Clan named team of the week in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Portland, OR – Thanks to a 41-27 victory in their 2013 Great Northwest Athletic Conference season opener over the pre-season favourites the Humboldt State Lumberjacks, the Simon Fraser University football team has been tabbed as the first GNAC Team of the Week in the 2013-14 school year.

The Lumberjacks, who suffered only their third home loss in four seasons, were picked to finish atop the GNAC by the coaches in the preseason poll, while Simon Fraser was slated to finish second to last.

“Looking back to where we were a few years ago and seeing where this program has come is rewarding,” commented SFU head coach Dave Johnson. “Our players have matured and we feel like we have reached the stage where we are going to be able to compete more often than not.”

Johnson has guided SFU since the Clan joined the GNAC in 2010, and the Clan’s 5-6 finish a season ago highlighted their steady improvement over the past three seasons.

“Not too long ago we’d be a little nervous going in to play Humboldt, but this game felt different,” Johnson said regarding the program’s development.

Quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ) threw for 446 yards and three touchdowns to lead an offence that posted 587 total yards in the game.

Stanford, who transferred to Simon Fraser this season from Phoenix College, completed 33 passes on 46 attempts.

Lemar Durant (Coquitlam, BC) was Stanford’s favorite target on the day, as he hauled in 10 passes for 133-yards and two touchdowns. Durant also hauled in a pass from Bobby Pospischil (Coquitlam, BC), a 31-yard play that resulted in a momentum shifting third-quarter touchdown.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was Durant’s incredible 69-yard touchdown reception that pushed SFU in front 14-10 in the second quarter.

Defensively, Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC) recorded a pair of interceptions and earned the Red Lion GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award. The senior linebacker was credited with 10 total tackles to tie teammate Mitchell Barnett (North Vancouver, BC) for the team high in the game.

“Casey and Lemar worked hard all offseason to be prepared and it showed,” said Johnson when asked about the players’ performance. “It was uplifting to our team that those guys were able to execute so effectively and really have a positive impact on the outcome for us.”

Derek Jones (Edmonton, AB) led the Clan with six solo tackles and had an interception of his own, while Dylan Roper (North Vancouver, BC) contributed one and a half sacks and seven total tackles.

Ultimately, it was the Clan’s aerial assault that led to the victory. Twenty-one of SFU’s 28 first down conversions came by way of the pass, and the Clan totaled just 69-yards on the ground in the game.

Despite heading to the locker room down 17-14 at the half, SFU refused to give up and stormed back with a monstrous 20-point third quarter.

The Clan possessed the ball for almost 21 minutes in the second half, limiting the Lumberjacks’ scoring opportunities significantly.

The SFU football team is in the midst of a bye week, and will be back in action on September 21 when they travel to Central Washington to face the defending GNAC champions, the CWU Wildcats.