John Gaudes, Bisons Sports Information
WINNIPEG, Man. - Thanks to an exhilarating fourth quarter for the home squad, the Manitoba Bisons got their first win of the Canada West football season, 37-21 over the Alberta Golden Bears at Investors Group Field.
After managing just six, nine, and three points through the first three quarters respectively — in a game that remained close — Manitoba broke out in the closing 15 minutes. They rattled off 19 points in the frame, including two receiving touchdowns from fifth-year receiver Dylan Schrot, to take a two score lead and seal the game.
No slouch in Manitoba's first two losses, Schrot managed to better himself with his Week 3 performance. He caught six balls for 141 yards and two touchdowns, with a long play of 51 yards. The big day puts him tied for first in the Canada West conference in receiving yards (370).
Schrot is also on a pace in rarified air in Bison football history, as the record for receiving touchdowns in a season is seven — set by Mike Faisthuber in 2000 and Nic Demski in 2013. Schrot has five touchdowns through three games.
"Here is he again, for 141 yards on only six receptions, and he's been doing that every game," said Bisons head coach Brian Dobie. "He's unquestionably one of the best receivers in Canada West and on this football team."
"I think as an offence, once you start clicking, once you have that momentum, you've got to build off that energy. We seem like a momentum team," said Schrot.
On the Alberta side, it was a much better offensive performance than their previous two games, as they put together 427 yards of total offence compared to an average of 271.5 against Saskatchewan and Regina. Still, two key interceptions by quarterback Brad Baker proved to be difference-makers. Baker would finish 16-for-35, with 253 yards and a touchdown in addition to his turnovers.
Both of Baker's picks were thrown to second-year cornerback Arjay Shelley. The first came at a key point in the game. With the Golden Bears already up 7-6, Baker completed a 42-yard pass to Daniel Bubelenyi with ten minutes left in the second quarter. Setting up Alberta in the red zone with a chance to take an eight-point lead, Baker threw the pick to Shelley and stymied the Golden Bears' momentum.
From there, both teams traded jabs until Manitoba's big fourth quarter. Bisons quarterback Des Catellier threw his first of three touchdowns to Jesse Walker to end the first half, giving Manitoba a 15-7 lead at the break. Catellier finished 20-for-31 with 306 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
The Golden Bears answered in the third, though, as Brent Arthur banged in two field goals before running back Jonathan Rosery punched in Alberta's second major of the game. At that point in the fourth, Alberta was up 21-18.
Then came the Schrot show. Scoring two nearly identical catch-and-run touchdowns in two minutes, the fifth-year receiver quickly swung momentum in Manitoba's favour. With the first score coming with 7:37 left, and the next coming with 5:53 left, the Bisons had a 34-21 lead in what seemed like a blink of an eye.
A Brad Mikoluff field goal, his fourth of the game, gave the game its final score. The Bisons are now 1-2, while Alberta falls to 0-3.
"It just wasn't a game where we were in a good rhythm," summed up Dobie. "We never got rhythm, but we made plays and found ways to win. That's what I said [to the team], it's adversity. I don't care who you play, if you can versus adversity, then that's big."
In another example of deja-vu, Bison football will play Alberta again next weekend — this time on the road at Foote Field. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 21.