Ab SchThe Golden Bears football team was unable to right the ship this past weekend, as they lost their fifth straight game, this time in the form of a 29-7 defeat at the hands of the Manitoba Bisons.
Once again, the Bears found themselves in an early hole, as the Bisons outscored them 14-0 in the first quarter. Matt Hallock got the Bisons rolling with a three-yard touchdown run halfway through the first. He then repeated the feat five minutes later, this time with a one-yard plunge.
The Bears only managed a field goal right at the end of the second quarter, while Manitoba added a safety, making the score at halftime 16-3 Bisons.
The third quarter was a low scoring one as well, with the Bears only managing a single point on a Stephen Fabian rouge, while the Bisons added a field goal, and led 19-4 going into the fourth quarter.
After the teams traded field goals to open the fourth, the Bisons put the game out of reach at the nine minute mark, as Andrew Barry rumbled 13 yards for a touchdown, capping off a four play, 75 yard drive.
Head coach Chris Morris said his team played hard, but was simply unable to put of offence when they needed to.
“The kids played very hard, but we just couldn’t seem to answer some of the things that they had,” Morris said. “We were down near their end zone a couple times, and we had a few big plays, we had tons of yards, but we just couldn’t seem to finish.”
For the second straight week, the Bears had trouble containing a team’s rushing attack, after UBC Thunderbirds’ running back Brandon Deschampes racked up 176 yards on them last week, the Bisons finished the game with three different players gaining over 80 yards on the ground. Alex Christie led the Bisons’ attack with 103 yards on 15 rushes, Jamel Lyles totaled 92 yards on nine rushes, while Andrew Barry racked up 82 yards on 13 rushes, as well as a touchdown.
Morris cited the fact the Bears are banged up as a major reason for their struggles on defence.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of really young guys playing defence right now, because of the injuries we have,” Morris said. “We’re a little young on defence, and that more than anything else has contributed to teams running the ball better on us over the last couple of weeks.”
On the Bears side of the ball, quarterback Ben Kopczynski had a good day throwing the ball, despite the lack of touchdowns, throwing for 321 yards while completing 17 of 28 passes with one interception. His counterpart, Foster Martens, made his CIS debut on Friday, completing 13 of 20 passes for 165 yards, without throwing a touchdown or interception.
Running back Ed Ilnicki turned in another solid performance for the Bears, rushing for 94 yards on 18 attempts, while first year Tylen Smith added another 84 yards on five attempts.
Jimmy Ralph led the Bears receivers with 152 yards on six catches, while Nathan Filipek added another 72 yards on two catches. For the Bisons, no receiver had more than 50 yards or three catches, as Martens spread the ball around the entire game. Trysten Dryce led his team with 46 yards on three catches.
Despite the loss, the Bears are still tied for the final playoff spot in Canada West, as the Saskatchewan Huskies also lost this past week.
“It’s always nice to be knocking at the door of the playoffs,” Morris said. “One of our goals was to make the playoff this year, and if we could do it, that would be awesome.”
The Bears now face a tough test against the undefeated Calgary Dinos in the last week of the season. The Dinos have been dominant this season, and aside from an eight-point victory over the Bisons in week three, they haven’t won a game by less than 29 points this year. The last team the Bears and Dinos met, the Dinos set a CIS single game point record, winning 80-18.
Morris said his team will have to be at their very best in order to compete with the Dinos.
“As a coaching staff we have to put (the team) in the best possible position to play fast and compete,” Morris said. “Every little chance you have to make a play, you’ve got to have them against a team like Calgary.”
There will be a fair share of scoreboard watching for the Bears this weekend, as the Huskies will face the winless Regina Rams, a decidedly easier matchup than the Bears have. If the Bears are able to beat the Dinos, then they will automatically qualify for the playoffs, regardless of the Huskies’ result. If the Huskies were to lose their game on Friday night, then the Bears would also qualify for the playoffs, as they own the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their 38-26 victory in week two.
The last playoff spots will be decided on Saturday, as the Bears take on the Calgary Dinos at 1 p.m. at Foote Field.
