No.10 Bisons win over Regina at home

On a wet, rainy day during the annual Homecoming Game for Manitoba, the #10 Bison football team secured a 34-15 win at home against the Regina Rams in front of a soaked 4,890 fans at Investors Group Field.

BOXSCORE

With the victory, Manitoba improves to 3-2 while Regina slips to 1-4 during the 2013 campaign.

“That was a huge win for us on two counts, ” said Bison Football head coach Brian Dobie. “It came at Homecoming Game that is a major source of pride and represents the university and the many decades of student-athletes at Manitoba. In significance of win, it was critical to get to six points in the tight Canada West conference. At this point in time, the result now separates us from a couple of opponents and we need to continue to build to next week and get ready for UBC.”

The game started off with a special teams play when Andrew Barry blocked kicker Zach Schmidt and DJ Lalama scooped up the ball off the ricochet in the end zone for the first score of the contest (the convert was botched). Manitoba second score was aided by two pass interference calls and Barry converted a third-and-one from the one yard line for a 13-0 lead after the first quarter.

After a missed FG by Regina, the Bisons scored again when QB Jordan Yantz found OL Matt Hallock for his second TD of the season with a short three yard pass to complete a eight play, 75 yard drive and make it 20-1.

If there was any hope for a comeback it became tougher after the Rams and conference pass leader in yardage Cayman Shutter was knocked out of the game by DB Jordan Linnen. Halfway in the second, he went for a QB slide after a run and was clipped around the head. Linnen earned a player disqualification for the play while backup and Winnipeg product John Kiesman was summoned for his first time in 2013 to take the reins for the rest of the game.

Just when the visitors found their footing on the slippery turf at the new stadium by scoring a late touchdown when Michael Stefanovic recovered a fumble and ran in for a touchdown for 20-8 Bison lead, it was then quickly extinguished. With only 55 seconds left on the clock to the half, Manitoba quickly struck back on one play. Yantz found SB Andrew Smith for an 89 pass and catch for a TD for the fourth longest reception in team history. The Bisons would never look back as they headed to the locker room with a 27-8 lead.

There was no scoring in the third and both teams the found the end zone once in the final quarter when Kiesman found Mark McConkey from three yards out and Bone caught a 26 yard pass to end the scoring.

This was the only regular season meeting between the two teams this season.

In team stats, Manitoba had 27 and Regina finished with 25 first downs while the Rams had 344 total offence yards to the Bisons’ 306 in tough field conditions.

The big stat was the combined penalties for both teams. The orange flag was thrown a whopping 44 times for 435 yards and Manitoba set a team record in a single game with 235 penalty yards on 22 infractions.

Individually for Regina, Kiesman went 13-28 for 121 passing yards and 1 TD and 3 INTs plus was top team rusher with 76 yards on seven carries in front of his hometown. Shutter was 9-15 for 88 yards before leaving the game. Jared Janotta and Mark McConkey had five receptions each. McConkey became the conference’s all-time reception leader with 174 total now and passed teammate Chad Goldie (Regina, 2004-08: 173). On defence, DL Ryan Wellman and LB Connor Ketchen had 6.5 total tackles while DB Justin Edralin added 4.5 tackles, one break-up and one interception.

For the home side, Yantz went 9-17 for 134 passing yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT along with tying RB Anthony Coombs for top rusher with 97 yards. Smith had three catches for 107 yards and 1 TD as top receiver. DB Tremaine Apperley and LB Thomas Miles were tops with 7.5 total tackles and LB Bami Adewale contributed 6.5 tackles while Connor Lesperance had two interceptions for 45 return yards.

In week six, Regina will host the Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday, October 5 at 1 p.m. MT while the Bisons finish off their regular season home schedule when they host UBC Thunderbirds on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. CT.

Bison Game Notes:

– Manitoba has now scored at least three touchdowns in a game in all five contests so far in 2013.

– Coombs passed the 1,000 mark for all-purpose yards as he tacked on another 167 yards in the Regina game and now has 1,119 to lead the conference in this category.

– This was the first Homecoming Game at the new stadium and in a quirk of the schedule, the first Homecoming Game meeting against Regina since the event returned in 1999. Manitoba has now gone 7-5 during the last 12 Homecoming Games.

– After the Homecoming Game, the official dedication of the Pat Gill Equipment Room at the David Asper University of Manitoba Football Centre occurred at the Investors Group Field. Pat Gill was instrumental to the Bison Football program in the integral role as team manager from 1967 until his passing at the completion of the 2011 season. He was with the Bisons for an amazing 45 seasons and was part of the three Vanier Cup Championships teams at Manitoba (1969, 1970, 2007).

Photo credit:  David Lipnowski

Source:  Manitoba Bisons Sports Information

WINNIPEG  – Playing in their first game at the new Investors Group Field, the University of Regina Rams suffered a 34-15 loss to the Manitoba Bisons in Canada West football action on Saturday afternoon.

The loss was a costly one for the Rams in all aspects. They not only drop to 1-4 in Canada West play this year, but quarterback Cayman Shutter – who came in as the nation’s leader in passing yards per game – sustained an injury in the second quarter and did not return. The Rams will now likely need to win all three of their remaining games to have a chance at a postseason berth.

Running back Anthony Coombs and quarterback Jordan Yantz both had a game-high 97 rushing yards for the Bisons, while Yantz completed nine of his 17 pass attempts for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Andrew Smith, Bryden Bone, and Matt Hallock all had touchdown receptions for Manitoba, with Smith catching three balls in total for a game-high 107 yards including an 89-yard touchdown catch with under a minute to go in the first half.

Tremaine Apperley had a pair of interceptions and Brett MacFarlane added another for the Manitoba defence.

Shutter was 9-for-15 for 88 yards before being injured. John Kiesman came on in relief of Shutter and completed 13 of 28 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off three times.  The highlight for the Rams in the loss was provided by fifth-year slotback Mark McConkey, who caught a game-high six passes for 50 yards and surpassed former teammate Chad Goldie as Canada West’s all-time receptions leader.

Ryan Wellman led the Rams’ defence with six solo tackles including a pair of tackles for loss, while Michael Stefanovic picked up a fumble at midfield and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown to notch the second longest fumble return in school history.

Manitoba’s special teams unit set the tone early for the Bisons, as a blocked punt was picked up for a touchdown by D.J. Lalama to give the home side an early six-point advantage. Manitoba closed out the first quarter with another major, with a nine-play, 75-yard drive being finished off by an Andrew Barry one-yard rush with 38 seconds left in the opening period.

After Yantz’s touchdown pass to Hallock gave Manitoba a 20-1 advantage six minutes into the second quarter, Shutter was injured on the next play from scrimmage. Shutter rushed for a 16-yard play on a designed keeper, but was hit after a feet-first slide and was attended to on the field for several minutes. Manitoba’s Craig Linnen was assessed a disqualification penalty on the play.

The Rams looked as if they’d go into halftime with momentum on their side following Stefanovic’s fumble return touchdown, but Yantz’s long connection to Smith gave Manitoba a 27-8 advantage heading into halftime.

After both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, McConkey hauled in a three-yard touchdown pass from Kiesman early in the fourth to pull the Rams to within 12 points, but that was as close as they would come. Bone’s 26-yard touchdown catch restored Manitoba’s 19-point lead midway through the quarter and essentially sealed the win for the Bisons.

The Rams will be back at home next Saturday against Alberta (0-5). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

Source:  Braden Konschuh, Regina Rams Sports Information