At the 104th annual Grey Cup between the CFL's East representative Ottawa REDBLACKS against the West representative Calgary Stampeders on Sunday, November 27 in Toronto as two Bison alumni were part of the winning team. Ottawa won 38-33 (OT) over Calgary, Bison alumni Kienan LaFrance and former Bison coach and alum Bobby Dyce are 2016 Grey Cup Champions with the REDBLACKS.
This is the first Grey Cup victory for LaFrance and second for Dyce (won a Cup with Saskatchewan in 2013).
LaFrance, 25, completed his CFL second season in 2016 after a successful four years (2011-14) playing at Manitoba. In his sophomore season with Ottawa, the Winnipeg native finished as the top rusher in the Grey Cup with 42 rushing yards on 11 carries (longest with 13) and added 31 receiving yards on six catches during the win. In the 2016 Eastern Final on Nov. 20, 2016, LaFrance was the game's top rusher with 157 rushing yards on 25 carries (6.3 average) along with a 20 yard rush TD to salt away the 35-23 home victory against the defending CFL champion Edmonton Eskimos. During the 2016 CFL regular season, he accumulated 163 rushing yards on 37 carries plus added 76 receiving yards on 12 catches with 1 TD reception in 16 games played.
From TSN interview after the Grey Cup game: "This is the craziest game that I've even been in. My squad did such a good job. Defence did an amazing job…the offence did an amazing job. It's so good," said LaFrance.
Ottawa selected LaFrance in the sixth round (45th overall) during the 2015 CFL Draft. In his first year at the CFL level, the 5'10", 210 lbs. runner had 17 rushing yards on six attempts plus had two receptions and added three punt returns for 68 yards in 2015.
Dyce was a receivers coach for Manitoba and also played receiver with the Herd prior to his CFL coaching career starting in 2003. He was special teams coordinator for Ottawa.
Bison Notes: Prior to his CFL career, LaFrance had a strong end to his Bison career in 2014, as he was a conference all-star as he finished second in conference with 785 rushing yards and tied for first in overall touchdowns in Canada West with ten. His seven rushing TDs also was tied for fourth in the conference and was third in all-purpose yards in Canada West with 1,058 in the 2014 season.
