CWUAA RECAPS: Fourth quarter comeback sends Dinos past Bisons, Golden Bears explode in win [stats]

WINNIPEG – They didn’t take the lead until there were just two and a half minutes to play, but the No. 2 University of Calgary Dinos found a way to overcome the big-play University of Manitoba Bisons with a 48-36 win Friday night at Investors Group Field.

Led by an incredible second-half performance by tailback Mercer Timmis, who racked up 276 yards on 27 carries to go with three touchdowns, the Dinos scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to avenge their Hardy Cup loss to the Bisons and, more importantly, move to 2-0 on the young season.

The offence moved in fits and starts until the second half, when Andrew Buckley found his rhythm in the pocket, Rashaun Simonise made catch after catch, and Timmis kept making things happen with the football – including a 79-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the third quarter. In the fourth, Simonise scored from 15 yards out after another big Timmis run, Johnny Mark made his third field goal of the night, and Timmis capped it off with a 17-yarder as the Dinos caught and passed the Bisons, then held on to the lead.

“We know the offence is going to ignite eventually, we have so much talent over there,” said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris. “Buckley threw it hard, Simonise will win the majority of the battles when they’re one-on-one…and Mercer. What more can you say? We just need to get the ball in Mercer’s hands and he’ll make things happen.”

Timmis’ 276-yard night was three off his career high of 279, set against the Bisons in the 2013 Hardy Cup. Buckley finished the night completing 26 of 36 passes for 340 yards and a touchdown, while Simonise had the best night of his career with 13 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown as Buckley looked to him again and again to get key first downs.

The exciting finished matched the intensity of an outstanding football game between two of the top programs in the nation, one that the Bisons held the advantage in for more than 57 minutes. And that started with the opening kickoff, which Jamel Lyles returned 107 yards to the end zone as the Dinos gave up a long TD in the opening seconds for the second week in a row.

Bisons quarterback Theo Deezar looked deep early and often, connecting on four plays of more than 50 yards through the air. He finished with 364 passing yards on just 13 completions.

“You never want to start down, that’s two bad starts in a row, and we have to clean it up,” said Harris. “But the team responded, they believe in themselves, they trust each other, and they played like a team tonight.

“We hurt ourselves with penalties again, and after what should have been a stop we gave them another chance to play. Credit to them, though, they executed at times, and we knew it would be a challenge for our DBs.”

Calgary safety Michael Schmidt had an impressive night with four solo tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass knockdown, while Micah Teitz was in on six tackles and added the Dinos’ lone sack of the night.

It was the only meeting of the season between the two sides – a fact that wasn’t lost on Harris.

“You have to win these big games – playing Manitoba just one time this season, this game was crucial and could have big implications at the end of the season,” he said. “We knew what was on the line.”

Sixth-ranked Manitoba (1-1) remains home next weekend to face the UBC Thunderbirds. The Dinos return home on a short week to take on the Alberta Golden Bears in a rareThursday night contest – dubbed the ‘Whiteout’ – at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff time is 7 p.m. MT.

EXTRA POINTS: With five converts and three field goals, Calgary kicker Johnny Mark ended the night with 14 points, giving him a total of 422 for his career. That ties him with Western’s Lirim Hajrullahu for the all-time CIS career scoring record – one Mark will look to break at home Thursday night against Alberta. As well, with three field goals on the night, Mark passed Aaron Ifield’s career total of 71, setting new school and conference records for all-time field goals … Timmis, meanwhile, added three more to his school record for touchdowns, giving him 39 on his career.

SCORING SUMMARY

1^st Quarter

MAN – Jamel Lyles 107-yard kickoff return TD (Ryan Jones convert), 0:14, 7-0 MAN

CGY – Andrew Buckley 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 4:24, 7-7

MAN – Alex Christie 11-yard TD run (Ryan Jones convert), 5:21, 14-7 MAN

CGY – TEAM safety, 7:01, 14-9 MAN

CGY – Johnny Mark 40-yard FG, 8:56, 14-12 MAN

2^nd Quarter

MAN – Alex Vitt 28-yard TD catch from Theo Deezar (Ryan Jones convert), 1:49, 21-12 MAN

MAN – Ryan Jones 16-yard FG, 6:15, 24-12 MAN

CGY – Mercer Timmis 3-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert),8:23, 24-19 MAN

3^rd Quarter

MAN – Jesse Walker 64-yard TD catch from Theo Deezar (Ryan Jones convert), 8:59, 31-19 MAN

CGY – Mercer Timmis 79-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 14:56, 31-26 MAN

4^th Quarter

CGY – Johnny Mark 23-yard FG, 4:37, 31-29 MAN

MAN – Theo Deezar 11-yard TD run (Ryan Jones convert), 6:21, 38-29 MAN

CGY – Rashaun Simonise 15-yard TD pass from Andrew Buckley (Johnny Mark convert), 8:00, 38-36 MAN

CGY – Johnny Mark 26-yard FG, 12:29, 39-38 CGY

CGY – Mercer Timmis 17-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 13:38, 46-38 CGY

Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information

WINNIPEG – What a fitting game that pitted two of the top ranked CIS football teams against each other. In the end, the #2 Calgary Dinos exacted some revenge in the rematch of the 2014 Hardy Cup (Canada West championship) by winning an exciting and high-octane offensive display during a 46-38 result over the #6 Manitoba Bisons at Investors Group Field in front off 3,291 fans at the BIsons’ home opener for the 2015 conference season.

With the win, Calgary moves to 2-0 while Manitoba drops to 1-1 in the young Canada West regular season. This was the lone match-up this year between the two teams in the regular season.

The Bisons, 2014 Canada West champion, started the game with a bang when CIS and Canada West Offence Player of the Week Jamel Lyles took the opening kickoff for 107 yards – to set a new Bison record and put the host in front only 14 seconds into the game.

Calgary responded quickly with a quick four minute drive that was finished off by quarterback Andrew Buckley one yard TD run. This was an omen of more big plays from both sides as the yards started to pile up before half.

Manitoba then struck back quickly when quarterback Theo Deezar found Dustin Pedersen on a 78 yard throw which led to a 11 yard Alex Christie TD rush and only just after five minutes play, it was the Bisons leading 14-7. After a safety and a Johnny Mark field goal from 40 yards, the first quarter ended with the home side up by two points.

Deezar found slotback Alex Vitt who made a spectacular catch for a 28 yard TD reception just after the second quarter started and then Bisons’ Ryan Jones chipped in a 16 yard FG for a 24-12 margin in favour of the Herd. Dinos’ running back Mercer Timmis scored from a three yard run and this would not be the last time he found the end zone. At the half, Manitoba was still on top 24-19.

In the third, Manitoba had their largest lead of the contest at 12 points when Deezar found slotback Jessie Walker on a 64 yard touchdown throw with six minutes remaining. With only four seconds left in the quarter, Timmis found a seam and ran right up the middle for a quick 79 yard TD rush that narrowed the lead to 31-26.

The fireworks did not end as the final 15 minutes saw more explosive offence. Mark connected on a 24 yard field goal early and then Manitoba struck again with an 11 yard TD rush by Deezar after he found Vitt earlier in the drive on a 59 yard completion. It would be the last scoring by the hosts as Calgary continued to press for the road victory. Buckley completed a 53 yard pass to Rashaun Simonise for a 53 yard first down and the drive was then compete when the same combo was successful on a 15 yard TD strike to bring Calgary to within two points at the seven minute mark left.

The Dinos grabbed their first lead of the game with another Mark’s field goal from 26 yards, set-up by an 18 yard Timmis run. After a two-and-out by the Bisons, the visitors ended the game with another Timmis touchdown from 17 yards out after he rushed for all 37 yards on the drive for the final scoring play of the back-and-forth affair and a Calgary 46-38 win.

This battle among the conference finalist from a year ago had numerous big plays on offence and the stats reflected it. Calgary finished with 642 total offence while Manitoba had 521 yards.

Individually, Calgary was led by Timmis with a monster game. He filled up the stats sheet with 276 rushing yards on 27 carries for a 10.2 average and three rush TDs. Buckley was 26-36 for 340 passing yards and 1 TD and Simonise had a game-high 13 catches for 178 receiving yards and 1 TD. Mark averaged 45.8 punting yards along with 3-4 in the FG department. On defence for the 2014 Hardy Cup runner-ups, Cory Robinson had six tackles and Micah Teitz recorded 5.5 tackles and one sack.

Manitoba had a strong game by Deezar with 364 passing yards on 13-29 plus 2 TDs and 2 INTs and 20 yards rushing with 1 rush TD. Lyles added 82 rush yards on 11 carries plus the kick return TD and Vitt was team-high with five receptions for 111 yards and 1 TD. Walker contributed 113 receiving yards on four grabs and one touchdown. Ryan Jones had a 35.5 punting average and was 1-2 on field goals. On defence, DJ Lalama had a game-high 10.5 tackles while Eric Plett notched eight tackles.

In week three action, Calgary (2-0) faces Alberta (2-0) in a battle of the province at Calgary on Thursday, September 17 at 7 p.m. MT. Manitoba (1-1) will host #10 UBC (0-1) on Saturday, September 19 at 6 p.m. CT.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears football team ripped off 38 second half points to defeat the No.9 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies 38-26 before over 3,000 fans in the U of A’s home opener at Foote Field on Friday night.

With the win Alberta starts the season with a 2-0 record, and picks up the program’s first conference win over the Huskies since September 25, 2009. The last time the Golden Bears opened a season at 2-0 was in 2010, when they defeated UBC and Manitoba in consecutive weeks, and is the last time the Bears played in the conference post-season.

The two teams combined for 1,058 total yards of offence, including 633 through the air.

Rookie quarterback Ben Kopczynski completed 23 of 35 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing 11 times for 90 yards and a TD.

The Calgary-born pivot struggled in the first half, picking up just 39 total offensive yards, as the Bears were shut out by the Huskies 18-0 through two quarters of play.

The visitors, who dropped their home and season opener to Manitoba last weekend in Saskatoon, came out firing in the first half, putting up four points in the first quarter before runningback Tylor Chow scampered for a pair of majors, each from inside the Alberta 10-yard line, to put the ‘Dawgs up 18-0.

“The first thing I said to the guys at half-time in the locker room was, we’re only down 18, which means we’re in this,” said third-year Golden Bears head coach Chris Morris. “That first half could have been a lot worse for us. Considering how much time our defence spent on the field, they did a great job limiting a very good Saskatchewan team to just 18 points. Our defence kept us in it in the first half, they fought on every play.”

In a true tale of two halves, the Golden Bears put the worst of times behind them, and moved on to the best of times by shutting the Huskies down defensively, and rolling up over 500 yards of offence and 38 points in the second half.

“I wish I could say we drew up a bunch of different plays, and changed our approach, but we didn’t,” said Morris about his freshman QB. “I think he took a deep breath, calmed himself down a bit and went out and started to execute our offensive package. That young man deserves a lot of credit for how he played tonight. His performance in the second half was a sign of how good he is and can be in this league.”

On Alberta’s opening second half possession, Kopczynski marched the Bears 75-yards on eight plays and finished the drive by rushing the final eight yards into the endzone himself. Alberta put up more points and yards on that one possession than they did in the entire first half.

After Sean Stenger hit his second field goal for the Huskies, making the score 21-7 at the 4:55 mark of the third, Alberta responded with another TD as Kopczynski and the Bears moved 94-yards on seven plays, including a six-yard TD toss to third-year receiver Tylor Henry. The Edmonton-born receiver earlier made a big catch to set up Alberta’s first TD when he hauled in a 28-yard Kopczynski throw in double coverage, and now needs just one more catch to have 100 in his career as a Golden Bear.

Trailing by seven points, 21-14, Alberta’s defence stepped up and forced the Saskatchewan offence to settle for a field goal tries on the next two Huskie offensive possessions, of which Stenger only made one, moving the score to 24-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Saskatchewan went two-and-out on their opening drive of the fourth, giving the Bears the ball at midfield. From there Kopczynski found receivers Jimmy Ralph and Nathan Filipek for 27 and 12 yards respectively, before handing off to Ed Ilnicki who powered into the Huskies’ endzone from 17 yards out, and a 24-21 score.

Another quick out by the Huskies led to Kopczynski and the offence starting on their own 15-yard line, where he engineered a nine play 95-yard drive that culminated with Kopczynski hitting Ralph on the run for a three yard TD play, and Alberta’s first lead of the game at 28-24.

Saskatchewan punted the ball away again on their next possession, but the Huskies defence sacked Kopczynski and pinned the Bears on their own three-yard, forcing them to concede a safety.

After a Stephen Fabian field goal, Ilnicki, who had nine touchdowns and 665 rushing yards last season, put the nail in the coffin with just under a minute left in the game when he ripped off a powerful 61-yard touchdown rush, on first down, to make the final 38-26.

Huskies quarterback Drew Burko, who led Canada West in 2014 with 21 touchdown passes, finished with 30 completions on 50 attempts, for 333 yards and zero TDs. Receiver Mitch Hillis caught 12 of those 30 passes, for 122 yards, while Julan Lynch hauled in seven for 74 yards.

Ilnicki rushed 19 times for 149 yards, while Ralph snagged eight passes for a game high 126 receiving yards. Tak Landry, a converted defensive back, made 10 tackles and a game high three pass break-ups to lead the Alberta defence.

“Next week is going to be tough,” noted Morris. “We’ve done some good things, but we have work to do and that’s a real good team down in Calgary. But we’ll put the work in this week and get ready to play them as hard as we can.”

The 2-0 Golden Bears meet the 2-0 Calgary Dinos on Thursday, September 17 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The two teams are tied for first in Canada West. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, will return home to host the Regina Rams on Friday, September 18.

Source: Evan Daum, CWUAA 

Calgary vs. Manitoba at Winnipeg, MB 9/11/2015 at 7:00 PM
Calgary 46	Manitoba 38

Saskatchewan vs. Alberta at Edmonton, AB 9/11/2015 at 7:00 PM
Saskatchewan 26	Alberta 38