Box Score ALBERTA -- A commanding second quarter helped the Alberta Golden Bears defeat the Manitoba Bisons 37-16 on Friday night at Foote Field.
Trailing 7-0 after 15, the hosts proceeded to outscore the Bisons 21-0 to enter halftime up by 14. They didn't trail the rest of the way, putting up 504 yards of total offence, compared to 262 for Manitoba.
The win improves their record to 2-0 for the first time since 2015, while the Bisons fall to 0-2. The Herd face a critical test in British Columbia next weekend against the nationally ranked and presently undefeated Thunderbirds.
The biggest concern coming out of the game for the Bisons is the status of starting quarterback
Jackson Tachinski. He took a hit to his blind side on a blitz in the final minute of the second quarter and did not return. He finished the game five-of-eight passing for 39 yards, along with 19 on the ground.
Backup
Sawyer Thiessen, who started one game in 2021 for Tachinski, finished the contest, completing four passes for 63 yards. The Golden Bears dialed up numerous blitzes on Thiessen, forcing ten incompletions and also recording a sack.
A bright spot in the second half for the Bisons was running back
Vaughan Lloyd, who scored his second career touchdown on a 33-yard rush with six minutes left in the game. He led all Bisons with 53 yards on just five carries, averaging over ten yards per rush.
Through two games, Lloyd is tied for fifth in the conference with 105 rushing yards, while his yards per carry average of 8.8 leads all running backs in the conference.
A week after recording an opening play interception, Manitoba's defence was at it again on Friday night. This time, it was
Jarrett Alcaraz notching the first interception of his Bisons career, stepping in front of an Eli Hetlinger pass and taking it back 28 yards.
Just five plays later, the Bisons took their only lead of the game, as
Noah Anderson finished off a 57-yard drive aided by a 12-yard Tachinski rush for his first score of the season.
Alberta answered right back on a drive that took over five minutes, aided by 42 rushing yards from Matthew Peterson, who finished the contest with 158 while averaging over nine yards per rush.
The momentum of the game was permanently altered just under midway through the second quarter. Bisons linebacker
Markos Bockru had forced a fumble which was recovered by
Jake Nitychoruk in Bisons territory, but just three plays later the Golden Bears got the ball back.
Manitoba had driven 41 yards, gaining 15 on a fly sweep to
AK Gassama, but the speedster had the ball stolen from behind, and recovered by Jonathan Giustini.
Just four plays later, Alberta took the lead, as Eli Hetlinger (who threw for 205 yards) found Carter Kettyle from 14 yards out. A two and out from Manitoba was followed up by a second straight Alberta score on a 13-yard catch from Chevy Thomas.
Manitoba's defence kept them in the game all evening, holding Alberta to three field goals in the third, along with a fourth quarter interception from
Isaac Dokken, the second of his career.
A
Vinny De Rosa field goal and the Lloyd major kept Manitoba in the game, and if not for two costly penalties -- one on a blocked field goal return for a touchdown by Michael O'Shea Jr and another on a recovered onside kick -- the result could have been drastically different.
