Bisons dominate in a record setting night

Simon Fraser no match for the Herd

ROMER BAUTISTA STAFF

The Bisons football team broke their opponents’ confidence early, then broke the record books late as they steamrolled over the Simon Fraser Clan in a 77-7 victory Friday night at Exhibition Stadium in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

It was apparent that these two teams were mismatched from the very beginning. The Bisons got their offence rolling quickly when quarterback John Mackie connected with wide receiver Terry Firr for a 22- yard touchdown pass 2:41 into the game. From that point on they never took their foot off the throttle.

The Bisons went onto score twice more in the first quarter, on a sevenyard touchdown pass from Mackie to wide receiver Steve Gronick, and a 37-yard field goal from Peter Scouras. The score after the first quarter was 17-0 for the visiting Bisons.

Manitoba continued their offensive display in the second quarter, this time doing so with the ground attack. Rookie running back Matt Henry bruised and pounded his way into the end zone twice.

SFU scored their only points of the game in the same quarter, when Milos Zivkovic caught a nineyard touchdown pass from Jason Marshall.

It was the only blemish of the game for the Herd defence. They were all over the Clan offence, holding them to only 156 total yards. The Bisons finished the game with four sacks, two fumble recoveries, and an interception. Cory Huclack and Mike Howard tallied five tackles each, leading the team.

The score at halftime had the Bisons comfortably ahead 41-7. In his one half of action, Mackie completed 15-21 for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Nathan Friesen came in to start the second half and did a great job of controlling the game. He passed for 44 yards and one TD, and added 56 yards and a rushing TD.

The Bisons offensive line did their best to help out the cause. Besides keeping Mackie and Friesen on their feet, the o-line led a dominant running attack. Henry finished the game with 74 yards and three TDs, while Karim Lowen had 91 yards and one TD himself. Jon McLaren chipped in 90 yards of his own.

“At halftime we made a real concerted effort to run the ball. Our o-line did a great job. We rushed for nearly 300 yards in the second half,” said coach Brian Dobie.

In the process of routing their opponents, the Bisons set several new team records. Of note were the 77 points, the 70-point margin of victory, and 10 touchdowns, which shattered the nearly 30-year-old team records of 67 points, a 59-point margin of victory (67-8), and eight TDs set by the Bisons on Oct. 8, 1976. Other new team records include points in the first half (41), yards of net offence (653), and first downs in a game (34).

Despite the impressive victory, Dobie is keeping things in perspective. “Obviously I am pleased for my players, but they’re aware that this game was an aberration,” said Dobie.

In fact, the coach began preparing the team for their next opponents immediately after the win. “We have to take the excitement, settle down, and get back to business.”

The win improves Manitoba’s record to 2-0. Their next game is their homecoming game. They host the Calgary Dinos at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 at University Stadium.

The SFU Clan’s record fell to 0-1. Next week they host the number tworanked Saskatchewan Huskies.