Box Score Friday, August 30, 20136:00 PMWinnipeg, UofM - Investors Group FieldBox Score Score1234FinalGolden Bears101421541UofM Bisons143217265 AB TDs: Aundrey Webster (2), Ryan Schwartz, Adam Zajdel and Tak Landry Despite over 600 yards of offence, generated on 99 plays, as well as five touchdowns, the Alberta Golden Bears suffered a 65-41 season opening loss to the No.10 ranked Manitoba Bisons on Friday night at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg. The Bears, in their first game under new head coach Chris Morris, churned out a whopping 618 yards of total offence against Manitoba, but in the end, couldn’t keep up with the Bisons and their game-breaking plays. “This is a young team that played very hard tonight,” said Morris. “They fought and they fought, but in the end, Manitoba just made some big plays that we couldn’t stop. There was a point in the second quarter, when we got to within one point, and I thought we had them, but we made some mistakes that young teams make and weren’t able to overcome that in the end.” Manitoba finished with 628 yards of offence, 400 of which came from their dynamic rushing game. Third-year running back Anthony Coombs, who is a two-time all-Canadian, rushed for 223 yards and a pair of TDs to pace the Bison attack, while new quarterback Jordan Yantz, the 2012 Canadian Junior Football League offensive player of the year, completed 14 of 19 passes for 215 yards with four TDs and one INT. Led by fourth-year quarterback Ryan Schwartz, the Bears’ offence countered with 272 rushing yards, and 352 yards through the air. Schwartz, who previously played at Simon Fraser University for one season (2010), and spent two seasons as the Alberta back-up (2011 and 2012), completed 32 of 46 passes for 352 yards, with four TD passes and one interception. He also rushed 13 times for 150 yards and a TD, including a 40-yard strafe job in the second quarter. “Ryan did a great job tonight,” stated Morris, "I mean he almost had 500 yards of offence by himself, so we couldn't ask any more from him." He’s a kid I know I can count on to lead this team, and he deserves to help this team do something special.” Freshman running back Ed Ilnicki hauled off for 103 yards on 24 carries in his CIS debut, while fellow rookie back Aundrey Webster caught three passes out of the backfield for 56 yards and a pair of TDs. Webster, a former star with the Harry Ainlay Titans, dazzled the Bisons’ defence in the second quarter when he caught a screen pass, spun around his defender and then scampered 39 yards for the major. Rookies Tak Landry and Adam Zajdel also caught TD passes on Friday night, and in fact, every one of Alberta’s touchdowns came from either freshmen (Webster, Landry, and Zajdel) or a new starter (Schwartz). The Bears got on the scoreboard first when sophomore kicker Stephen Fabian booted a 28-yard field goal, but the Bisons scored the first major of the game with a 1-yard TD plunge on the following drive. They found pay dirt again, this time at the 9:05 mark, when Yantz connected with Andrew Smith from seven yards out. Webster closed the gap when he galloped in at 13:52, which made the score 14-10. Smith and Yantz connected again in the second quarter, this time from 11 yards out, as the Bisons jumped out to a 21-10 lead. Schwartz managed to cut that deficit down when he called his own number, and rushed 23 yards for the TD. The touchdown capped off a nine-play, 88-yard drive for Alberta. After a Bisons field goal and punt single, Webster scored his second TD of the game when he snuck in behind the coverage to catch a 14-yard toss that brought the Bears to within one point of Manitoba at 25-24. However, as quickly as the Bears gained momentum, Manitoba took it away by racking up three straight touchdowns, including a 75-yard interception return, to balloon their lead from one point to 22 points as the first half came to a close with the home side in front 46-24. It got worse from there when, on the opening possession of the third quarter, Coombs ripped off an 84-yard TD run to bury the Bears behind a 53-24 score. The explosive running back would pick up another big TD run, this time 62 yards, as the Bisons eventually went up 63-26. Schwartz guided Alberta on two more scoring drives, both in the fourth quarter, to make the final score 65-41. The Golden Bears (0-1) will next play in their Foote Field home opening game, Saturday, September 7 at 5:00 pm, against the UBC Thunderbirds. Game Notes: The game was the first-ever CIS game to be played in the brand new Investors Group Field…10,199 tickets were scooped by fans in what was a record regular season Manitoba attendance…the 106 combined points is the third-highest scoring game in Canada West history…the last time Alberta posted 40 points or more was October 23, 2010, which was a game, coincidentally, against Manitoba, and which is Alberta's last regulation win...Golden Bear Reid Bowman was injured late in the fourth quarter and had to leave the field on a cart with a suspected broken leg SCORING SUMMARY 1st Quarter AB – Stephen Fabian 28-yard FG, 3:33, 3-0 AB MAN – Kienan LaFrance 1-yard TD run (Nick Boyd convert), 4:56, 7-3 MAN MAN – Andrew Smith 7-yard TD reception (Nick Boyd convert) 9:05, 14-3 MAN AB – Aundrey Webster 39-yard TD reception (Stephen Fabian convert) 13:52, 14-10 MAN 2nd Quarter MAN – Andrew Smith 11-yard TD reception (Nick Boyd convert) 1:14, 21-10 MAN AB – Ryan Schwartz 23-yard TD run (Stephen Fabian convert) 4:29, 21-17 MAN MAN – Nick Boyd 23-yard FG, 7:33, 24-17 MAN MAN – Nick Boyd 84-yard punt single, 10:12, 25-17 MAN AB – Aundrey Webster 14-yard TD reception (Stephen Fabian convert) 11:10, 25-24 MAN MAN – Anthony Coombs 37-yard TD reception (Nick Boyd convert) 12:51, 32-24 MAN MAN – Tyler Fong 75-yard interception return TD (Nick Boyd convert) 13:43, 39-24 MAN MAN – Nic Demski 11-yard TD reception (Nick Boyd convert) 14:58, 46-24 MAN 3rd Quarter MAN – Anthony Coombs 84-yard TD run (Nick Boyd convert) :34, 53-24 MAN AB – TEAM SAFETY, 3:08 53-26 MAN MAN – Anthony Coombs 62-yard TD run (Nick Boyd convert) 4:43 60-26 MAN MAN – Nick Boyd 35-yard FG, 14:12 63-26 MAN 4th Quarter AB – TEAM SINGLE, 1:24 63-27 MAN MAN – TEAM SAFETY, 3:28, 65-27 MAN AB – Adam Zajdel 8-yard TD reception (Stephen Fabian convert) 7:40, 65-34 MAN AB – Tak Landry 30-yard TD reception (Stephen Fabian convert) 12:38 65-41 MAN Share this story Top stories from UAlberta