Second year runningback Ed Ilnicki scored a trio of touchdowns to power the University of Alberta Golden Bears football team to a 38-31 victory over the No.10 ranked Manitoba Bisons on Saturday, October 4 evening at Foote Field in Edmonton.

Ilnicki, who hails from Spruce Grove, Alberta, scored rushing touchdowns in the second, third and fourth quarters, increasing his conference total to seven on the season which is tops in Canada West. He finished with 33 carries on the night, along with 192 total rushing yards. Freshman running back Levon Hawreliak also scored a major, as did sophomore receiver Tylor Henry. Kicker Stephen Fabian scored rouge, on a missed field goal, while the Bears were also awarded a safety.

Manitoba quarterback Jordan Yantz rushed for a pair of TDs, while receiver Matt Sawyer and linebacker DJ Lamala also scored for the Bisons. Kicker Ryan Jones also added a field goal.

Dell finished the night by completing 12 of 22 passes for 104 yards and one TD, while Henry caught six passes for 61 yards. Yantz, meanwhile, completed 26 of 41 passes for Manitoba, with 327 yards and one TD. Runningback Kienan Lafrance added 130 rushing yards for the Bisons, as well as 100 receiving yards.

With the win, the Bears improve to 3-2 on the season, including 2-1 at Foote Field, and they take sole possession of third place in the Canada West standings. Manitoba, meanwhile, slips to 2-3 on the year, but remain in a playoff position.

Alberta opened the game up with a 14-3 first quarter lead, thanks to touchdowns by Henry, his first of the season, and Hawreliak, his second of the season. But, the Bisons were suddenly back in the game when Lalama intercepted an errant Curtis Dell pass and returned it 26-yards for late first quarter TD.

Dell and the offence responded in the second quarter however, marching the field with a combination of underneath passes, hitch passes and the two-headed rushing attack of Ilnicki and Hawreliak. Ilnicki capped off the drive with a four yard plunge, and the Bears were able to go into half-time with a 21-10 lead.

Ilnicki found pay dirt on Alberta's first possession of the second quarter increasing the Bears' advantage to 28-10 early in the second half.

Yantz, however, put together a strong second half, as he first cut the lead down to 11 points early in the third quarter when he connected with a wide open Matt Sawyer in the end zone from 22 yards out, and then drew the Bisons to within five points when he scampered into the endzone, untouched, from 10-yards out at the start of the fourth quarter.

Aundrey Wesbter, Alberta's multi-purpose weapon, sparked the next points for the Bears when he returned a Manitoba kick-off 54-yards to spot the offence inside the Manitoba 50-yard line. Four running plays later, including a 15-yard dash by Dell, and Ilnicki was in the endzone again, this time from 12-yards out, as the Bears jumped out to a 36-24 advantage.

Alberta looked to have scored another touchdown, with 6:12 remaining in the fourth, when receiver-turned-defensive back Tak Landry scooped up a fumble at the Bisons' one yard line and fell into the endzone. But the officials ruled Yantz had intentionally grounded the ball, a penalty, and awarded Alberta a two-point safety touch instead.

Unfazed, Yantz once again marched the Bisons back into the Alberta endzone, as he finished off another drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to make the score 38-31 with 3:13 to go in the game.

Webster, as he did before, took another Manitoba kick-off back into Bisons territory, this time a 42-yard return, but Alberta couldn't capitalize and was forced to punt the ball back to the Bisons with less than a minute to play.

Yantz then led Manitoba on a harrowing march, as he connected with receivers all over the field, but stalled out at the Alberta 25-yard line. Facing a first-and-10 situation, Yantz floated a rainbow into the endzone, but sailed it well out of reach of the intended receiver. On second-and-10, with just three seconds remaining, Yantz heaved a prayer to Dustin Pedersen in the endzone, but pass was broken up by Landry, and the Bears held on for the 38-31 final. 

Both teams will take a "bye" next weekend, as will all Canada West teams over the Thanksgiving Weekend, but the Bears will play their final home game on October 18, at 2:00 p.m. against the Calgary Dinos, while Manitoba will host the Saskatchewan Huskies on October 17.