Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University Clan were able to come through with a win Saturday night as they defeated the Humboldt State Lumberjacks 38-17 at home on Terry Fox Field.
Racing out to a 24-0 lead at the half, the Clan were able to fend off the Lumberjacks in the second half before pulling away in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter to preserve the win.
“I thought we were really hungry,” said senior wide receiver Tore Corrado (Vancouver, BC – 3 rec. 63-yards 1 TD). “Coming out in that first half I thought we were playing excellent.”
Corrado caught a 25-yard touchdown from quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ – 14/23 220-yards 2 TD) with under a minute to go in the second quarter to push the Clan’s lead to 24-0. Then with SFU leading 24-17 with six minutes remaining in the game, Corrado returned Humboldt State’s kickoff 99-yards for the touchdown making the score 31-17 for the home team.
Running back Chris Tolbert (Silver Springs, MD – 35-153-yards 2 TD) would open the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and then cap off the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left on the clock to make the final score 38-17.
Five minutes into the second quarter kicker Chad Heerspink (1/1 FG 5/5 XP) converted on a 26-yard field goal and roughly six minutes later Stanford hooked up with All-American wide receiver Lemar Durant (Coquitlam, BC – 4 rec. 109-yards 1 TD) to make the score 17-0. Two minutes later, Corrado would catch his touchdown pass before heading into the half.
The Clan held the Lumberjacks to just 69 net rushing yards thanks to a relentless attack by the defence. In the end, SFU sacked HSU quarterback Casey Mintz seven times, while intercepting him once. Senior linebacker Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC – 15 TKL 6.5 TFL 2.5 sacks) had a monumental game for the Clan showing his leadership.
“It’s always nice when you’re making plays, but it is better when the entire team is making plays and that is what happened tonight,” Chin said. “It starts and ends with the coaches. (They) harp on us, they don’t want us to be mediocre, they expect greatness and that is how we have to play all of the time.”
Fellow linebacker Mitchell Barnett (North Vancouver, BC – 10 TKL 3 TFL 1 FR 1 sack) also had a strong game on defence, as did cornerback Derek Jones (Edmonton, AB – 4 TKL 1 INT) who played tight coverage throughout the night.
“I’m really proud of how our kids battled,” said a proud Dave Johnson. “Eating humble pie for six weeks in a row, it was nice to come out and get the win. I felt in the first half we physically got after them and it looked like we were playing Clan football. We were bumping into guys and invested into all three phases.”
SFU will close out the season next Saturday, November 16, where they will host Azusa Pacific at 2:00 p.m. It will be senior day as the team honours the graduating class, the first which will include players that joined the Clan as freshman in the program’s first NCAA season of 2010.
Photo Credit: Ron Hole
Written by McKenzie Dalgleish
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