Bears football falls short of Bisons, sits at 2-2 on the season

After jumping out to a 2-0 start this year, the Bears football team is right back where they started, after a 42-32 loss to the Manitoba Bisons dropped them back to 2-2 on the year.

It was an uncharacteristic performance for the Bears in many ways, as it was the team from Manitoba that orchestrated a second-half comeback to put the game out of reach, something that the Bears had thrived on in their two wins.

The Bisons opened the scoring on a Cameron Fox one yard touchdown plunge, but the Bears were able to respond quickly, as running back Ed Ilnicki broke off a 37-yard run of his own to knot the game at seven a piece. Quarterback Ben Kopczynski also added two touchdown passes in the half, a 13-yard pass to Aundrey Webster, and 50-yard completion to Tylor Henry. The Bisons were able to add a touchdown of their own, as well as a field goal, making the score at the half 25-16 in in favour of the home team.

Head coach Chris Morris said his team executed well in order to gain the lead.

“The tempo of our offence was very good, we were running plays very quickly,” Morris said. “Our tempo and the pace we were operating at gave Manitoba a lot of trouble, and they were wearing down.”

It was a different game in the second half however, as the Bisons came out strong to start the third quarter. A safety, then a 13-yard touchdown reception from Jesse Walker brought the game to a 25-25 tie.

The Bears were able to regain the lead on their next drive, as Kopczynski scrambled six yards for a touchdown to put his team back in front 32-25.

After that, it was all Manitoba.

The Bears looked to be heading into the fourth quarter with a lead, as they were punting the ball away with no time left on the clock. Instead of kicking out of bounds however, the kick went in bounds and was fielded by rookie Jamel Lyles, who promptly took it back 73 yards for the score.

After that, the Bears couldn’t muster much on offense, and Lyles struck again early in the fourth quarter, breaking out for a 33-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.

Morris said his team simply wasn’t as sharp in the second half.

“We slowed down a bit, (and) we couldn’t sustain drives by getting first downs,” Morris said. “There were some things that we could’ve done a lot better.”

Notable offensive contributors for the Bears included Kopczynski, who had a good game both in the air and on the ground, competing 20 of 33 passes for 303 yards with two touchdown passes, while also rushing for 100 yards on 19 attempts with one touchdown on the ground as well. Running back Ed Ilnicki contributed 113 yards on the ground as well, to go along with one touchdown. Tylor Henry led the receiving core with 132 yards on eight catches, with one touchdown.

On the other side of the ball, Bisons quarterback Theo Deezer out gained Kopczynski in the air, throwing for 324 yards, while completing 19 of 30 passes. Jamel Lyles had en excellent game aside from his punt return, as he rushed for 121 yards on 14 attempts. Alex Vitt led the Bisons receiving core with 131 yards on six catches.

Despite this hiccup over the past two weeks, the Bears are still right in the thick of things in Canada West. Their loss, coupled with the Bisons win, makes both teams part of a four-way tie for second place in Canada West, along with the Saskatchewan Huskies and the UBC Thunderbirds.

“On any given night, anybody can beat anybody, and from our standpoint, that’s encouraging,” Morris said.

Morris also spoke about the importance of the next two weeks in determining the playoff picture in Canada West, and how it feels for the program to be playing meaningful games this late in the season.

“Now we’re essentially playing games five and six in the season for a playoff birth, and (that’s) a wonderful thing for us,” Morris said.

“It was just a couple years ago that there weren’t many huge games in our season.”

The Bears now prepare for the first of two consecutive games against UBC, who are coming off a 45-29 loss to Saskatchewan. Both teams sit at 2-2 along with the Bears and Bisons. The Bisons, meanwhile, will travel to Regina to face the Rams, who remain the only winless team in Canada West this year.

The Bears will play UBC on the road on Saturday, Oct. 3.