After opening their season with two road wins, the Gridiron Bears return home this weekend to face off with the CIS number one
Bren Cargill, Sports Staff
After getting out to an impressive 2–0 start, the Bears football team will now enter a pivotal stretch as they face off with their provincial rivals, the Calgary Dinos, followed by battles against Saskatchewan and Regina in the coming weeks. The Bears enter this weekend’s game two points ahead on their conference rivals and are hoping to keep their undefeated record unscathed.
Last Saturday, the Gridiron Bears traveled to Manitoba and left with a resounding 31–6 victory over the Bisons. Continuing to show improvement from last season, the Bears were impressive on offence. Quarterback Julian Marchand threw for two touchdowns and 170 yards passing.
While the Bears experienced success with their air attack, the team’s running game was integral to their win last weekend against the Bisons. Tailback Matthew Jarvis ran for 45 yards and chalked up one touchdown in the game.
Jarvis has established himself as a force along the ground for the Bears, with 234 yards rushing in the first two games of the season. It is these breakthrough performances by Jarvis that have led the Bears to victory this season, according to the Bears coaching staff.
“Matt [Jarvis] is our go-to guy,” said Bears head coach Jerry Friesen. “He was splitting time last year and now he’s the guy who’s going to carry the load for us.”
There usually isn’t much to complain about after a sizable win such as the one the Bears scored last Saturday. However, U of M running back Matt Henry seemed to be able to run at will for large parts of the game, finishing with 134 yards on 21 carries. This leaves some questions regarding the Bears’ ability to defend the run.
“We didn’t have a very good start and he really took it to us for about the first 19 minutes of the game. Getting back to basics and settling into the game took us a little while and if there was a challenge for us, it was reining in Matt Henry” Friesen explained.
Despite their struggles shoring up the defensive line, the win was crucial for the Bears as they can now enter the game against Calgary on a high note on Saturday.
The Dinos are regarded by many as the top team in the Canada West Conference heading into this season. Not only do the Bears get to test themselves against the team that eliminated them last year from the playoffs, but there’s always an added level of intensity when they square off against their provincial rivals.
“Whenever you play Calgary, no matter where it is or when it is, it will always be exciting. The opportunity to play them again, it doesn’t matter when it is, there’s going to be fireworks so we’re looking forward to it,” Friesen said.
Calgary quarterback and two-time CIS most Outstanding Player award winner Erik Glavic may not be ready to play this Saturday due to a knee injury suffered two weekends ago in their game against Saskatchewan. While the loss of their pivot may hamper the Dinos this weekend, their win in last week’s contest against Regina proved that Glavic’s replacement is no slouch. Eric Dzwilewski threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns.
“They’re both really good athletes who both run the system really well, so I don’t think there’s much of a drop-off between the two. We just want to make sure we corral him,” explained Friesen.
The battle between the Gridiron Bears and the Calgary Dinos gets underway at Foote Field September 18, with kickoff at 1 p.m.
[url]http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/sports/2010/09/15/undefeated-bears-prepare-battle-against-provincial-rival-dinos
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