VANCOUVER - For the first time in five seasons, the UBC Thunderbirds football team will take part in the Canada West playoffs.
The No. 9 Thunderbirds needed a second-half surge to beat the visiting Regina Rams by a score of 23-16 in Vancouver on Saturday afternoon and clinch a post-season berth.
“That's a load off our shoulders,” said UBC head coach
Shawn Olson. “I think that will allow our guys to relax a little bit. I really felt in the first half, especially offensively, we were playing a little scared. To their credit, they came out in the second half and played a little bit better.”
In a season where its potent offence has garnered the most attention, UBC's defence forced five second-half turnovers to spark a comeback that gave the Thunderbirds its fourth win of the season.
The winning points came at 10:45 of the fourth quarter when quarterback
Billy Greene (4th, Surrey, BC) found
Dave Boyd (5th, Duncan, BC) with a 25-yard touchdown pass to put UBC up 20-9. Greene completed 19 of 37 passes and threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Boyd, who also had a team-high 47 yards rushing, caught both of Greene's touchdown passes
At 11:46 of the third quarter, the pair connected for a ten-yard touchdown play that gave UBC a 10-7 lead after the 'Birds had trailed at halftime.
On the ensuing Regina possession,
Vivie Bojilov (1st, New Westminster, BC) grabbed the first of his two interceptions when picked off a Zach Oleynik pass at the Rams' 41-yard line.
That led to a 23-yard
Billy Pavlopoulos (3rd, Georgetown, ON) field goal at 9:21 that pushed UBC ahead 13-7.
The Rams got the ball back and Oleynik drove his team into UBC territory only to be intercepted again, this time by
Levar Hayden (5th, Calgary, AB), who also ended the game with two picks, at the UBC 23.
The Thunderbirds took a safety to make it 13-9 before responding with Boyd's second touchdown of the game.
But after Pavlopoulos kicked his third field goal of the game to make it 23-9, the visitors made a desperate push to tie the game.
Oleynik marched his team down the field and found Mark McConkey from five yards out for a touchdown that brought the Rams to within seven points with 1:59 left in the game.
Regina's defence stopped UBC and gave its offence a chance to tie the game.
Oleynik again drove his team deep into Thunderbirds territory. He found receiver Jared Janotta four times on the final possession of the game. But on its very last play, from the UBC five-yard line, Oleynik threw to Janotta once more only to the pass knocked away by
Devin Kavanagh (5th, Montreal, QC), setting off a celebration by Thunderbirds players and fans.
The win gives UBC a Canada West playoff spot for the first time since 2006.
“The defence did a great job,” said Olson. “They turned the ball several times, put us in a great position in the second half and I think that was probably their strongest effort in the Canada West from start to finish and I hope we can build off it.”
Regina went ahead 7-3 just before halftime. With 15 seconds left in the second quarter, Oleynik found receiver Brendan Owens in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown play. The drive was started by an interception at the UBC 51-yard line by Mike Kerr, who would also end the game with team-leading 7.5 tackles for the Rams.
Pavlopoulos had opened the scoring with a field goal at 13:32 of the second.
Thunderbird
Jordan Grieve (4th, Salmon Arm, BC) caught four passes for 87 yards.
In addition to his two interceptions, Hayden led UBC with 7.5 tackles in the game.
“Our defence can be explosive and dominating if we all do our jobs,” said Hayden. “We're coming together and it's the right time to peak, at the end of the year.”
For Regina, quarterback Oleynik was 29 of 53 for 388 yards but his two touchdown passes were offset by his four interceptions.
Owens was the leading receiver for Regina, racking up 120 yards.
UBC's much maligned run defence held Adrian Charles to just 67 yards rushing, just half of what the nation's second-leading running back averages on the year. Charles also lost a fumble.
UBC (4-2) will now travel to Edmonton for its next game, against the Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday, October 22. The Thunderbirds beat the Bears on September 17 by a score of 40-30.
Regina (2-4) will host provincial rivals, Saskatchewan (3-3) next week as both teams fight for playoff spots.
