Vancouver, BC – On the strength of 161 yards rushing from Brandon Deschamps (Prince George, BC) and the defence forcing five turnovers, the UBC Thunderbirds defeated the sixth ranked Regina Rams 24-17 Saturday afternoon at David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium. With the win the Thunderbirds improve to 2-4 on the season.
BOXSCORE
UBC Sports Information:
With 5th year quarterback Marc Mueller not making the trip to Vancouver due to an injury, 3rd year pivot Zach Oleynik got the start for UBC. On the opening drive, he would take the Rams down to the UBC 31 yd line, setting up a 38 yard field goal attempt. Taylor Wandler missed wide right, keeping it a scoreless game.
On UBC’s first two drives, they would turn the ball over on downs, unable to convert on third and short.
Late in the first quarter, UBC would recover a Regina fumble at the Thunderbirds 45 yard line. Billy Greene (Surrey, BC) would take the ‘Birds down to the Rams 20 yard line with back to back throws to Micha Thiel (West Vancouver, BC). Thomas Moult (Calgary, AB) would hit a 27 yard field goal to put UBC up 3-0.
The Thunderbirds set up for another field goal midway through the second quarter, but a bad snap, forced holder Dominik Bundschuh (Vienna, Austria) on the run and his throw would be intercepted and the Rams would take it down to the UBC 27. However, on the very next play, Bryan Rideout (Victoria, BC) picked off Oleynik to get the ball back for the Thunderbirds.
Starting from their own 28 yard line, the Thunderbirds marched 82 yards on eight plays, the final play, an 18 yard Billy Greene touchdown pass to Andrew Darcovich (White Rock, BC). It was Darcovich’s first TD of the season; in fact he made his first catch of the season earlier in the drive. UBC led 10-0 at the half.
The Thunderbirds didn’t waste anytime adding to their lead in the second half as Deschamps rattled off his longest run of the season, going 85 yards for the major and putting UBC up 17-0.
“I haven’t broken a long run like that since high school,” said Deschamps. “It was a lot of fun. it was good to use my speed rather then banging into guys. It was finally nice to run away from guys.”
The Rams would get on the board thanks to back to back field goals from Taylor Wandler. He hit from 41 yards and 28 yards to make it a 17-6 game.
UBC was forced to take a safety after a bad snap in punt information, giving the Rams two more points. The score was 17-8 after three quarters of play.
Zach Oleynik was pulled with seven minutes left in the third quarter and replaced by Frankie Gray. Oleynik finished 10-23 for 160 yards and two interceptions.
UBC’s offense went missing following Deschamps’s big TD run. They went six consecutive possessions without any points, including five straight two and outs.
Frankie Gray was the key to igniting the Rams offense in the second half. The second year quarterback showed off his ability to make plays with his feet leading Regina down the field. Michael Kiapway capped off a drive with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter on an 18 yard touchdown run to cut the lead to two points. UBC was up 17-15.
However, young quarterbacks are prone to make mistakes and on the next Regina drive, Gray was picked off by Kofi Kuma-Mintah (Surrey, BC), who took the ball down the Rams 33 yard line. The Thunderbirds made them pay, as Billy Greene threw his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, hooking up with Jordan Grieve (Salmon Arm, BC) from 10 yards out to give UBC a 24-15 lead with 2:30 remaining in the game.
UBC would give up a safety with one second left and Miguel Barker (Edmonton, AB) grabbed his second interception of the game on the final play as the Thunderbirds held on to win 24-17.
UBC would give up a safety with one second left and Miguel Barker (Edmonton, AB) grabbed his second interception of the game on the final play as the Thunderbirds held on to win 24-17.
“This team has been through a lot more then anyone knows so it was nice to find a way to win,” said head coach Shawn Olson. “The big thing was guys stepped up and made a play, that was the difference. Whether it was Billy Greene throwing a great ball to Jordan Grieve or Grieve making a diving catch, or Kofi Kuma-Mintah’s interception, different guys stepped and made plays when we needed them and that was encouraging to see.”
Brandon Deschamps finished the game with 161 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. UBC rushed for 281 yards total.
Billy Greene was 17-25 passing for 190 yards, two touchdown passes, and zero interceptions.
The Thunderbirds defence forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.
UBC look’s to make it three wins in a row next Saturday in Winnipeg when they take on the Manitoba Bisons. Kick off is at 11:00 am PST from the Manitoba capital.
Regina Sports Information:
The University of Regina’s football team mounted a late comeback but fell short on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 6-ranked Rams dropped a 24-17 decision to UBC in Canada West action at Thunderbird Stadium.
UBC scored the first 17 points of the game and it took Regina until the four-minute mark of the third quarter before a 41-yard Taylor Wandler field goal finally got the Rams on the board, but the visitors would build from there. Another Wandler field goal and a conceded safety before the third ended brought the Rams to within nine points going into the fourth.
The Rams cut the lead to 17-15 with just over five minutes left in the fourth when Michael Kiapway rumbled 18 yards for the team’s only major of the game on a draw. The Regina defence forced a two-and-out and the Rams got the ball back on their own 43-yard line with just under four minutes left in the game, but disaster struck.
Frankie Gray– who had been solid for the Rams at quarterback since going in for Zach Oleynik in the third quarter – had his first pass of the drive intercepted by UBC’s Kofi Kuma-Mintah, who ran it back all the way to Regina’s 33-yard line. After an untimely 15-yard penalty, UBC’s Billy Greene found Jordan Grieve in the back of the end zone to give the Thunderbirds a late nine-point lead.
After a conceded safety left one second on the game clock and UBC up by seven, Gray had one last chance to heave one towards the end zone from his own 35 but the Hail Mary was picked off by the UBC defence.
The loss drops Regina’s record to 4-2 on the season, but the Rams remain in sole possession of second place in the Canada West standings and can clinch a home playoff game with wins in either of their final two conference games.
Brandon Deschamps had a big game on the ground for UBC (2-4), as Canada West’s rushing leader ended up with 161 rushing yards and a touchdown. Greene scrambled nine times for 71 yards and completed 17 of his 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Darcovich and Grieve both caught touchdown passes for UBC, while Miguel Barker led the Thunderbirds’ defence with a pair of interceptions including the game-ending pick on the final play.
Kiapway had 87 rushing yards for the Rams and became joined Neal Hughes and Adrian Charles as the only players in U of R history to collect five touchdown runs in a single season. Oleynik completed 10 of his 23 passes for 160 yards but tossed two interceptions before Gray replaced him in the third. Gray was 14-for-22 for the Rams, ending up with 148 passing yards.
Kolten Solomon and Jared Janotta both led Regina with six receptions. Solomon had 69 receiving yards, while Janotta collected 68 and Jay Smith had four catches for 67 yards.
Joey Dwyer and Steve Famulak both led the Rams defence with eight total tackles. Famulak also had a pass breakup and a sack, while defensive end Logan Brooks registered the team’s lone interception after picking off a Dominik Bundschuh pass on a fake field goal attempt in the second quarter.
The Rams will now close out the Canada West schedule with a pair of home games. They’ll host No. 2-ranked Calgary (6-0) next Friday at Mosaic Stadium before finishing conference play on Friday, Oct. 26 against Alberta (0-6).Photo: Bob Frid
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