October 23, 2011
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Two ‘pick sixs’ paces UBC to victory over Golden Bears


The UBC Thunderbirds football team returned two interceptions for touchdowns en route to a 39-22 win over the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.

UBC got touchdowns from Mitch Shuster, David Scott, Sam Carino and Chris Mark, while Billy Pavlopoulos kicked three field goals.

Alberta’s touchdowns came from Porter Brown, Ryan Schwartz and Olukayode Sonuga.

“Eevn though we didn’t play our best game, we found a way to win,” said UBC head coach Shawn Olson. “That’s a good trait in a team. It’s probably the best trait in a team to continually be finding ways to win even in situations where maybe you don’t play your best football.”

But UBC (5-2) is having its best season since 2004, the last time the Thunderbirds reached the five-win mark in the regular season.

Alberta remains winless at 0-7.

With his team leading 20-15 early in the third quarter, UBC defensive back Sam Carino (5th, Burnaby, BC), who ended the game with 157 all-purpose yards, intercepted a Ryan Schwartz pass at the Alberta 53-yard line and returned the pick for a touchdown.

The game-winning score at 2:52 of the third made the score 27-15 in favour of the Thunderbirds.

Alberta closed to 27-22 when running back Olukayode Sonuga scored at 11:32 of the third.

But after a safety and Billy Pavlopoulos‘ third and final field goal of the night, UBC closed the game out with its second pick-six of the game. Chris Mark (5th, Surrey, BC) intercepted a Schwartz at midfield and ran the ball back 55 yards for UBC’s final touchdown with just 3:27 to go in the final quarter.

Mark’s interception was the Thunderbirds’ third of the game, Kofi Kuma-Mintah (3rd, Surrey, BC) also had one in the third quarter, and UBC’s seventh in its last two games.

UBC stormed out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on its first three possessions.

Thunderbirds’ quarterback Billy Greene (4th, Surrey, BC) completed a six-play, 72-yard drive on the opening drive of the game, by finding wide receiver Mitch Shuster (5th, Vancouver, BC) on a 43-yard play for the scoring major, to put UBC ahead 7-0.

Shuster would end the game with career-high 153 yards on seven catches.

“That’s one of the nice things when you have a guy like Mitch, who necessarily hasn’t started all year but is able to step up and make plays when he’s gotten opportunities,” said Olson. “I’m happy for him.”

After a Pavlopoulos (3rd, Georgetown, ON) field goal, Greene floated a pass into the end zone for David Scott (3rd, El Paso, TX), who caught his first touchdown of the season.

Greene completed 17 of 29 passes for 309 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

The team’s leading rusher was Kelly Road Secondary graduate Brandon Deschamps (1st, Prince George, BC) who gained 61 yards on 12 carries.

The Golden Bears responded with two touchdowns, a 14-yard Porter Brown reception and a one-yard Ryan Schwartz rush, and a single to close the UBC lead to 20-15 at the half.

Mark ended the game as UBC’s leading tackler with eight, along with his interception return for a touchdown, while Connor Flynn (5th, Vancouver, BC) had two sacks.

Connor Ralph led Alberta with 8.5 tackles.

“Big plays, that was the name of the game on defence,” said Olson. “Two interceptions returned for touchdowns are huge in any game.

But UBC’s run defence was torched for 299 rushing yards. Sonuga had 146 while Alberta quarterback Schwartz ran for 114 yards, while going 6 of 14 passing for 90 yards and three interceptions.

“We didn’t stop the run very consistently, I think we were misaligned a few times, I don’t think we were doing our jobs especially well and all those things lead to an inconsistent effort and if we’re going to be able to go anywhere, we can’t have those kinds of efforts,” said Olson.

UBC (5-2) will now close the regular season by hosting the undefeated Calgary Dinos at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 29, while Alberta will play Saskatchewan on the same day.

The Thunderbirds sit in second place in the Canada West standings and need to win (or hope for a Saskatchewan loss) to ensure home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

-UBC

UBC vs. Alberta at Edmonton, AB
10/22/2011 at 1:00 PM
UBC
39 		Alberta
22
Box Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
UBC (5-2) 17 3 9 10 39
Alberta (0-7) 7 8 7 0 22
Edmonton, AB | Foote Field

Box Score Play by PlayDrive Summary

Prd Time Scoring Summary UBC – Alberta
1 12:21 UBC – Mitch Shuster 43 yd pass from Billy Greene. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good).
Drive: 6 plays, 72 yards in 2:39. 		7 – 0
1 08:40 UBC – B. Pavlopoulos 20 yd field goal.
Drive: 5 plays, 42 yards in 2:13. 		10 – 0
1 05:19 UBC – David Scott 31 yd pass from Billy Greene. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good).
Drive: 6 plays, 69 yards in 2:03. 		17 – 0
1 00:15 Alberta – Porter Brown 14 yd pass from Julian Marchand. (S. McCaffrey kick is good).
Drive: 7 plays, 57 yards in 3:13. 		17 – 7
2 07:14 Alberta – S. McCaffrey rouge point. 17 – 8
2 03:19 Alberta – Ryan Schwartz 1 yd run. (S. McCaffrey kick is good).
Drive: 7 plays, 95 yards in 2:16. 		17 – 15
2 00:00 UBC – B. Pavlopoulos 24 yd field goal.
Drive: 7 plays, 58 yards in 1:30. 		20 – 15
3 12:08 UBC – Sam Carino 53 yd interception return. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good). 27 – 15
3 03:28 Alberta – O. Sonuga 10 yd run. (S. McCaffrey kick is good).
Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards in 2:33. 		27 – 22
3 00:28 UBC – Team safety 29 – 22
4 03:57 UBC – B. Pavlopoulos 47 yd field goal.
Drive: 4 plays, 50 yards in 1:26. 		32 – 22
4 03:27 UBC – Chris Mark 55 yd interception return. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good). 39 – 22
UBCStatisticsAlberta
17 FIRST DOWNS 31
11
4
2		 Passing
Rushing
Penalty		 8
18
5
309 NET YARDS PASSING 193
17-29
10.7
3 for 37
1 		Completions-Attempts
Net yards per pass play
Sacked:Number-Yards
Had intercepted		 15-27
7.1
3 for 25
3
114 NET YARDS RUSHING 299
27
4.2 		Rushing Attempts
Average gain per rush		 43
7.0
13 for 543 PUNTS: Number-Yards 7 for 269
41.8 Average 38.4
229 TOTAL RETURN YARDS 75
2 for 9
5 for 95
3 for 125 		Punt Returns:No-Yards
Kickof Returns:No-Yards
Int. Returns:No-Yards		 7 for 36
4 for 39
1 for 0
7 for 60 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 10 for 85
0-0 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 4-2
3 for 25 SACKS: Number-Yards 3 for 37
3 for 125 INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards 1 for 0
25:02 TIME OF POSSESSION 34:58
Alberta
Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT
Ryan Schwartz 6-14 90 0 3
Julian Marchand 5-9 85 1 0
Curtis Dell 4-4 18 0 0
Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD
Olukayode Sonuga 22 146 6.6 28 1
Ryan Schwartz 14 114 8.1 22 1
Julian Marchand 4 36 9.0 19 0
Tyler Lewis 2 3 1.5 5 0
Curtis Dell 1 0 0.0 0 0
Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD
Brad Quartel 3 62 20.7 30 0
Ryley Richardson 3 50 16.7 20 0
Laine Rogers 3 37 12.3 22 0
Porter Brown 4 30 7.5 14 1
Olukayode Sonuga 1 8 8.0 8 0
Mike Wojcicki 1 6 6.0 6 0
Kicking FG LG XP PTS
Steven McCaffrey 0/1 0 3/3 3
Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20
Steven McCaffrey 7 269 38.4 59 0 1
Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB
Steven McCaffrey 5 291 58.2 0 0
Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
Dillon Prince 1 20 20.0 20 0
Jess Valleau 2 13 6.5 13 0
Brad Quartel 1 6 6.0 6 0
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
Dillon Prince 4 18 4.5 6 0
Jess Valleau 3 18 6.0 10 0
Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD
Robert Butcher 1 0 0.0 0 0
Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC
Tyler Lewis 1 1
Olukayode Sonuga 3 1

UBC

Passing CP-AT YDS TD INT
Billy Greene 17-29 309 2 1
Carson Williams 0-0 0 0 0
Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD
B. Deschamps 12 61 5.1 16 0
Sam Adu 9 39 4.3 13 0
Billy Greene 4 14 3.5 5 0
Jeff Effah 2 0 0.0 3 0
Receiving NO YDS AVG LG TD
Mitch Shuster 7 153 21.9 47 1
David Scott 3 55 18.3 31 1
Spencer Betts 3 54 18.0 27 0
Jordan Grieve 1 26 26.0 26 0
Joey Gabrick 2 19 9.5 14 0
Sam Adu 1 2 2.0 2 0
Kicking FG LG XP PTS
B. Pavlopoulos 3/3 47 4/4 13
Punting NO YDS AVG LG TB -20
B. Pavlopoulos 13 543 41.8 77 0 4
Kickoffs NO YDS AVG TB OB
B. Pavlopoulos 4 175 43.8 0 0
Kickoff Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
Sam Carino 5 95 19.0 23 0
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
Sam Carino 2 9 4.5 10 0
Interceptions NO YDS AVG LG TD
Sam Carino 1 53 53.0 53 1
Chris Mark 1 55 55.0 55 1
K. Kuma-Mintah 1 17 17.0 17 0
Fumbles NO LOST O-D REC
Defensive Statistics

UBC Solo Ast Total Sacks-Yds TFL-Yds FF FR-Yds Int-Yds BrUp Blks QBH

Alberta Solo Ast Total Sacks-Yds TFL-Yds FF FR-Yds Int-Yds BrUp Blks QBH

20 Chris Mark 8 0 8 – – – 1-55
2 Adam Konar 6 0 6 – – – –
5 Serge Kaminsky 6 0 6 – 1 – 1 – –
6 Vivie Bojilov 4 0 4 – 1 – 5 1 1-0 –
9 Sam Carino 4 0 4 – – – 1-53
18 Thomas Harris 4 0 4 – – 1-0 –
52 Connor Flynn 4 0 4 2 – 16 2 – 16 – –
92 Spencer Wilson 4 0 4 1 – 9 1 – 9 – –
8 Kareem Ba 3 0 3 – – – –
43 Ben Bahrami 3 0 3 – – – –
44 Devin Kavanagh 3 0 3 – – – –
14 Alex Babalos 2 0 2 – – – – 1
22 Levar Hayden 2 0 2 – – – –
26 Bryan Rideout 2 0 2 – – – –
46 Pierre Lacerte 2 0 2 – – – –
88 Joey Gabrick 2 0 2 – – – –
41 Ford Marcotte 1 0 1 – – – –
87 Mitch Shuster 1 0 1 – – – –
99 Martin Park 1 0 1 – – – –
TM TEAM 1 0 1 – – – –
25 K. Kuma-Mintah – – – 1-17
TOTALS 63 0 63 3 – 25 5 – 31 1 2-0 3-125 1
20 Connor Ralph 8 1 8.5 – – – –
7 Tyler Greenslade 5 2 6 – – – –
52 Duncan Morris 6 0 6 – – – – 1
38 Ryan Dean 5 0 5 2 – 30 3 – 32 – –
62 Steven Giang 4 0 4 – 1 – 3 – –
2 Brent Krawchuk 3 0 3 – – – – 2
31 Michael Hansen 3 0 3 – – – –
49 Robert Butcher 3 0 3 1 – 7 1 – 7 – 1-0
3 Randon Ralph 2 0 2 – – – –
18 Jason Hetherington 2 0 2 – – – – 1
24 Jeremy Bell 2 0 2 – – – –
37 Chad Kaminski 2 0 2 –

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