St. George, UT ā Looking to rebound from their first loss of the season last week, the Simon Fraser University Clan fell on the road to the Dixie State College Red Storm 39-12Ā on SaturdayĀ night.
Playing without starting quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ), the Clan turned to back-up Ryan Blum (Santa Rosa, CA ā 4/13 21 yards 1 INT) who got the start. SFU opened the game with the ball and Blum helped the offence convert three first downs on the teams opening drive. However, after 12 plays and 33-yards the offence would stall and be forced to punt on fourth down.
The Red Storm would score on their first three possessions of the game, but would only convert one extra point as the Clan blocked a kick on the second touchdown and stopped Dixie State on a two-point conversion keeping the score 19-0.
Red Storm quarterback Griff Robles had a strong game passing and running the ball as he accounted for 430 total-yards of offence.
The Clan were able to get some pressure on Robles on Dixie Stateās fourth possession as seniors
Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC ā 12 tackles 0.5 sack) and Dylan Roper (North Vancouver, BC ā 6 tackles 0.5 sack) teamed up for a sack. Later on fourth down, defensive tackle Quinn Horton (Winnipeg, MB ā 2 tackles 1.5 TFL 1 sack) got into the backfield and brought Robles down for the sack causing a turnover on downs.
Trailing 25-0, SFU made a switch at quarterback as Mitchell Rushton (Delta, BC ā 15/31 193-yards 1 TD 1 INT) took over for Blum for the rest of the game.
SFU could not stop the Red Storm though who extended their lead to 39-0 in the third quarter before the Clan could record their first points.
Late in the fourth quarter and facing fourth-and-ten, Rushton connected with tight end Robbie Devries (Parksville, BC) for 32-yards and the first down. On the next play running back Steve Spagnuolo (Vancouver, BC ā 10-26-yards 1 TD) punched the ball in from two-yards out putting SFU on the scoreboard 39-6 as the point after attempt was blocked.
On the Clanās next drive after forcing a Dixie State punt, Rushton completed four passes to wide receiver Tore Corrado (Vancouver, BC ā 4 rec. 44-yards 1 TD) who scored on a nine-yard touchdown with a minute left in the game. SFU would go for the two-point conversion but Rushton was stopped making the score 39-12, which would be the final.
With the loss to the Red Storm, the Clan fall to 2-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on the season.
SFU will be back on the road next week as they take on Azusa Pacific onĀ October 12Ā in Azusa, CA atĀ 6:30 p.m.
Photo credit: Ā Ron Hole
By Mckenzie Dalgliesh
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
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