Arcata, CA – Kicking off the 2013 football season the Simon Fraser University Clan (1-0) showed they were among the conference’s best against the Humboldt State Lumberjacks (0-1), defeating the home side 41-27 Saturday night in California.
Head Coach Dave Johnson said since training camp opened in August that SFU would be ready for the Lumberjacks and the players echoed that coming through with the win. Before the season, the GNAC coaches released their pre-season poll ranking Humboldt State as conference favourites and SFU fifth.
“This result is something we believed could happen,” said Head Coach Dave Johnson. “We played well here last year and it was almost that game where we started to turn things around and beleive that we could play with anyone in the conference.”
Though they would trail 17-14 at halftime, the Clan would score on their first four possessions of the second half and the Lumberjacks could not keep pace with.
When the final gun went the Clan had racked up 490 yards of offence and five touchdowns led by quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ) who was impressive in his SFU debut. The signal caller threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns.
Last season wide receiver Lemar Durant (Coquitlam, BC) splashed onto the scene leading the conference in receiving and followed that up with a strong opening game in his second season at SFU, hauling in 10 catches for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
After giving up a field goal on the opening possession of the game, the Clan scored on their first drive, showing off some trickery. Stanford swung a pass to wide receiver Bobby Pospischil (Coquitlam, BC) who pulled up and threw a pass downfield to a wide open Kyle Kawamoto (North Vancouver, BC) for the 41-yard touchdown. Following the extra point the Clan took the 7-3 lead.
In the second quarter trailing 10-7 and facing third-and-sixteen, Durant beat double coverage and was able to haul in Stanford’s pass breaking free taking it a total of 69-yards for the touchdown making it 14-10 SFU.
Looking to extend their lead, senior cornerback Derek Jones (Edmonton, AB) was able to intercept Lumberjacks quarterback Kyle Morris returning it 16-yards into Humboldt State territory.
However, the Clan were not able to take advantage as they came up short and had to punt with three minutes remaining in the first half.
On the ensuing drive, Humboldt State was able to convert on multiple third downs, ending with a four-yard touchdown run by running back Ricky Sims making the score 17-14 for the home team with less than a minute left in the opening thirty minutes.
Selecting to defer after winning the opening coin toss, SFU was able to start with the ball in the second half where Pospischil and Durant would hook up for a second time on a wide receiver pass, this time for 31 yards and another touchdown taking back the lead 21-17 early in the third quarter.
Following the touchdown, the Clan defence was able to force a punt which allowed the offence to take over. Stanford was able to pick a part the Lumberjacks defence finding Durant multiple times, which also included a pass interference call for 15-yards.
After that, running back Chris Tolbert (Silver Springs, MD) took over running the ball hard and finished up by taking a screen pass into the red zone. On the first play in the red zone, Stanford rolled out right before turning back and throwing a cross field dart to tight end Jamal Kett (Orangville, ON) who took it in for the score and 27-17 lead.
The Clan seemingly had all of the momentum and on Humboldt State’s next possession as senior defensive end Dylan Roper (North Vancouver, BC) had a sack on third down allowing for the offence to get the ball back.
However, wide receiver Tore Corrado (Vancouver, BC) wasn’t able to handle the ensuing punt which was recovered by the Lumberjacks at the SFU 14 yard line. A few plays later, and a penalty that negated an interception in the end zone, Sims punched in his second touchdown of the night closing the gap to just three points.
Up by just a field goal, the Clan offence remained in high gear which saw Stanford complete passes left right and centre moving the chains. A defensive holding call set the Clan up in Humboldt State territory which ended with Durant catching his fourth and final touchdown of the night.
From there Humboldt State would make a 42-yard field goal, but that would be it as the Clan defence would shut down the Lumberjacks highlighted by two interceptions by Captain Casey Chin.
Stanford recorded a quarterback sneak which pushed the score to 41-27.
“Over the course of training camp, the leadership from the seniors was symbolic of everything that is happening here. We’re lucky to have a coaching staff that is outstanding and it has been a fun experience so far. I’m proud of the guys in this locker room and the guys back home. This is a great way to start the season,” finished Johnson.
With the win, the Clan start the season at 1-0 and will return home for a bye week before traveling to Ellensburg, WA where they will take on reigning conference champion Central Washington Wildcats.
That game will take place at 1:00 p.m. on September 21.
Photo credit: Ron Hole
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