CALGARY – Steven Lumbala simply couldnβt be stopped Friday night.
The third-year product of St. Francis High School racked up 204 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winner with just 18 seconds left, as the No. 4 Calgary Dinos improved to 2-0 on the season with a 30-25 win over No. 10 UBC at McMahon Stadium.
Video Highlights of Dinos Kickoff Homecoming Game from Lorne Webber on Vimeo.
After UBC took the lead with just under three minutes remaining, the Dinos marched 85 yards downfield for the winning score β with 80 of those yards coming courtesy Lumbala, much to the delight of the crowd of 4,176 at the University of Calgaryβs annual KICKOFF homecoming game. It was a fitting end to a night where Calgaryβs run game completely obliterated the Thunderbirdsβ defence, gaining 351 yards along the ground.
βComing in, we knew we needed to run the football β in fact, I think we maybe should have run it even more,β said Dinos head coach Blake Nill, who earned his 75th career victory as a head coach in CIS. βWe wanted to keep their offence off the field, and when it came down to it, we were able to move the ball. Thereβs no question β this is an O-line program, and when we needed it most, we were able to just put it in their hands and just run it down.β
The upstart T-Birds certainly did everything they could to pull off their second upset in as many weeks. Quarterback Billy Greene completed 29 of 43 passing attempts for 355 yards and three majors, including a 53-yard bomb to Jordan Grieve for the go-ahead score late in the fourth. Greene also did it all with his legs as well, racking up 102 rushing yards and keeping the Calgary defence off-balance.
Both the Grieve score and Greeneβs earlier fourth quarter touchdown to Ryan Couper came on third-and-four gamble situations where the UBC offence caught the Dinos defence off guard and went to the air.
βWeβre a different team with a lot of youth, and theyβre going to have to go through their growing pains,β said Nill. βFull credit to UBC though β their quarterback is the best in the conference, and he presents a unique challenge.β
In the end, though, it was the Dinos who pulled off their second straight come-from-behind victory to improve to 2-0 on the year.
Eric Dzwilewski threw for 212 yards and one touchdown for the Dinos, finding Chris Dobko eight times for 126 yards. Anthony Woodson added 111 rushing yards and a major, while Jake Harty had the Dinosβ other touchdown.
Dave Boyd and Ryan Couper had UBCβs other trips to the end zone.
Defensively, the Dinos were led by another standout night from Sam Hurl, who posted 9.5 tackles, while Mike Edem added another eight. Connor Flynn led the UBC defence with 7.5 tackles and a sack, with Adam Konar chipping in six tackles.
On a night that took several strange turns, one of the most significant came late in the second quarter. With the Dinos lined up in punt formation, Johnny Markβs attempt was blocked by UBCβs Kareem Ba. Calgary Colts transfer Zach McNeill picked up the ball for Calgary and managed to get away a spectacular punt that sailed more than 50 yards downfield from the point it was kicked. Officially, it went down as a 36-yard punt, but it meant a significant difference in field position for the Dinos as the clock ticked toward the end of the half.
βI think weβll continue to get better each and every week, and hopefully start to peak at the right time,β Nill summed up. βWe have to tighten up defensively and on special teams β really, we need to get better at all aspects of the game. But weβve managed to pull off two victories, and I think that says a lot about the chemistry and the environment here.β
UBC drops to 1-1 after a tough season-opening two-game road trip and will head home for two straight games against Alberta and Manitoba. Calgary heads to Regina next week to take on the Rams, followed by a visit from the Saskatchewan Huskies Sept. 23. Saskatchewan beat Regina 33-10 in the other Canada West game Friday night.
-UC-
Ben Matchett
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The no. 10 UBC Thunderbirds were handed their first loss of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football season in dramatic fashion, dropping a 30-25 decision to the no. 4 Calgary Dinos.
For the second consecutive week, the Dinos squeaked out a come-from-behind victory. Down 25-24 to UBC with just under three minutes left in the game, Calgary drove 85 yards for the winning touchdown. Eighty of those yards came from running back Steven Lumbala, who finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run with just 18 seconds to go. In total, the third year player recorded 204 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The upstart Thunderbirds were looking for a second straight, road win over a ranked team. It looked like it might happen after they scored 14 straight points after going down 24-11 on Lumbalaβs first touchdown at 11:23 of the third quarter.
With less than five minutes gone in the fourth quarter, UBC completed a nine-play, 75-yard drive when quarterback Billy Greene (Surrey, BC) found Ryan Couper (London, ON) with an 18-yard touchdown pass. That got UBC to within six points after the convert from kicker Billy Pavlopoulos (Georgetown, ON). Greene completed 29 out of 43 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns on the night. He also rushed for 102 yards.
Greene’s 53-yard throw to Jordan Grieve (Salmon Arm, BC) put UBC ahead by one with just 2:38 left in the game.
“Tonight’s game was a great battle that unfortunately we came out on the short end of,” said Greene. “On offence we came out firing in the first quarter but stalled too much at key times. We showed a lot of heart battling back and came up big when things weren’t looking too good. Calgary played an amazing game and they made plays when they had to. We will learn from this loss and come back better next week and ready to go.”
The two teams were tied going into halftime after trading field goals in the opening quarter, and then touchdowns in the second. Running back Dave Boyd (Duncan, BC) scored on a six-yard pass from Greene with about five minutes left in the half to even the score at 10-10.
Defensively, UBC was led by Connor Flynn (Vancouver, BC), who had 7.5 tackles and a sack, while rookie Adam Konar (North Vancouver, BC) added six tackles.
But the defence also gave up 351 rushing yards, including 204 to Lumbala and 111 to Anthony Woodson.
Calgary quarterback Eric Dzwilewski threw for 212 yards and one touchdown.
UBCβs record is now 1-1 and will finally host its first home game in 2011 on September 17 when it entertains the University of Alberta at Thunderbird Stadium.
The game starts at 2:00 p.m. and can also be heard live on CiTR 101.9 FM.
Calgary is now 2-0 and will travel to Regina for its next game.
UBC
Wilson Wong
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
04:57 UBC B. Pavlopoulos 23 yd field goal, 17-0 6:58, UBC 3 – CGY 0
06:58 CGY Johnny Mark 16 yd field goal, 17-0 6:58, UBC 3 – CGY 3
2nd Quarter
02:18 CGY Anthony Woodson 7 yd run (Johnny Mark kick), 5-61 1:37, UBC 3 – CGY 10
10:10 UBC Dave Boyd 7 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick), 4-68 0:56, UBC 10 – CGY 10
3rd Qurter
02:30 CGY Jake Harty 19 yd pass from Eric Dzwilewski (Johnny Mark kick), 6-70 2:28, UBC 10 – CGY 17
09:39 UBC B. Pavlopoulos rouge, UBC 11 – CGY 17
11:23 CGY Steven Lumbala 16 yd run (Johnny Mark kick), 6-75 1:44, UBC 11 – CGY 24
4th Quarter
04:51 UBC Ryan Couper 18 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick), 9-75 3:38, UBC 18 – CGY 24
12:22 UBC Jordan Grieve 53 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick), 3-60 1:17, UBC 25 – CGY 24
14:42 CGY Steven Lumbala 9 yd run (Eric Dzwilewski pass failed), 8-85 2:14, UBC 25 – CGY 30
Scoring Summary (Final)
2011 UC Dinos Football
#10 UBC vs #4 Calgary (Sep 09, 2011 at Calgary, AB) UBC (1-1,1-1) vs. Calgary (2-0,2-0)
Date: Sep 09, 2011 β’ Site: Calgary, AB β’ Stadium: McMahon Stadium β’ Attendance: 4176
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| UBC | 3 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 25 |
| Calgary | 3 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 30 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | UBC -CGY | |||
| 1st | 04:57 | UBC | B. Pavlopoulos 23 yd field goal | |
| 17 plays, 0 yards, TOP 6:58 | 3 – 0 | |||
| 06:58 | CGY | Johnny Mark 16 yd field goal | ||
| 17 plays, 0 yards, TOP 6:58 | 3 – 3 | |||
| 2nd | 02:18 | CGY | Anthony Woodson 7 yd run (Johnny Mark kick) | |
| 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:37 | 3 – 10 | |||
| 10:10 | UBC | Dave Boyd 7 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick) | ||
| 4 plays, 68 yards, TOP 0:56 | 10 – 10 | |||
| 3rd | 02:30 | CGY | Jake Harty 19 yd pass from Eric Dzwilewski (Johnny Mark kick) | |
| 6 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:28 | 10 – 17 | |||
| 09:39 | UBC | B. Pavlopoulos 0 rouge | ||
| 11 – 17 | ||||
| 11:23 | CGY | Steven Lumbala 16 yd run (Johnny Mark kick) | ||
| 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:44 | 11 – 24 | |||
| 4th | 04:51 | UBC | Ryan Couper 18 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick) | |
| 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:38 | 18 – 24 | |||
| 12:22 | UBC | Jordan Grieve 53 yd pass from Billy Greene (B. Pavlopoulos kick) | ||
| 3 plays, 60 yards, TOP 1:17 | 25 – 24 | |||
| 14:42 | CGY | Steven Lumbala 9 yd run (Eric Dzwilewski pass failed) | ||
| 8 plays, 85 yards, TOP 2:14 | 25 – 30 |
| Kickoff time: 7:00 pm β’ End of Game: 10:00 pm β’ Total elapsed time: 3:00 Referee: Jim Woods β’ Umpire: John Poppleston β’ Linesman: Cody Johnson β’ Line judge: Cam Schwieder β’ Back judge: Shawn Kerr β’ Field judge: Blair Brown β’ Side judge: Glen Haner β’ Scorer: Daryl Slade β’ Temperature: 25 C β’ Wind: E 5km/h β’ Weather: Warm and lear |
| Team Statistics |
Team Statistics (Final)
2011 UC Dinos Football
#10 UBC vs #4 Calgary (Sep 09, 2011 at Calgary, AB)
| Team Totals | UBC | CGY |
| FIRST DOWNS | 28 | 32 |
| Rushing | 9 | 18 |
| Passing | 15 | 12 |
| Penalty | 4 | 2 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 158 | 351 |
| Rushing Attempts | 20 | 37 |
| Average Per Rush | 7.9 | 9.5 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 0 | 3 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 160 | 351 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 2 | 0 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 355 | 212 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 29-43-0 | 14-24-0 |
| Average Per Attempt | 8.3 | 8.8 |
| Average Per Completion | 12.2 | 15.1 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 3 | 1 |
| TEAM LOSSES | -12 | -1 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 501 | 562 |
| Total offense plays | 65 | 63 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 7.7 | 8.9 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 4-1 | 3-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 16-122 | 10-120 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 9-382 | 8-328 |
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