EDMONTON – Canada West football Most Valuable Player and Hec Crighton Trophy nominee Billy Greene quarterbacked the UBC Thunderbirds to a dramatic turnaround in 2011, leading the team to a 6-2 record and a spot in the Hardy Cup game just a year after the squad went 2-6.
Greene passed for 2,558 yards, most in the CIS, completing 171 of 286 pass attempts, throwing for 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions. The turnaround in the team’s fortunes mirror the progression of Greene’s career statistics.
“Billy has always had immense talent, but the growth and maturity that I have seen in him over the 18 months has been impressive,” said UBC head coach Shawn Olson. “Billy has worked harder, longer and more consistently this past off-season than before, which has elevated his confidence and position as a leader within our locker room. I strongly believe that his success this year and into the future is directly attributed to what he has done in the off-season.”
Greene is not just a threat with his passing skills. His running ability creates headaches for opposing teams as well. The Surrey, B.C. native also led his team in rushing with 482 yards and four touchdowns, ranking him sixth overall in conference rushing yards.
Saskatchewan Huskies offensive lineman Jordan Arkko has been acknowledged for his outstanding efforts with a Peter Gorman Trophy nomination as Canada West Rookie of the Year.
The 6-2, 295-pound engineering student started in all 10 games the Huskies played this season, including an exhibition game against the Windsor Lancers and the Canada West semifinal at UBC.
“Jordan made the difficult, but successful transition from high school to college football as an offensive lineman,” said Huskies head coach Brian Towriss. “He has excellent strength and mobility. He was very well coached technically at the high school level. He’s evolved into one of our top offensive lineman over the course of the season.”
Arkko and his line helped the Huskies to the third-best scoring offence scoring 238 points in eight conference games to average 29.8 per game. The Huskies also had the third-best rushing offence with 1,257 yards on the ground in the season.
CFLers Jordan Rempel (Hamilton/Saskatchewan), Gene Makowsky (Saskatchewan) and Scott Flory (Montreal) as well as current Huskies offensive guard and #1 CFL prospect Ben Heenan also started all games as an 18-year-old.
Regina Rams fourth-year defensive end Akiem Hicks is conference nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy, which is presented to the CIS Outstanding Lineman.
Hicks had a sensational season, leading the team in tackles – no small feat for a defensive lineman. The 6-5, 300-pound product of Elk Grove, Calif. ended up with 35½ tackles and set a Rams single-season record with 6½ sacks. Hicks also broke up three passes and forced two fumbles during the conference schedule.
“Akiem is, quite simply, a dominant player for us out there,” Rams head coach Frank McCrystal said. “He has an incredible combination of size, athleticism and physicality. Akiem has immense potential and is garnering a great deal of interest from NFL and CFL teams.”
For the second straight season, Sam Hurl of the Calgary Dinos is the Canada West nominee for the Presidents’ Award as the CIS Defensive Player of the Year.
A year after Hurl played four different positions for the Dinos en route to the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2010 he settled into the middle linebacker position and continued to build his reputation as one of the top defenders in the nation. Hurl led all playoff-bound players in the conference with 52 tackles on the season, including 32 solos, averaging more than 6.5 tackles per game. He was named to the Canada West All-Star team at linebacker, also for the second year in a row.
“Sam doesn't have a lot of ‘glory’ stats like sacks and interceptions, but he is near or at the top in tackles in every game,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill. “He's a very strong tackler and he moves well within the tackle box tracking down ball carriers. For the last two years he has been the Dinos' defensive leader and has been a primary reason why our defensive unit has improved. He is an established leader in the locker room and respected around the conference.”
The product of Calgary’s Centennial High School is a third year student in the Haskayne School of Business, majoring in Finance.
Rams third-year guard Brett Jones is Canada West selection as Outstanding Student-Athlete and a finalist for the CIS Russ Jackson Award, presented to the player best exemplifying the attributes of academic achievement, football skill and citizenship.
Jones started all nine games for the Rams this season, making seven starts at left guard and two more at centre. He was a key part of the team’s offensive line that lost just 90 yards on sacks during the Canada West season, the second lowest total in the conference.
Named an Academic All-Canadian in both of his first two years on campus, Jones carries an impressive grade point average in the Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science and is majoring in petroleum systems engineering.
“Brett is one of the most complete student-athletes that we’ve ever had here,” Rams head coach Frank McCrystal said. “He is outstanding academically, is a great player and an incredible teammate, and is simply a pleasure to coach.”
In 2011, Coach of the Year Shawn Olson guided UBC to a level of success unseen by the football program since the days of when Olson was at quarterback for the T’Birds.
In his second year as head coach, the team won six of eight regular season games, clinching the school’s first home playoff game since 1999, and is now in the Hardy Cup final.
“I’m not surprised,” said UBC Director of Athletics and Recreation Bob Philip about Olson’s award. “Going from 2-6 to 6-2, I think Shawn’s done an outstanding job and I think the big thing is he’s changed the attitude and culture of the team and that’s going to mean that it will have long-term success so it’s really well deserved.”
UBC scoring average went up by 10 points a game from last season to this season, while the defence gave up almost eight fewer points a game on average in 2011 when compared to 2010. Olson’s team also broke several streaks of futility in 2011, stopping a two-year home losing streak, going undefeated at Thunderbird Stadium, making the post-season for the first time since 2006 and hosting its first playoff game in 12 years.
Individual Canada West football major award winners are as follows (*unanimous selection):
Hec Crighton Player of the Year nominee / Frank Gnup Memorial Trophy: Billy Greene, UBC
Peter Gorman Rookie of the Year nominee: Jordan Arkko, Saskatchewan
John Metras Outstanding Lineman nominee: Akiem Hicks, Regina
President’s Award Outstanding Defensive Player nominee: Sam Hurl, Calgary
Russ Jackson Outstanding Student-Athlete nominee: Brett Jones, Regina
Coach of the Year: Shawn Olson, UBC
All winners automatically become finalists for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) awards to be handed out the evening of Thursday, Nov. 24th at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, just ahead of the 47th Vanier Cup on November 25th.
On Friday, the Calgary Dinos will host the UBC Thunderbirds in the 75th Hardy Cup game at McMahon Stadium, live across Canada on TSN at 6:00 p.m. MST.
www.canadawest.org / www.canadawest.tv
About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 16 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.
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