Manitoba rally from 20-3 halftime deficit falls one point short
On Saturday, September 25 at University Stadium (University of Manitoba campus) in front of a loud and boisterous 3000 fans partaking in the annual Bison Homecoming Game, the Manitoba Bisons football team lost their third game of the 2010 season when the #4 ranked Calgary Dinos won by a 26-25 score.
With the victory, the Dinos vault into a tie with Regina atop the Canada West conference with a 3-1 record. Manitoba now falls to 1-3 and tied with UBC for last in the conference.
Calgary was dominant on the ground as they had three different players churn up more than 100 yards in the game and the Dinos outrushed the Bisons by a wide 355-42 yard margin. The Dinos were led by rookie QB Eric Dzwilewski who produced 114 rushing yards on 11 carries and threw for 147 yards on 11-18 with one TD and one interception. Along with Dzwilewski, fourth year RB Matt Walter had a game-high 137 yards and second SB Steven Lumbala had 105 yards for the winning side.
The visitors held a 20-3 halftime lead with TDs from Lumbala (19 yard reception) and Walter diving in from one yard out. At the half, Calgary already had a large 268-9 rushing yard margin and had 17-5 advantage in first downs. Manitoba saw life at the start of the second half when Bison QB Khaleal Williams marched the team on a 93 yard drive and finished with a five yard pass to third year Brendon Bowman. This was the first TD at home this season for the Herd. Manitoba responded right back with another TD capped by Williams QB sneak from the one and it was 20-17.
After Calgary increased the lead by six with a Bisons’ safety and punt single, the turning point of the game occurred as the Manitoba began a drive after the punt single with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth and Williams threw to third year Bison Quincy Hurst. Hurst made a diving attempt at the ball but it bounced off his hands and into the hands of Calgary defender Wyatt Getty. Safety Getty was in the right place as he snagged the ball out of the air before going out-of-bounds at Calgary’s 53 yardline. The Dinos proceeded to drive seven plays with four on the ground and set-up fifth year kicker Aaron Ifield for a 22 yard field goal and push the lead for Calgary to insurmountable nine points (26-17) with only 1:30 left in the game.
The Bisons made it interesting as in hurry-up offence, Williams drove them the length of the field and fifth year RB Matt Henry capped the drive with a one yard plunge. Bowman caught the successful two point conversion but the home side ran out of time as Calgary recovered the onside attempt and ran out the clock in a thrilling finish to the annual Bisons Homecoming Game.
“Today we were horrible in the first half. We were playing the pre-season #1 ranked team in the country but we fought and did not give up in the second half.” said Bison football head coach Brian Dobie. “Calgary did a great job in shutting down the run and we made a decision at half to throw the ball. With the team we have right now, I hate to say it as it is so cliché, but this is a moral victory. It shows that if you fight, you have a chance and we now continue onto Saskatchewan.”
For Manitoba, Williams had his best statistical game in his CIS career with 308 yards on 25-40 with 2 TDs and two picks plus 28 rushing yards. Henry, Bisons top rusher, was grounded with only six yards on four carries.
On defence, Calgary was led second year DB Brian Hagen with 5.5 tackles and third year DB Tye Noble with 4.5 tackles plus Getty with 4.5 tackles and one huge interception. Manitoba had fourth year DB Pete Adams with a game-high 12.5 tackles (11 solo), third year LB Thomas Hall recorded 7.5 tackles and two sacks and third year DL Adam Hindley with 7.0 tackles in the home loss.
Calgary now has a four game winning streak over the Bisons. Manitoba last victory versus the Dinos was in the 2007 Vanier year when Manitoba was winner both in playoffs (W 27-5 on Nov. 3/07) and in the regular season (W 35-28 on Sept. 15/07).
Dobie ended by saying, “I see no panic in the dressing room. Our record is not good, but we can take some positives away… and I thought Khaleal took some huge steps forward in the last two games.”
The next Bisons football action is when they travel to play the Saskatchewan Huskies (2-2) on Friday, October 1 at 8 p.m. CT. Calgary will host the UBC Thunderbirds (1-3) on Saturday, October 2 at 1 p.m. MT.
Bison Football Notes: Manitoba has won five of the last nine match-ups during the annual Bisons Homecoming Games but have lost the last three in a row… Matt Henry notched his 25th overall touchdown with the Bisons during his five year career, good for second all-time in the program’s history.
scoring Summary (Final)
2010 UC Dinos Football
Calgary vs Manitoba (Sep 25, 2010 at Winnipeg, MB) Calgary (3-1-0,3-1) vs. Manitoba (1-3-0,1-3)
Date: Sep 25, 2010 • Site: Winnipeg, MB • Stadium: University Stadium • Attendance: 3000
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| Calgary | 3 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 26 |
| Manitoba | 0 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 25 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | CGY -MAN | |||
| 1st | 04:43 | CGY | Aaron Ifield 22 yd field goal | |
| 10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 4:43 | 3 – 0 | |||
| 2nd | 01:00 | CGY | Steven Lumbala 19 yd pass from Eric Dzwilewski (Aaron Ifield kick) | |
| 6 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:04 | 10 – 0 | |||
| 06:03 | CGY | Matt Walter 1 yd run (Aaron Ifield kick) | ||
| 8 plays, 52 yards, TOP 3:46 | 17 – 0 | |||
| 11:01 | MAN | Nick Naylor 28 yd field goal | ||
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