Timmis becomes TD king as Dinos thunder past ‘Birds
CALGARY – Mercer Timmis became the University of Calgary’s all-time touchdown leader with two trips to the end zone as his fourth-ranked Dinos made a statement with a 49-16 win over No. 7 UBC Friday night at McMahon Stadium.
In front of 4,272 rain-soaked fans, the Dinos shrugged off a 102-yard opening-play touchdown from the upstart Thunderbirds, took the lead midway through the second quarter, and racked up 279 rushing yards to grab the season-opening win.
Timmis accounted for 150 of those on 19 carries, scoring his two TDs from 15 and two yards out in the second quarter to give him 36 for his career – one better than Matt Walter’s previous record of 35.
“It’s exciting for Mercer,” said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris. “He’s a guy that just comes to work every day, and we just need to get the ball in his hands – he’ll make things happen for us.”
It was emotional on both sides of the field, as the Dinos faced their former head coach, Blake Nill, for the first time. For his part, Harris was impressed with how his squad handled the situation.
“It’s a good start to the season, for sure,” said Harris. “The emotions were running high at first, but they settled down, got in their groove, and carried through the game. It was unique and exciting, and I even had to keep my emotions in check at times with the history I’ve had with Blake over many years.
“You never want to get off to a slow start, but we’re a veteran team and have been in these sorts of situations and circumstances. Having to settle down is not something new for them.”
The slow start he referred to was Michael O’Connor’s first-ever pass attempt in CIS football. With the Thunderbirds on their own 8-yard line, O’Connor found 2014 Canada West rookie of the year Marcus Davis wide open at the 30 – and 80 yards later, Davis was in the end zone and UBC was up 7-0 just 40 seconds into the contest. The 102-yard strike was a school record for the Thunderbirds, breaking Jordan Grieve’s old mark of 98 set in 2012.
The big play fired up the Thunderbirds and it did take some time for the Calgary offence to get going. Forced to punt on the final play of the opening quarter, the Dinos caught a break when Davis bobbled the return and Michael Schmidt fell on the loose ball at UBC’s 15. On the next play, Timmis rumbled in from 15 yards out.
Another Davis fumble set up Timmis’ second TD of the night in the late stages of the half, and the Dinos again made the T-Birds pay for their mistakes. The 2-yard score made it 25-14 for the Dinos heading into halftime, and they controlled the play from there.
The second-half highlight came midway through the third quarter when third-year Dinos receiver Michael Klukas stepped back to his own goal line to return a punt. After a shaky start, he found a hole and burst through it, up the sideline for a 110-yard punt return TD – the Dinos’ longest in more than 40 years, and the second-longest in school history.
Jimmy Underdahl added a pair of one-yard TD plunges for the Dinos in the fourth quarter, while Johnny Mark was good on all four of his field goal attempts on the night from 42, 16, 13, and 25 yards. Quinn van Gylswyk’s two field goals of 26 and 37 yards, a missed field goal single, and a conceded safety rounded out the scoring for UBC.
Andrew Buckley had a solid night for the Dinos, completing 14 of 21 passes for 205 yards and running four times for 75 yards – including a 63-yarder where he appeared to score but was called out at the one-yard line. On the other side, O’Connor’s big first play made up the lion’s share of his 253 passing yards on the night as he completed 17 of 36 passes with one interception.
Defensively, Doctor Cassama led the Dinos with 6.5 tackles, while Taylor Loffler had a busy night for the Thunderbirds, recording 13.5 tackles.
UBC opens its home schedule next week by hosting Regina. Calgary, on the other hand, heads to Winnipeg for its only meeting of the season with the Manitoba Bisons in a rematch of the 78th Hardy Cup. Kickoff goes at 7 p.m. CT at Investors Group Field, live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv.
EXTRA POINTS: With 17 points on the night, Johnny Mark moved past the 400 mark for his career and into third place on the CIS all-time scoring list with 408. He’s just 14 away from Lirim Hajrullahu (Western, 2009-13) for the national all-time scoring record of 422 points. With his four field goals, he moves to 69 for his career, two back of the school record held by Aaron Ifield (2006-10).
VIDEO: It’s official! @MTimmis is now the @UCDinos all-time career TD record holder with his 36th TD @CIS_SIC @cwuaa #CISfball
Posted by Krown Countdown U on Friday, 4 September 2015
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
UBC – Marcus Davis 102-yard TD pass from Michael O’Connor (Quinn van Gylswyk convert), 0:40, 7-0 UBC
CGY – TEAM safety, 3:20, 7-2 UBC
CGY – Johnny Mark 42-yard FG, 10:44, 7-5 UBC
UBC – Quinn van Gylswyk 26-yard FG, 13:25, 10-5 UBC
2nd Quarter
CGY – Mercer Timmis 15-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 0:13, 12-10 CGY
UBC – Quinn van Gylswyk 37-yard FG, 3:03, 13-12 UBC
CGY – Johnny Mark 16-yard FG, 8:31, 15-13 CGY
UBC – Quinn van Gylswyk missed FG single, 11:15, 15-14 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 13-yard FG, 12:24, 18-14 CGY
CGY – Mercer Timmis 2-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 14:36,25-14 CGY
3rd Quarter
CGY – Michael Klukas 110-yard punt return TD (Johnny Mark convert), 7:17, 32-14 CGY
CGY – Johnny Mark 25-yard FG, 11:01, 35-14 CGY
4th Quarter
UBC – TEAM safety, 4:12, 35-16 CGY
CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 8:05, 42-14 CGY
CGY – Jimmy Underdahl 1-yard TD run (Johnny Mark convert), 13:02, 49-16 CGY
Source: Ben Matchett. Calgary Dinos Sports Information
Second-half surge lifts Alberta over Rams in opener
REGINA, Sask. – The University of Regina Rams had a nine-point lead at the half, but Alberta outscored them 22-6 in the second half en route to a 29-22 win in both teams’ Canada West opener Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.
After the Golden Bears took their first lead of the game after a pair of Ed Ilnicki touchdown runs in the third quarter, a 10-yard catch for a major by Atlee Simon gave the Rams a slim 22-21 lead midway through the fourth.
But Alberta capitalized following its defence’s third interception of the game, taking advantage of a short field with a five-play, 43-yard drive that was completed by an 18-yard Ben Kopczynski pass to Tylor Henry and a successful two-point convert. The Rams took over the ball with 1:27 left and drove 44 yards downfield into Alberta territory, but Tak Landry’s hit on Mitchell Picton forced an incomplete pass on third down and solidified the win for the visitors.
Making his first career start, the first-year Kopczynski was 22-for-36 with 278 passing yards for Alberta. Jimmy Ralph had eight catches for 91 yards, while Aundrey Webster finished with six receptions for an even 100 yards. Ilnicki had 16 rushes for 90 yards. Brandon Foster, Reid Knox, and Connor Ralph each had interceptions for the Golden Bears defence, while Samson Abbott and Jacob Narbonne each had a sack for a 13-yard loss. Landry and Tom Tsoumpas tied for the team lead in tackles, both ending up with seven solo and four assisted.
Simon had a career-high 189 yards on 28 carries for the Rams, while Noah Picton was 25-for-37 and finished with 321 yards and two touchdown passes. Andrew Bennett had eight catches for 115 yards, while Richard Sindani had five catches for 102 yards including a 15-yard touchdown reception midway through the second quarter.
Alberta (1-0) will now prepare for its home opener against Saskatchewan, which lost 34-28 to visiting Manitoba on Friday night. The Rams (0-1) will hit the road for their first away test of the season, as they’ll take on a UBC team which was railroaded 49-16 by Calgary on Friday night.
Source: Braden Konschuh, Regina Rams Sports Information
VIDEO: Tylor Henry’s game winning TD seals the win for the @UABearsFootball over the @reginarams. @cwuaa #CISfball
Posted by Krown Countdown U on Friday, 4 September 2015
Huskies fall to Bisons in Conference Opener
For the second time in as many meetings, the No. 10 ranked University of Manitoba Bisons left Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park victorious Friday night after defeating the No. 8 University of Saskatchewan Huskies 34-28.
Manitoba made it two straight wins in Saskatoon after defeating the Huskies 47-39 in the 2014 Canada West semifinal. For Saskatchewan, it is the first loss to open the Canada West season since 2002.
Freshman running back Jamel Lyles erupted for 250 all-purpose yards. Lyles rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries on the night for the Bisons in front of 6,457 fans at Saskatchewan’s Homecoming Game.
Manitoba forced four Huskie turnovers, three of those in the second half en route to the win. Saskatchewan converted only 3-of-6 red zone opportunities into points as the Manitoba defence stiffened near their goal line.
Huskie pivot Drew Burko finished the night 24-of-46 for 318 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions. Mitch Hillis was Burko’s top target hauling in seven passes for 91 yards. Tyler Chow handled the bulk of the work on the ground racking up 107 yards on 17 carries.
Manitoba quarterback Theo Deezar went 17-of-28 for 218 yards including a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. Bryden Bone was the Bisons’ leading receiver catching five passes for 103 yards.
Saskatchewan will visit Alberta (1-0) next Friday night, while Manitoba returns to Winnipeg to host the Calgary Dinos (1-0).
1st Quarter Recap
Quarterback Drew Burko got the Huskies off to a good start completing a pass to John Trumpy for 30 yards on the game’s opening play. After Burko found Mitch Hillis for another 41 yards down to the Manitoba one-yard line, Kyle Siemens plunged into the end zone to open the scoring.
After forcing Manitoba to a two-and-out Saskatchewan benefited from good field position at the Manitoba 35 yard line. Sean Stenger would miss a 35-yard field goal managing just a single point.
The Huskies special teams got in to block a Manitoba punt leading to a Sean Stenger field goal.
It only took Manitoba three plays to march down to the Huskies goal line trying to answer with points of their own. Cameron Fox plunged in from a yard out to get the Bisons on the board.
Yol Piok gained major ground on a punt return setting the Huskies up at the Manitoba 26 yard line. Saskatchewan would march to the goal line only to come up short on third down. On the first play of Manitoba’s ensuing drive the Huskies defensive line forced a Theo Deezar intentional grounding penalty in the end zone leading to a safety.
2nd Quarter Recap
A Jamel Lyles 58-yard run set the Bisons up for an Alex Vitt 27-yard touchdown reception.
The Huskies looked like they might return to the scoreboard after Lance Bashutsky‘s kick return gave Saskatchewan the ball on the Bison side of half. On first-and-goal Tyler Fong intercepted Burko’s pass at the four-yard line.
Like they did in the first quarter, the Huskie defence came up with a key play after a turnover. Donavon Dale sacked Bison quarterback Theo Deezar in the Manitoba end zone for the second safety of the game for the Saskatchewan defence.
Manitoba’s offence rebounded with an impressive 58-yard touchdown run by Jamel Lyles. Lyles helped the Bisons add another three points to the scoreboard on later in the quarter setting his squad up on the Huskie side of half with a 38-yard punt return. Ryan Jones would hit from 29-yards out.
Saskatchewan went on another march late in the half before it was abruptly ended by an Eric Plett interception of Drew Burko.
3rd Quarter Recap
Brett Boechler intercepted Theo Deezar on the Bisons opening drive of the second half. Sean Stenger would connect on a 17-yard field goal.
4th Quarter Recap
Stenger would add a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give the Huskies a 28-24 lead.
A Theo Deezar pass that deflected off a receiver and a defender’s hands landed in the arms of Lerenzo Ihanza who walked into the end zone untouched for the 58-yard major.
Manitoba marched again in the middle of the fourth quarter, just missing on a touchdown instead settling for a 10-yard Ryan Jones field goal.
Saskatchewan intercepted Deezar twice in the closing minutes, but failed to convert the turnovers to points.
Source: University of Saskatchewan Huskies Sports Information
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