Box Score Saturday, September 10, 20117:00 PMEdmonton, Alberta - Foote FieldBox Score Score1234FinalUofM Bisons2014622Golden Bears0110920 AB touchdowns: Jess Valleau and KK Sonuga Jess Valleau's 100-yard kickoff return TD is third longest in Alberta team history It wasn’t pretty, but the Manitoba Bisons will take it. Despite three fumbles and three interceptions, the University of Manitoba managed to spoil the Alberta Golden Bears’ football home-opener by posting a 22-20 victory, Saturday night before 1,078 fans at Foote Field in Edmonton. Alberta, which now drops to 0-2, recovered from a slow start but had their own series of struggles protecting the ball, giving up four interceptions, one fumble, and one turnover on downs. Receiver Jess Valleau scored on a 100-yard kickoff return, while running back KK Sonuga added a fourth-quarter TD rush as well. Steve McCaffrey, in his first season as a CIS kicker, nailed a pair of field goals and earned a 40.7 punt yard average. The Bisons, meanwhile, improve to 1-1 after getting touchdowns from receivers Brendon Bowman and Tyson Takasaki. Kicker Nick Boyd was also good on a pair of field goals. In a first half only a mother could love, the teams combined for a whopping nine turnovers and a dismal three points, as the Bisons forced Alberta into conceding a safety at 7:46 of the first quarter, and then McCaffrey picked up a punt single midway through the second quarter for the only scoring through 30 minutes. The halftime stats read like a horror show for both teams: Golden Bears starting quarterback Julian Marchand had completed three of 15 pass attempts for 42 yards and three interceptions, while Bisons QB Khaleal Williams had connected on six of 15 passes for 38 yards, with three interceptions and two sacks, to go along with a pair of team fumbles. Leading the defensive feast was Alberta corner back Brent Krawchuk, who banked two of those interceptions, while defensive back Lane Dell and veteran safety Jason Hetherington each recovered a first-half fumble. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, the offence simply stalled out when in possession, or turned it right back over to the Bisons. After McCaffrey opened the second-half scoring with a 21-yard field goal, Manitoba stormed ahead when Williams found Bowman on a seam pass, and the speedy receiver burned up 73 yards into the endzone at 5:08 of the third quarter. The Bisons appeared to be running away with it three minutes later, as they marched on the Bears and punched in another major, this time on a 27-yard TD strike from Williams to Takasaki. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Valleau sped past the entire Manitoba special teams unit, untouched, and picked up a 100-yard touchdown return, the third longest in Golden Bears’ team history. It seemed to be the spark Alberta needed, as Marchand and offence began to roll, putting drives together and protecting the football. Even after Boyd’s first field goal of the night, at 1:21 of the fourth quarter, the Bears marched right back down and capped off a six-play, 75-yard drive with a seven-yard rushing TD from fourth-year KK Sonuga to draw within two points. The Bears elected to go for the two-point convert, but the pass attempt to receiver Brad Quartel was just out of reach. Despite that setback, Alberta still managed to grab their first lead of the game, at 7:23 of the fourth quarter, when McCaffrey picked up his second FG of the evening. But, just over five minutes later, Boyd retaliated from 27 yards out to put the Bisons back in front, 22-20, with under three minutes to play. When the Golden Bears’ offence failed to move the ball, and was forced to punt, Alberta’s defence came to the rescue once again as veteran linebacker Duncan Morris sacked Williams for a loss of seven yards, which forced the Bisons to punt back to Alberta. However, with under a minute to go and yardage needed, Marchand was intercepted once again, this time by safety Teague Sherman, to effectively end the game. Golden Bears’ running back Sonuga simply got better as the game wore on, finishing with 22 carries and 113 yards, plus a touchdown. Alberta’s top receiver was Porter Brown as he caught three balls for 49 yards. Hetherington, moved to strong side linebacker position for the game, picked up 15 total tackles, plus a fumble recovery, while Morris had six tackles and a game-high two sacks. Freshman linebacker Connor Ralph had seven tackles as well. Manitoba’s Williams finished his night by completing 12 of 27 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, while running backs Kienan LaFrance and Anthony Coombs each had 12 carries for a combined 137 yards along the ground. The Golden Bears are next in action next Saturday in Vancouver against the 1-1 UBC Thunderbirds, while the Bisons return home to face the 2-0 Saskatchewan Huskies. Share this story Top stories from UAlberta