Yesterday, Canada West released the 2019 football schedule and there are plenty of storylines to pay attention to if you're a Bisons fan. Below is a breakdown of each.
Banjo Bowl against Saskatchewan to open up season
Manitoba has developed a tremendous rivalry with Saskatchewan over the years, with the team's record currently standing at 19-20 since 1996 (playoffs included), when head coach Brian Dobie took over as bench boss. One of those losses came in the Bisons' home opener last year, a nail-biting 48-46 loss where the hosts fought back from 11 points down in the final three minutes but were unable to score on a two-point convert to tie the game.
Manitoba will have a chance at redemption in 2019, as they'll open their season against the defending Hardy Cup champs on Labour Day weekend, Friday Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. Yet again, the contest — known as the Bison Bowl — will occur on the same weekend that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers do battle with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Last year, the contest occurred the weekend of the Banjo Bowl and this year it will coincide with the Labour Day Classic, offering up another opportunity for provincial bragging rights on the football field.
It's also Manitoba's only Friday night game of the year, providing an excellent opportunity for fans to take in an evening game day experience at Investors Group Field at a family-friendly price point. The two teams will then duke it out for a second time on Friday, Oct. 4, this time at Griffiths Stadium.
Saskatchewan will have a slightly different look to their roster in 2019, most notably at quarterback and running back, as veteran gunslinger Kyle Siemens and last year's rushing leader Tyler Chow have both graduated.
Interestingly, third year Adam Machart — a potential replacement for Chow — shares a connection to Manitoba's biggest running back recruit this offseason, former four-time Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) national champion Logan Fischer. The latter was a teammate of the former from 2015-17 and compiled 2,439 yards and 28 touchdowns in his career.
The more noteworthy battle may take place on the defensive side of the ball though. If all goes according to plan in training camp, Fischer — the early favourite to replace a likely CFL-bound Jamel Lyles — will have the chance to go toe-to-toe with a number of other former Hilltops that play for the Huskies, such as defensive lineman Riley Pickett as well as 2019 recruits Connor Delahey (defensive line) and Logan Bitz (defensive back).
The Huskies will also have a number of 204 players on their roster in 2019 in defensive back Charlie Ringland (Oak Park), linebackers Chris Mushenza (Grant Park) and James Bruin (Oak Park) and defensive linemen Kieran Cummings (Garden City) and Dayton Black (Neelin).
Double dose of Calgary
On top of the defending Hardy Cup champs, Manitoba will also see the Calgary Dinos twice in 2019, once on the road in week two and again at home in week seven.
History hasn't been kind to the Bisons, as their combined regular season and playoff record over the past 23 years against the Prehistorics is 14-27. The last time the Herd knocked off Calgary was in the 2014 Hardy Cup; however, the pair tend to play competitively against each other.
For example, in the lone regular season game between the two last year, Manitoba was driving into Dinos territory on their first possession before a 68-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown completely changed the momentum of the game. Additionally, the Bisons sacked Calgary pivot Adam Sinagra four times in the first half of the team's conference semi-final later that season and were down by just seven at halftime before the game was blown open in the final two quarters.
A key matchup to pay attention to this season is at quarterback. Calgary native Des Catellier enters his fourth year of eligibility and second straight as QB1 for Manitoba and will look to build on the career high numbers he put up in numerous categories, such as passing yards (2012) and completion percentage (65.9, also a program record).
One total he'll surely look to improve on are his numbers from last season against his hometown team. In two contests against Calgary, he was held to less than 300 combined yards, however it's important to note that Catellier fought through a tough injury in the semi-final game.
On the other side of the coin is the defending Hec Crighton winner, fifth-year Dinos pivot Adam Sinagra who's thrown for over 1,000 yards in the past two seasons against the Bisons. He'll have his work cut out for him in 2019 though, as Manitoba returns a healthy dose of the defensive line that gave Calgary problems in 2018, including defensive end Brock Gowanlock and defensive tackles Kent Hicks and Cole Adamson.
Regina rounds out the double dip
The third and final team that the Bisons will see twice in 2019 are the Regina Rams. Last year the pair put on a show for the ages during Manitoba's homecoming contest, with the Rams originally winning 32-31 in overtime. But the decision ended up getting overturned after Regina found out they had played with an ineligible player. The unfortunate turn of events propelled Manitoba's record to 22-14 (playoffs included) over the past 20 seasons against Regina.
Interestingly, 15 of those 22 wins have come on home turf for Manitoba and they'll look to increase that number to 16 when both sides go at it at IGF on Saturday, Sept. 28. The rematch takes place in the final weekend of regular season play on Friday, Oct. 25 in Regina.
Much like the Huskies, the Rams will have some big changes to their offence in 2019, most notably at QB where Noah Picton — the U SPORTS all-time leader in career passing yards — has graduated. Regina isn't starting at square one with the position though, as highly touted redshirt freshman Josh Donnelly saw time under centre a year ago and appears to be the favourite to start this year. Combating Regina's aerial attack will be a Bisons secondary that returns All-Canadian Shae Weekes and speed demon Stefan Conway at halfback as well as rangy 6'4" corner Arjay Shelley.
Homecoming against UBC is a can't-miss contest
There's never a shortage of fireworks when Manitoba and UBC face off and that's not likely to change in 2019 when the Bisons host the T-Birds in their annual homecoming game on Sept. 21 at 2 p.m.
The two squads hold near identical records against each other over the past 23 years. UBC has a slight advantage at 20-18, with both wins against the Herd last season (30-20 at UBC and 38-34 in OT at Manitoba) bumping them past the .500 mark. The Thunderbirds also hold a five-game winning streak over the boys in brown and gold, with Manitoba's last victory occurring in the 2016 pre-season. The Bisons' last regular season W occurred two years prior to that.
The easiest storyline to paint every year when comparing the two sides is the amount of BC born players that are on Manitoba's roster. Last season there were 14 and that doesn't include the eight other guys who at one time or another went out west to play junior football in the British Columbia Football Conference. These guys love to play against their hometown team and always seem to put on a show, including Hicks who had 5.5 tackles and 1.5 sacks against UBC a year ago.
Bison defensive lineman Kent Hicks laying a sack on UBC alum Michael O'Connor.
Manitoba looks for the three-peat against Alberta
The Bisons and Golden Bears have been in some absolute classics over the years, with Manitoba holding a slight edge record-wise at a combined 19-15-1 since 1996.
The Herd swept Alberta last season in back-to-back close contests (37-21, 37-27) and will look for a third in a row when they head on the road on Sept. 13.
Manitoba's secondary caused all kinds of problems for Alberta's QB combination of Brad Launhardt and Brad Baker over the two-game spread, combining for 11 pass breakups and three interceptions, two of which came from Shelley.
Not to be forgotten was rookie Jonathan Rosery however, who got his first career start for the Golden Bears in matchup one, going off for 143 yards and a score. He followed that up with over 100 yards rushing in the rematch.
Rosery is one of a number of rising stars in Alberta's program that includes a whopping 47 commits for 2019. The second year will likely be a major focus for the squad this season, but Manitoba's front seven that features returning linebackers such as Nick Thomas, Caleb Abraham and Brody Williams as well as impact recruits Andrew Smith (York Lions) and Tye Kitzman (Okanagan Sun) should be up to the task.
