Fourth-quarter surge sends Dinos past Bears

EDMONTON – Defensive back Tye Noble ran back a Julian Marchand interception with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter to give Calgary their first lead of the day as the No. 4 Dinos came from behind to defeat the No. 7 Alberta Golden Bears 23-14 Saturday afternoon at Foote Field.

Noble’s 45-yard pick six came just 34 seconds after Anthony Woodson had scored from one yard out to bring the Dinos within two points at 14-12. Following an unsuccessful two-point convert attempt and the Calgary kickoff, Noble grabbed a deflection off the Alberta receiver’s hands and had clear daylight all the way to the end zone to put Calgary up 18-14. Eric Dzwilewski found Richard Snyder for a two-point convert to make it 20-14, and Aaron Ifield iced it with a 25-yard field goal in the final minute.

Calgary improves to 2-1 on the season while handing the Golden Bears their first loss of the 2010 campaign. Alberta drops to the same 2-1 record.

Calgary’s big fourth quarter came at the perfect time after the offence struggled to move the ball through the first 45 minutes. Freshman quarterback Eric Dzwilewski threw a pair of interceptions, both of which came inside the prime scoring area, and the Dinos managed just a pair of Aaron Ifield field goals in the second quarter and found themselves trailing 14-6 after three.

Dzwilewski led the Dinos on an impressive 10-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off by Woodson’s one-yard plunge to bring the Dinos close. Woodson accounted for 41 of those yards while Dzwilewski added 16 of his 91 rushing yards on the day.

“Alberta gave him some different looks today,” said acting Calgary head coach Rohn Meyer, who substituted for the suspended Blake Nill Saturday, of his quarterback. “They did a really good job of showing us some things we hadn’t seen today, and that led to a couple of those interceptions in the red zone.

“But the kid is a gamer, and he allows us to do some different things like run the option. He’s going to be great for us in the coming years.

“We were moving the ball a little bit early in the game, and our defence is getting better every quarter,” Meyer went on. “When we got back to running the football and taking some of the pressure off our young quarterback, we were able to put some first downs together.”

Dzwilewski finished just 7-for-20 for 110 yards and two interceptions in the passing department, but he led all players with 91 rushing yards on the day. Woodson, meanwhile, had an impressive afternoon in his first game since suffering a concussion against Saskatchewan in Week 1. He finished with 10 carries for 78 yards along with the touchdown.

Alberta’s lone major came late in the first quarter when former Dino Julian Marchand found Michael Wojcicki for a 22-yard score to go up 9-0 after the Dinos conceded an early safety heading into the wind. The teams traded field goals in the second quarter, while another conceded safety by Calgary was the only scoring play of the third quarter.

Calgary’s defence stepped up in the second half, intercepting Marchand on the Bears’ last three series of the game to give the offence the chance to run out the clock. Reigning CIS rookie of the year Linden Gaydosh had an absolutely monster afternoon, recording 9.5 tackles and a sack from his defensive line position, while Noble was the hero with the game-winning touchdown to go with 7.5 tackles and a shared sack.

Marchand finished 12-28 for 146 yards and one touchdown on the day. His top target was Laine Rogers, who hauled in six catches for 51 yards, while Matthew Jarvis led the way for the Bears with 16 carries for 68 yards along the ground.

No Calgary receiver had more than two catches on the afternoon as the Dinos moved the ball along the ground by more than a 2-1 margin. Nathan Coehoorn was the leading receiver with two catches for 46 yards, while Snyder also had a pair of catches.

Matt Walter added 70 rushing yards while Steven Lumbala chipped in 29 as Calgary out-ran Alberta 268 yards to 120.

Tyler Greenslade was Alberta’s leading tackler with 8.5, also picking up two of the Bears’ four sacks.

Calgary heads on the road one more time to face the Manitoba Bisons next week, while the Bears remain home to host the Saskatchewan Huskies.

SCORING SUMMARY
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Quarter
ALTA – TEAM Safety, 7:51, 2-0 ALTA
ALTA – Wojcicki 22-yard TD pass from Marchand (O’Neill convert), 13:31, 9-0 ALTA

2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Quarter
CGY – Ifield 31-yard FG, 2:00, 9-3 ALTA
ALTA – O’Neill 22-yard FG, 9:34, 12-3 ALTA
CGY – Ifield 23-yard FG, 12:01, 12-6 ALTA

3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Quarter
ALTA – TEAM Safety, 2:24, 14-6 ALTA

4[SUP]th[/SUP] Quarter
CGY – Woodson 1-yard TD run (2-point convert failed), 8:23, 14-12 ALTA
CGY – Noble 45-yard interception return TD (Snyder pass from Dzwilewski), 20-14 CGY
CGY – Ifield 25-yard FG, 14:09, 23-14 CGY