yds	FF	FR-Yds	Int-Yds	BrUp	Blkd	Sack/Yds	QBH
44	L. Richardson	6	.	6.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
90	Adam Hindley	4	1	4.5	0.5/1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
2	Pete Adams	4	1	4.5	.	.	.	.	2	.	.	.
13	David Ferrier	4	.	4.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
21	Teague Sherman	3	1	3.5	1.0/1	.	.	2-35	.	.	.	.
35	Grayson Wells	3	.	3.0	.	.	.	1–3	2	.	.	.
41	Lauren Kroeker	2	1	2.5	1.5/4	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
39	Thomas Hall	2	.	2.0	.	.	.	1-5	.	.	.	.
5	Evan Gill	2	.	2.0	.	1	1-0	.	.	.	.	.
48	Eric Vincent	2	.	2.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
23	Brett McFarlane	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
30	Bami Adewale	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
25	Marlon Azurdia	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
33	Ryan Ditchfield	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
97	Lincoln Bryan	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
53	Ray Thornson	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
7	K. Williams	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
45	Al Turnbull	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
89	Stu Schollaardt	1	.	1.0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
TM	TEAM	.	.	.	.	.	.	.