THE CANADIAN PRESS
Only weeks after ending their 25-game losing streak, the Simon Fraser University Clan knocked off the No. 2 ranked team in the nation.
The Clan beat the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 27-17 to move into a four-way first place tie in the Canada West with a 2-1 record. The win also marked the first victory over Saskatchewan in seven tries for Simon Fraser since moving to the CIS in 2002 from the NAIA.
It was a very different game however in the first half, as Saskatchewan was able to capitalize on Clan turnovers and costly penalties to lead 16-3 after two quarters.
But whatever SFU coach Dave Johnson said to his troops at halftime appeared to work immediately when they took the opening kickoff of the third quarter all the way to the Saskatchewan 21-yard line. While Simon Fraser was only able to convert that possession into a 29-yard Jeff Biles field goal, momentum was shifting.
The Clan added a 40-yard Biles field goal midway through the quarter, and then tied the game on a 77-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Bernd Dittrich to Milos Zivkovic to tie the game at 16-16. Saskatchewan scored a rouge to retake the lead 17-16, but before the end of the quarter, the Clan were able to piece together a 75-yard touchdown drive.
Elswhere in the CIS on Saturday, it was: No. 1 Laval 47, Acadia 1; No. 3 Saint Mary’s 35, Bishop’s 27; No. 4 Western Ontario 49, Waterloo 3; No. 5 Queen’s 41, No. 10 Laurier 7; No. 6 Ottawa 22, McMaster 19; UBC 28, No. 8 Manitoba 0; No. 9 Calgary 17, Alberta 11; Toronto 58, York 7; Sherbrooke 23, Mount Allison 22; Guelph 34, Windsor 8. Also, Montreal beat St. FX 33-9.
At Vancouer, Dittich finished the game 12-for-24 for 190 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, while Gabe Ephard added 99 yards on nine carries and one touchdown for Simon Fraser. Defensively, the Clan forced four interceptions and three sacks, with Brian Ridgeway picking up 7.5 tackles, one sack and one interception to lead SFU.
Next weekend the Clan host the University of Calgary Dinos (2-1) in a battle of first place Canada West teams, while the Huskies enter their bye week.
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No. 1 Rouge et Or 47, Axemen 1
At Wolfville, N.S., Laval (2-0) quarterback Benoit Groulx was nearly perfect, completing 24 of 27 passes for 239 yards and humbling the Acadia Axemen (0-2).
Groulx’s favourite target was Julian Feoli-Guidino who pulled in 10 catches for 103 yards and one touchdown.
His final strike to Laurent Lavigne-Masse in the third quarter, Lavigne-Masse’s second major of the day, pushed the Rouge et Or to an insurmountable 30-1 lead. Groulx completed the game with three quarters of play and backup Cesar Sanchez-Hernandez took over the reins in the fourth quarter.
The only bright spot for the Axemen was Punter James Michener’s 41.5 yard punting average including a 55 yard punt – his longest of the day.
The Axemen had their lowest offensive performance this season with 197 net yards.
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No. 3 Huskies 35, Gaiters 27
At Lennoxville, Que., a second-half comeback attempt fell just short for the Bishop’s Gaiters.
The Gaiters (0-2) were able to close in within two points of the Saint Mary’s Huskies (2-0) late in the game after falling behind 27-7 at halftime.
Saint Mary’s rolled up 492 total yards of offence, to the Gaiters’ 257, including 356 yards rushing. The Huskies used three quarterbacks (Nathan Beeler-Marsman, Pat Hooey and Ted Abraham) who combined to go 12-for-22 for 143 yards. Erik Glavic, last year’s Hec Crighton, winner was a late scratch as he continued to recover from knee surgery.
The Gaiters were led by Jamall Lee, who had 20 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns, while Jesse Andrews went 10-for-21 for 141 yards in the air. Defensively, Nick Poloniato led Bishop’s with 7.5 tackles and one interception.
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No. 4 Mustangs 49, Warriors 3
At London, Ont., a strong first quarter lifted the Western Ontario Mustangs (3-0) to a 49-3 win over the Waterloo Warriors (1-2).
Western quarterback Michael Faulds went 22-for-35 with three touchdowns and 290 yards as the Mustangs scored 14 first-quarter points.
Defensive end Vaughn Martin scored a Western offensive touchdown from two yards out on the ground, while Faulds also scored once on the ground.
Nick Pasic a rookie receiver from London, Ont., caught five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, while fellow rookie receiver Nick Trevail caught five passes for 40 yards and one touchdown.
Waterloo totalled just 168 yards of total offence.
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No. 5 Golden Gaels 41, No. 10 Golden Hawks 7
At Kingston, Ont., Dee Sterling had a team-record 5.5 sacks in a Queen’s romp over Wilfrid Laurier.
The victory marks the first time Queen’s (3-0) has beaten Laurier (1-2) since 2003. This is Laurier’s biggest loss since 1997 when the Golden Hawks fell 47-6 to the Waterloo Warriors.
Queen’s quarterback Dan Brannagan maintained his nation-leading pace, throwing for 438 yards with three touchdowns. Mike Giffin passed the 100-yard mark for a 13th consecutive time during the regular season posting 115 yards on 25 carries. He also became the first player in Queen’s history to post 18 games of 100 yards or more in rushing, ending a 23-year record held by Larry Mohr.
Giffin also scored a touchdown and now leads the CIS in touchdowns with four and rushing with 472 yards.
Laurier only gained 41 yards rushing and 121 yards passing with Queen’s playing stifling defence. With the Gaels’ nine total sacks, Wilfrid Laurier posted under 100 yards total offence.
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No. 6 Gee-Gees 22, Marauders 19
At Hamilton, fifth-year transfer receiver Ivan Birungi caught his fourth touchdown pass in three games and fifth-year quarterback Josh Sacobie shook off an uncharacteristic two interceptions to win his 30th career start.
The Gee-Gees improved to 2-1 in the OUA, keeping the Marauders (0-3) winless and spoiling their home opening game at Ron Joyce Stadium.
Birungi, who finished with seven receptions for 123 yards, caught a 43-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter before leaving the game with an apparent ankle injury.
Sacobie, now 30-10 as a five-year Gee-Gees starter, was good on 19 completions in 32 attempts for 288 yards and pair of touchdowns.
McMaster gave up 169 yards on 15 penalties and weren’t able to score until late in the game after a 10-point first quarter in their sparkling new home stadium.
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Thunderbirds 28, No. 8 Bisons 0
At Winnipeg, the UBC Thunderbirds spoiled the annual Manitoba homecoming game, shutting out the defending Vanier Cup champion Bisons 28-0. It was the first win by UBC against Manitoba since 2004.
This is the first time that the Bisons (1-2) have been shutout since Sept. 27, 1997 when UBC beat the Herd 32-0 in Manitoba.
It was a record breaking day for the T-Birds (2-1) as both defensive end Scott McCuaig and kicker Shawn McIsaac etched their names into the Canada West record books. McCuaig had two sacks to lead the conference in all-time sacks at 23. McIsaac went a perfect 7-for-7 on field goals to tie the conference mark for most field goals in a single game.
UBC dominated the scoreboard and all the major stats of the game. They led 19-9 in first downs; 3-1 in sacks; 2-0 in forced fumbles; 141-60 in rushing yards; 190-116 in passing yards and had a 323-157 advantage in total yards. The 157 total yards by the Bisons was the fourth lowest in team history.
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No. 9 Dinos 17, Golden Bears 11
At Calgary, cornerback Brett Ferguson tied a school record with three interceptions as the No. 9 D
inos scored their first win over their archrival Alberta since October 2004.
Calgary (2-1) capitalized on 10 Alberta turnovers, including six interceptions, three fumbles, and one turnover on downs. Four of those interceptions, including all three of Ferguson’s, came in the fourth quarter as the Dinos scored 16 points to seal the victory.
Ferguson returned his first pick 52 yards for a touchdown.
Hugh O’Neill was good on his lone field goal attempt of the afternoon from 37 yards for Alberta, while a late five-yard touchdown run by Matt Jarvis followed by a successful two-point convert rounded out the scoring for the Golden Bears (1-2).
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Varsity Blues 58, Lions 7
At Toronto, Mark Stinson scored three touchdowns as the Blues (2-1) defeated the York Lions (0-3) in the annual Red and Blue Bowl. This marks the first time in 12 years that the Blues claim the Argo Cup.
Stinson caught passes from Toronto quarterback David Hamilton and found the end zone twice in the first seven minutes of the game. Blues receiver Cory Kennedy added another major on a 50-yard reception.
York quarterback Nick Coutu responded before the end of the first quarter with a six-yard run putting the Lions on the board, down 21-7.
First-year Varsity Blues kicker Andrew Lomasney kicked three field goals in the second quarter putting the Blues up 30-7 at the half.
Hamilton passed for four touchdowns, completing 22-of-32 passes for 465 yards. Stinson tallied 208 yards receiving, including a 79-yard reception for the first touchdown of the game.
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Vert & Or 23, Mounties 22
At Sackville, N.B., the Mounties thrilled their 1000 or so fans with another nail biter, as it took the full four quarters before Sherbrooke emerged the winner.
With about three minutes to play the Vert & Or put nine points on the board with a field goal and a touchdown. With six seconds to go in the game, Mountie kicker Olivier Eddie narrowly missed a lengthy 45-yard field goal, allowing the Vert et Or to escape with a one-point victory.
Eddie scored five other field goals during the game, leading both teams in scoring with 15 points.
Besides Joseph Mroue’s early 97-yard kick return that resulted in a touchdown, Sherbrooke split their offensive yardage between Pascal Fils, who had 14 carries for 143 yards and Alain Dorval, who had three receptions for 37 yards. Quarterback Jean P. Shoiry was 14-of-33 for 144 yards and one touchdown to Alexandre Beaudoin.
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Gryphons 34, Lancers 8
At Windsor, Ont., University of Windsor running back Daryl Stephenson is the new CIS record holder for career rushing yards.
The fifth-year senior tallied 115 yards on the ground Saturday night in a 34-8 home loss to Guelph to increase his career total to 4,740 yards in 33 conference games, putting him two yards over the previous CIS mark.
The six-foot-two, 225-pound Stephenson set the new CIS standard on a four-yard run with just over six minutes left in the contest.
Stephenson, who himself captured the Hec Crighton Trophy as CIS MVP in 2006, kicked off his Lancer career in 2004 with a 1,192-yard campaign, a CIS single-season record for a freshman.
He led the nation in rushing the next two years, with 1,306 yards in 2005 and 1,140 yards in 2006, becoming the first player in CIS history to rush for 1,000 yards or more in three consecutive seasons.
