Bisons earn spot in hardy cup
Second half comeback leads to a 44-29 victory
NEIL OWENS VOLUNTEER STAFF
The playoffs always bring more drama to the game, but not only was the Bisons football victory this weekend entertaining — it also brings the Herd to the Canada West final next week, and one step closer to the Vanier Cup.
On Saturday, Nov. 4 at Canad Inns Stadium, the Bisons rallied from a first half deficit to defeat the Regina Rams 44-29 in front of over 2,200 vocal fans in the CIS Canada West semi-final.
The vaunted Bisons offence showed its prowess early, culminating with a John Mackie-to-Neil Fulgueras nine-yard touchdown on their first drive, and a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
Led by the ever-dangerous QB Teale Orban, the Rams responded with two touchdowns, landing a serious gut-shot to the Bison momentum. First, the Rams scored on a 90-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Sisco. Then, after forcing the Bisons to punt, the Rams’ Steve Ryan took the return 95 yards to the house, giving the Rams a surprising 14-8 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Bisons defence forced Regina to turn the ball over deep in their own end, thanks in large part to a sack by Justin Cooper. The Bisons offence took advantage of their great field position, scoring on a perfect 30-yard touchdown pass from Makie to Terry Firr to take back the lead 15-14.
Later in the second quarter, the Rams struck again when Orban hit Chris Getzlaf on a long pass that went 53 yards for the touchdown. That score gave the Rams the halftime lead, 21-15.
Despite the fact that the Bisons offence was driving the ball very well and that the Rams’ scores came on hitor- miss plays that were sometimes out of the Bisons’ hands (the refs missed a clear clipping call that sprung Ryan for the punt return touchdown), there was still some worry in the Bisons locker room at the half. Thoughts of the Bisons’ 2002 season began to creep into memory, when the thenundefeated Manitoba Bisons team lost a heartbreaker to the Regina Rams in the semi-finals.
Tailback Karim Lowen spoke about how the coaches diminished those thoughts, and put the game into perspective.
“The coaches said you know what, we’ve been doing everything right, and we just need to get more physical, and we need big plays. In the first half [Regina] had big plays, which got them up on us.”
Wide receiver Steve Gronick added that the team was focused on victory.
“We all knew we were going to come back and win, that’s our style. Even if we’re down we’re going to beat ’em up and run them into the ground in the fourth quarter. And that’s what we did.”
Indeed, the Bisons responded by dominating the second half with some dynamite play. In the third quarter, Simon Blaszczak carried two Rams defenders on his back on his way to the Rams’ 16-yard line. Blaszczak then finished off the drive by catching a pass from Makie, giving the lead back to the Bisons 23-21.
The Bisons extended their lead to 30-21 when Karim Lowen rumbled 13 yards for a touchdown. By the end of the game, Lowen had quietly accomplished one of the great Bisons playoff performances of all time. On 34 carries he ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
After another third-quarter touchdown had given the Bisons a 37-21 lead, Orban attempted to engineer a comeback for the Rams. Orban successfully drove the ball to the Bisons’ goal line before sneaking the ball into the end zone himself. A two-point convert made the score 37- 29 for the Bisons.
Orban had an up-and-down game, but Mackie (23 for 38, 286 yards, three TDs, three INTs) maintained that Orban (16 for 36, 334 yards, two TDs, three INTs) is a very talented player. “I admire him, he’s one helluva kid. I’ve known him from back in Regina and that kid has a cannon, and I love watching him play football,” Makie said.
The Bisons sealed their victory with Karim Lowen’s third touchdown, making the final score 44-29 for the Herd.
Manitoba will now face the Saskatchewan Huskies — who defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 35-16 in the other Canada West semi-final — in the Hardy Cup to determine the best team in Canada West. Game time is at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 in CanadInns Stadium in Winnipeg.
Kick returner Brad Black said he is pumped up to be facing Saskatchewan: “Bring ’em on. We’ve got a score to settle with their quarterback. We went into Saskatchewan and we beat them. After the game he said next time they play us it’s going to be a different outcome, and they’re going to beat us. So, we’ll see what happens next Saturday.”
