Alberta comes from behind to shock huskies (stats)

Even the Alberta Golden Bears should be surprised to find themselves in the Canada West final.

Completing a stunning and seemingly unfathomable comeback, the fourth-seeded Golden Bears erased a 30-3 third quarter deficit to shock the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies 31-30 Saturday at Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park in Saskatoon.

Alberta moves on to face the second-seeded Calgary Dinos next Saturday in the Canada West championship, the Hardy Cup. The winner advances to host the national semifinal, the Mitchell Bowl, Nov. 20 against the
Atlantic University Sport champion.

Golden Bears’ quarterback Julian Marchand picked apart the Huskies secondary in the second half, tossing for 309 yards and three touchdowns for the game. Laurence Nixon was steady at the helm for the Huskies, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite their absence in the game’s crucial moments, the Huskies defence forced five turnovers on the afternoon and were vital in giving their side a 9-3 edge at halftime.

After 76-yard Rory Kolhert touchdown reception put the Huskies up 30-3, everyone but the Golden Bears checked out of the game. With only 3:50 left in the third quarter it seemed the Huskies had punched their ticket to the Canada West final.

The fourth quarter was supposed to be a footnote, but instead it became a riveting comeback narrative no Huskie will care to revisit.

First Marchand connected with Laine Rodgers for an 11-yard touchdown toss to close the third quarter and make it 30-10. Then, four minutes into the fourth Marchand found Ryan Meraw from nine yards out to bring the deficit to 30-17.

When Matt Jarvis rumbled into the end zone to make it 30-24 with 2:47 remaining, the 3,921 in attendance stiffened up. However, another Bears major just seemed too unlikely.

But when the Bears took control on their own 33-yard line with 1:36 remaining after yet another Huskies three
and-out, worry was in vogue.

Marchand marched the Bears to Saskatchewan’s 33 before an improbable catch punctuated an improbable comeback. Marchand tossed the cowhide up for Ryley Richardson, who eluded defensive back Cody Halseth and climbed the ladder to come crashing down, ball-in-hand, to tie the game at 30.

Hugh O’Neill’s extra point sailed through the uprights in a silent stadium, giving the Bears a 31-30 lead.

With only 18 seconds left on the clock the Huskies could not get within field goal range after starting from their own 23-yard line.

Photo Credit: Josh Schaefer
By Jordan Hartshorn

Alberta 31

Saskatchewan 30

Box Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final

Saskatchewan (0-1)	3	6	21	0	30
Alberta (1-0)	0	3	7	21	31
Saskatoon, SK | Griffiths Stadium

Prd Time Scoring Summary Alberta – Saskatchewan

1	12:13	Saskatchewan – S. McDonald 39 yd field goal.	0 – 3
2	13:30	Saskatchewan – S. McDonald 29 yd field goal.	0 – 6
2	10:36	Saskatchewan – S. McDonald 24 yd field goal.	0 – 9
2	06:13	Alberta – Hugh O’Neill 46 yd field goal.	3 – 9
3	09:46	Saskatchewan – Dathan Thomas 18 yd run. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 34 yards in 1:50.	3 – 16
3	05:59	Saskatchewan – Rory Kohlert 21 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 55 yards in 1:52.	3 – 23
3	03:50	Saskatchewan – Rory Kohlert 76 yd pass from Laurence Nixon. (S. McDonald kick is good). Drive: 1 plays, 76 yards in 0:25.	3 – 30
3	00:07	Alberta – Laine Rogers 11 yd pass from Julian Marchand. (Hugh O’Neill kick is good). Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards in 3:37.	10 – 30
4	08:00	Alberta – Ryan Meraw 9 yd pass from Julian Marchand. (Hugh O’Neill kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 45 yards in 0:54.	17 – 30
4	02:47	Alberta – Matthew Jarvis 4 yd run. (Hugh O’Neill kick is good). Drive: 9 plays, 83 yards in 3:54.	24 – 30
4	00:22	Alberta – R. Richardson 33 yd pass from Julian Marchand. (Hugh O’Neill kick is good). Drive: 7 plays, 77 yards in 1:14.	31 – 30

AlbertaSTATISTICSSaskatchewan

31	FIRST DOWNS	23
17 10 4	Passing Rushing Penalty	12 8 3
50% (1 of 2)	THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY	100% (1 of 1)
0% (0 of 0)	FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY	0% (0 of 0)
426	TOTAL NET YARDS	431
69 6.2	Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play	63 6.8
309	NET YARDS PASSING	280
25-41 7.5 0 for 0 3	Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted	17-33 8.5 4 for 31 1
117	NET YARDS RUSHING	151
28 4.2	Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush	30 5.0
6 for 252	PUNTS: Number-Yards	9 for 302
42.0	Average	33.6
115	TOTAL RETURN YARDS	260
7 for 42 3 for 63 1 for 10	Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards	7 for 79 6 for 154 3 for 27
11 for 95	PENALTIES: Number-Yards	10 for 102
3-2	FUMBLES: Number-Lost	2-2
29:25	TIME OF POSSESSION	30:35

AlbertaSaskatchewan

Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT Julian Marchand 25-41 309 3 3	Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT Laurence Nixon 17-33 280 2 1
Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD Jess Valleau 1 3 3.0 3 0 Shayne Samoil 5 20 4.0 17 0 Matthew Jarvis 17 77 4.5 17 1 Smith Wright 2 4 2.0 2 0 Julian Marchand 3 13 4.3 8 0	Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD Dathan Thomas 19 100 5.3 18 1 Laurence Nixon 4 4 1.0 7 0 Ben Coakwell 7 47 6.7 29 0
Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD R. Richardson 5 108 21.6 36 1 Porter Brown 5 41 8.2 11 0 Laine Rogers 4 58 14.5 18 1 Jess Valleau 4 37 9.2 16 0 Ryan Meraw 2 20 10.0 11 1 David Court 2 14 7.0 8 0 Shayne Samoil 1 12 12.0 12 0 Matthew Jarvis 1 12 12.0 12 0 M. Wojcicki 1 7 7.0 7 0	Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD Rory Kohlert 6 140 23.3 76 2 Owen Geier 3 19 6.3 12 0 Braeden George 2 56 28.0 34 0 Mitch Stevens 2 32 16.0 20 0 Dathan Thomas 2 18 9.0 11 0 Jade Etienne 1 9 9.0 9 0 Alex Balogun 1 6 6.0 6 0
Kicking FG LG XP PTS Hugh O’Neill 1/2 46 4/4 7	Kicking FG LG XP PTS S. McDonald 3/3 39 3/3 12
Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20 Hugh O’Neill 6 252 42.0 50 0 2	Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20 D. Kolodzinski 9 302 33.6 53 0 1
Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB Hugh O’Neill 6 361 60.2 0 0	Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB S. McDonald 3 190 63.3 0 0
Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Jess Valleau 3 63 21.0 25 0	Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Gregg Woytowich 5 136 27.2 41 0 Luke Thiel 1 18 18.0 18 0
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Jess Valleau 3 12 4.0 7 0 David Court 4 30 7.5 11 0	Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD Gregg Woytowich 2 43 21.5 30 0 Luke Thiel 5 36 7.2 13 0
Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD T. Greenslade 1 10 10.0 10 0	Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD Gregg Woytowich 1 8 8.0 8 0 Mitch Friesen 2 19 9.5 14 0
Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC David Court 1 0 Matthew Jarvis 2 2	Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC Dathan Thomas 1 1 Laurence Nixon 1 1

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS

Alberta Solo Ast Total Sacks-Yds TFL-Yds FF FR-Yds Int-Yds BrUp Blks QBH

Saskatchewan Solo Ast Total Sacks-Yds TFL-Yds FF FR-Yds Int-Yds BrUp Blks QBH

27	Jess Valleau	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
14	T. Johannesson	2	1	3	–	–		–	–
17	Cayce Kerr	1	1	2	–	–		–	–
18	J. Hetherington	2	2	4	–	–		–	–
20	Chris Muchena	2	2	4	–	–		–	–	1
25	Dean Guedo	2	1	3	–	–		–	–
7	T. Greenslade	3	5	8	–	–		–	1-10
2	Brent Krawchuk	2	2	4	–	–		–	–
4	Hugh O’Neill	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
38	Ryan Dean	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
41	Jean-Marc Jones	5	5	10	–	1-3		–	–
44	Kevin Chave	1	2	3	–	–		–	–
45	Craig Gerbrandt	5	4	9	2-11	3-15		–	–	1
46	Larry Hillary	1	2	3	–	–		–	–
47	Lane Dell	2	1	3	–	–		–	–
49	Robert Butcher	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
52	Duncan Morris	4	2	6	–	–		1-0	–
53	Joseph Hartman				–	–		1-0	–
55	Steven Giang	4	2	6	–	2-6	1	–	–
56	Thomas Fry	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
69	Will Henry	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
80	Dale Stevenson	4	1	5	2-20	2-20		–	–	2
TOTALS	45	34	79	4-31	8-44	1	2-0	1-10	4
70	Owen Geier	2	0	2	–	–	1	–	–
14	Gregg Woytowich	6	0	6	–	–		–	1-8	1
17	Cody Halseth	5	1	6	–	–		–	–	1
22	Seamus Neary	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
24	Mitch Friesen	3	0	3	–	–		–	2-19	1
26	Nico Higgs	0	3	3	–	0-0		2-0	–	1
27	Bryce McCall	2	2	4	–	–		–	–	1
1	Michael King	1	2	3	–	–		–	–
31	Peter Thiel	5	3	8	–	1-3		–	–
35	Charlie Power	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
37	Tony Michalchuk	4	3	7	–	2-7		–	–
44	Zach Hart	4	5	9	–	0-1		–	–
51	Vaughn Rice	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
63	Stephen Kovach	0	1	1	–	–		–	–
66	Patrick Neufeld	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
71	Levi Steinhauer	1	1	2	–	–		–	–
5	Luke Thiel	5	4	9	–	1-1		–	–
77	Joel Seutter	1	2	3	–	–	1	–	–
TM	TEAM	1	0	1	–	–		–	–
TOTALS	43	28	71	0-0	4-12	2	2-0