UBC Thunderbirds win home-opener against SFU Clan in CIS varsity football

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (2007/9/4) — The University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds are victorious to open the Canada West regular-season for the second year in a row defeating the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Clan 19-11 in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) varsity football at Thunderbird Stadium.

UBC’s fifth-year running back Chris Ciezki was the dominant offensive player rushing for 199 yards on 25 carries and scoring his team’s only touchdown in the first half. The Thunderbirds took a 12-11 halftime lead into the fourth quarter when (SB) Braden Smith made a 4-yard touchdown reception to surge UBC ahead for good.

SFU’s defence held the Thunderbirds to just under an average gain of 7 yards per play making opportunities for a Clan comeback in the second half. On Simon Fraser’s final possession, (QB) Jason Marshall took the ball from the UBC 31-yard line but was unable to find a receiver in time before he fumbled on a sack by UBC’s (DE) Scott McCuaig.

Leading the Clan offence, Marshall collected 217 yards on 18-for-35 passing and one touchdown, but poor protection from his offence line yielding 3 sacks took its toll. (WR) Aaron Hargreaves scored SFU’s touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Marshall in the second quarter giving Simon Fraser a short-lived 11-9 lead.

Sophomore (QB) Danny Goldsby completed 15 of 25 passes for 159 yards and the one touchdown to Smith in his first start as UBC’s starting pivot. Thunderbirds’ fourth-year kicker Shawn McIsaac made both field goal attempts from 19 and 10 yards respectively.

During a pre-game ceremony, UBC retired its number 12 jersey worn by alumnus quarterback Danny Smith (Braden’s father) commemorating his achievements leading the Thunderbirds to the program’s first Vanier Cup appearance in 1978. The capacity crowd of 3,500 at Thunderbird Stadium also observed a moment of silence to remember Kevin Chin — another UBC football alumnus — who died at the age of 51 on Sunday.

A highly-touted University of Manitoba Bisons team is UBC’s next opponent on Saturday (2 PM PST) at Thunderbird Stadium. The two teams last faced each other in the 2006 regular-season finale: a convincing 43-20 Manitoba win.

On a 19-game losing streak dating back to the 2004 season, the SFU football program has its next chance for redemption on Sep. 15 in Saskatoon taking on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.