Red Bombers rally to sink Seawolves

Published Saturday November 12th, 2011 by COLIN MCPHAIL For The Daily Gleaner

It was a game to remember for some, and possibly one to forget for others.

The score was 22-22 with one second left in the fourth quarter. The University of New Brunswick Red Bombers were lined up just inside the Saint John Seawolves’ half, looking to avoid overtime in the Atlantic Football League semifinal.

The whistle blew and the ball was snapped to Cody Stewart, who sent a punt sailing into the UNBSJ end zone. Evan McAulay, who simply needed to run five yards and get out of his end zone, hauled the ball into his clutches, took a step to his right, bumped into a teammate and promptly fell to the BMO Centre turf.

As McAulay’s knee touched the green surface, the referee’s whistle screeched, signalling a single point and the end of the game. UNB had won 23-22.

Confused? So were the teams. There was a two-second pause before the reality of what had happened sunk in. However, before his club charged Stewart and celebrated at midfield, Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore already knew they had advanced to the AFL final.

“You take them whichever way you can,” he said after Friday’s roller-coaster game.

“At the end it was just wild. We just got ourselves in a position where we were able to kick for the single and we put it in the end zone. They had a nice catching play and they stumbled and tripped and fell in the end zone.

“What an incredible ending to a pretty good football game.”

Stewart was still in disbelief after the once-in-a-lifetime finish.

“It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever played in or seen,” he said.

“I just had lots of great blocking, lots of great time. I just knew we had to get it into the end zone and luckily the guy couldn’t get it out and we won the game.”

It was a see-saw affair as much as it was a comedy of errors. The Red Bombers had several opportunities to run away with the match, yet always managed to commit a costly blunder that allowed Saint John back in.

After running back Eric Smith punched a four-yard score to open the game, Jory Smith picked off a Trevor Harrison pass for a 40-yard interception return to give the Red Bombers a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. Then a series of mistakes took the wind out of their sails.

UNB’s Jordan Ley dropped a sure interception, and possibly a 110-yard touchdown return, off Harrison at the Bombers’ goal line. The play left the Bombers deep in their end and they eventually conceded a safety. Three minutes later, Stanley Barnaby did pick Harrison for another interception, but fumbled back to the Seawolves, who marched and kicked a field goal.

Shortly after, Tommy Broad had plenty of room to run after a clever reverse by the Bombers at their own eight-yard line. Broad was on his way to a significant gain until he tripped over a teammate, forcing the punt squad to surrender another safety.

Three plays that could have blown the game wide open were all for not and the Seawolves left down by seven at the half before they came out firing in the third.

The Seawolves caught the Bombers napping and scored 15 points that would go unanswered until 1:37 left in the fourth quarter.

After marching down the field and with help from the Seawolves conceding 25 yards in penalties, Bombers QB Brendan Cornford spotted Eric Smith in the end zone to cut the deficit to 22-20. Then Cornford swung out to his right and sent a strike to Pat Forbes to complete the two-point conversion before Stewart kicked his miracle punt.

It was ugly, but Dollimore said it showed a lot of character.

“Against Holland College last weekend, we spotted them 14 points in the first two or three minutes, then we marched and came back and see-sawed back and forth and won. That’s the way this league is: it’s open to really anybody.”

However, the Bombers coach knows the game could have played out differently if luck wasn’t on their side. He said they have to execute better on offence at all times, noting when Cornford threw up an interception at the goal line midway through the fourth after marching over 60 yards.

“We can’t keep creating our drives and shutting down our drives.”

Despite the manner in which they advanced, every Bomber will be smiling for the rest of the weekend nonetheless.

“This group of guys is unbelievably good to play with and I’m excited we get to move on to the final together,” said Stewart.

When asked who he’d rather see emerge from today’s Dalhousie-Holland College semifinal, Stewart said he couldn’t care less.

“It doesn’t matter because we’re going to give it our all and do our best and try to bring home the championship.”

Red Bombers knock off Hurricanes in AFL play

Sports digest Published Monday October 31st, 2011

In one of the most exciting games of the Atlantic Football League season, the UNB Red Bombers knocked off the previously unbeaten Holland College Hurricanes 28-26 in Charlottetown Saturday. FL season, The UNB Red Bombers Football team defeated the unbeaten Holland College Hurricanes by a score of 28-26 at PEI on Saturday. The win for the Bombers (3-3) leaves them in second place, while the Hurricanes (5-1) had already secured a first- place finish.

The Bombers were down quickly, trailing 14-0 four minutes into the game, but they tied it up before the end of the quarter on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Brendan Cornford to slotback Pat Forbes after a UNB interception, and a five-yard TD pass from Cornford to Eric Smith.

A Phil Lanthier field goal allowed the Hurricanes to take a 17-14 lead into the half. Bombers were hemmed deep in their own zone following a wide Lanthier field goal attempt in the third quarter. They conceded the safety to fall behind 19-14. But a 12-yard strike from Cornford to Cody Stewart and a missed two-point convert attempt left the Bombers with a 20-19 lead. Hurricanes struck back with a touchdown from quarterback Humsley to Jeff Hillier covering 47 yards to make it 26-20 for the ‘Canes entering the fourt quarter.

In the final two minutes, Cornford and company drove the ball deep into Holland College territory but the drive was snuffed out by a Patrick LeFrank interception. Holland College conceded a safety and kept the ball, leading 26-22. Bombers got the ball back and Cornford connected with Forbes on a 30-yard TD pass with 56 seconds to play. Bombers rattled the convert off the upright.

Holland College marched up the field and got to within field goal range for one final attempt, but the field goal attempt was short, giving the Bombers the victory and home field advantage for the AFL semifinal here Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.

Smith sparks Red Bombers

Published Monday October 17th, 2011  By COLIN MCPHAIL For The Daily Gleaner

A pair of touchdowns from running back Eric Smith led the University of New Brunswick Red Bombers to a 27-20 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in a see-saw affair at BMO Centre Saturday night.

It was an important comeback victory for the Red Bombers after a heartbreaking loss to the Saint John Seawolves in their Atlantic Football League home opener Oct. 1. After the Thanksgiving bye week, the well-rested Bombers outlasted their Nova Scotian rival to improve to 2-2 on the season.

UNBSJ is also 2-2 and Dal is 0-4. The Holland College Hurricanes, who beat the Seawolves 22-14, are 4-0.

“We were expecting the win and we came out with it,” said UNB quarterback Brendan Cornford.

A blocked punt early in the fourth quarter set up a two-yard score by Smith to give his squad a 24-20 lead. On the following kick return, the Bombers recovered a loose ball fumbled by Dalhousie’s Greg Pelly at his own 32-yard line, which led to Cody Stewart’s second field goal of the game, clinching the 27-20 final.

“We just hung in there and waited for our breaks, and we made our own breaks with the punt block,” said Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore.

“We made that move and blocked that punt. It was huge. When the kid fumbled coming around the corner, that was the icing on the cake for us.”

After taking an early 3-0 lead, Cornford opened the second quarter by evading pass rushers to find an open Stewart, who doubles as a wide receiver, for a 37-yard catch-and-run play to go up 10-0.

Cornford’s mobility was key in the victory. On several occasions the Bombers’ quarterback scrambled around the pocket and found targets downfield or decided to hold on for significant gains.

As UNB was trying to run out the clock with under two minutes left, Cornford swung outside of the pocket for a 10-yard run on second and 9, picking up the important fresh set of downs for his squad.

“He made some really nice reads and late in the game we asked him to come outside to kill the clock and he did that really well,” Dollimore said.

Cornford praised his offensive line for the available time and space.

“Our O-line played a hell of game tonight,” he said. “That’s what it comes down to – if you don’t have good blocking, you can’t make good plays.”

After a botched punt snap, the Tigers were handed the ball in the Bombers’ red zone. Dalhousie would punch in its first score on a goal-line play, but fail on the extra point attempt to leave the score at 10-6 midway through the second quarter.

UNB responded two minutes later with a 25-yard rushing touchdown by Smith for his first score of the night after Cornford connected with Stewart for a 34-yard gain.

Stewart, a Leo Hayes High School product who played with the Saint Mary’s Huskies of the AUS, made himself open for deep looks from Cornford all game long.

“Cody Stewart coming from Saint Mary’s last year, he’s just an awesome addition to our offence,” Cornford said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better from my receivers.”

The Tigers answered right back as quarterback Brendan Festeryga went deep just before the half and minutes into the third quarter for a 38-yard touchdown and a 36-yard TD. A successful two-point convert on the second score gave the Tigers a 20-17 lead before Smith mounted the comeback.

Although Festeryga picked apart the UNB secondary, the defence made a number of timely stops in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Jeff Madsen made four impressive coverage plays on deep throws by Festeryga during the Tigers’ final two drives to seal the win.

“Jeff Madsen saved our team in the final three minutes,” Dollimore said.

The two squads meet again Saturday at 6 p.m. at Wickwire Field in Halifax.

Seawolves spoil Bombers’ homecoming

Published Monday October 3rd, 2011 By CHRISTOPHER CAMERON For The Daily Gleaner

After being routed 33-7 by the UNB Red Bombers the previous weekend, the UNBSJ Seawolves spoiled the Bombers’ homecoming game Saturday with a 14-7 victory at BMO Centre.

Prior to the Atlantic Football League game, the Red Bombers retired Tony Proudfoot’s No. 24 jersey, hanging it below the scoreboard at BMO Centre. They also awarded the scholarship in Proudfoot’s name to UNB slotback Pat Forbes.

Once the game got underway, both teams struggled to have any offensive success through a scoreless first quarter.

The Bombers’ offence started to click late in the second quarter. Starting on their own 35-yard line, UNB quarterback Brendan Cornford completed an 18-yard pass to Forbes and another to wide receiver Andrew Guest to push the ball into Seawolves territory at the 45-yard line.

Nick Lane-McEachern ran the ball to the 34 on the next play and, with a five-yard penalty to the Seawolves, the Red Bombers were in a position to score.

However, Cornford’s next pass attempt was intercepted by Justin Mousek of UNBSJ.

“Offensively, surprisingly, we moved the football,” said Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore. “We moved it on the ground to the outside better and we moved it in the air, but we have to give them credit. They really prepared for our inside running game that we had last week. We ended up not being able to finish up any offensive drives, shooting ourselves in the foot with either an interception or a fumble.”

Beginning on their 27-yard line, the Seawolves put together a scoring drive when Isaiha Nice ran for 23 yards and, after a two-yard loss, UNBSJ quarterback Trevor Harrison threw to Joel Searle, who took the ball from his own 48-yard line to UNB’s five.

After two failed attempts to get into the end zone, Harrison pushed the ball in himself and the point after gave the Seawolves a 7-0 lead.

After the Bombers fumbled the ball away in Seawolves territory, the Saint John squad put up some insurance points after starting near midfield. Alex Peabody’s 56-yard touchdown run gave the Seawolves a 14-0 halftime lead.

The Red Bombers recovered a fumble on the UNBSJ 21-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but fumbled the ball away two plays later to waste the opportunity.

UNB finally got on the board with 4:11 remaining. Cornford hooked up with Cody Stewart for a 25-yard pass and, following a UNBSJ offside penalty, Derek Broad caught consecutive passes from Cornford to get the Bombers on the board, but the Seawolves held on for the 14-7 win.

“The film of last week’s game wasn’t so pretty,” UNBSJ head coach Dave Grandy said. “We just got the guys to work harder in practice this week and work on our fundamentals. Last week we were caught a little off guard by their offence and they’ve got some great receivers out there. Today, we ended up with four interceptions and two fumble recoveries and really hurt their offence.”

Although Dollimore would have preferred a victory, he was pleased with his defence and knows his offense was unlucky on certain drives.

“The defence was just swarming,” he said. “They (defence) were energized, they blitzed well, they tackled well, they were in the backfield on a lot of the plays. There are a lot of positive things in this game. We just didn’t get the win.”

The Red Bombers are idle until hosting the Dalhousie Tigers on Oct. 15.

Red Bombers to honour Proudfoot

Published Friday September 30th, 2011 By CHRISTOPHER CAMERON For The Daily Gleaner

As the UNB Red Bombers prepare to host the UNBSJ Seawolves in week three of their Atlantic Football League season, they’re also planning a ceremony to honour Tony Proudfoot.

With kickoff at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Red Bombers will retire Proudfoot’s No. 24 jersey, the number he wore at UNB, which will hang under the scoreboard at BMO Centre.

“Tony’s brother and his daughter will be here to receive his jersey,” said Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore. “We will also be raising a banner under the scoreboard. The university has also promised they will find a place in the Aitken Centre to hang the banner in the off-season, when the field isn’t in use.”

Proudfoot played for the Bombers from 1967 to 1971 as a linebacker before being drafted by the Montreal Alouettes. Dollimore, a former Red Bomber, played with Proudfoot and has been working with the UNB Associated Alumni to name a scholarship in honour of Proudfoot.

“I played with Tony my first year, which was his last year,” said Dollimore. “Tony was an inspiration to all the players on our football team. He was the leader on the field without question. He made his mark in professional football and that doesn’t happen very often from the Atlantic schools.

“We’ve been working with the university to have a scholarship put in his name to someone in the kinesiology department. There’s going to be a presentation of that at halftime.”

The Bombers will also be raising money for ALS research, as Proudfoot lost his battle with ALS in December.

“We’re planning on taking a dollar from every paying customer as a contribution to ALS and to support their society in trying to ultimately find a cure for that horrible disease.”

Although honouring Proudfoot is important to this weekend, Dollimore doesn’t want it to take away from the task at hand. The Seawolves will be looking for payback after losing 33-7 to the Red Bombers last week.

“I think the boys are always going to be up for this football game because there are four or five guys on our team from Saint John,” Dollimore said.

“Some of them even played for UNBSJ last year. There may be some guys that get caught up in the moment, but I don’t think it will be a major problem, motivating those guys.”

After their week one loss to Holland College due to their special teams lacking, the Bombers continued to struggle in week two, but their offensive and defensive teams stepped up.

“We still struggled on special teams,” said Dollimore. “(UNBSJ) did the same thing to us that Holland College did. On the very first play of the game they ran back a 90-yarder on us. Once we got the ball we took control.”

Dollimore said the main focus between games was not reworking offence and defence, but rather the technical aspects.

“Our systems are pretty much in place right now, so what we worked on in our second week was mostly technical stuff,” said Dollimore. “I think if we’re able to do that in practices, continuing to work on technical expertise instead of systems, then a simple, basic system can pay dividends if you can execute it.”

With the afternoon game time, the Bombers hope to have more fans in attendance to add to the atmosphere.

“In our view, this is when we want all of our games. It’s a prime time for the university students to be coming out on campus after lunch on a Saturday afternoon,” said Dollimore. “That was a tradition we always had for 30 years before at UNB and that was the whole idea this weekend.”

Bombers to salute Proudfoot in ceremony Saturday

Published Wednesday September 28th, 2011

The UNB Red Bombers will honour the memory of former Red Bomber and CFL Star Tony Proudfoot on Saturday at 1 p.m. at BMO Centre, prior to their Homecoming Game against the UNBSJ SeaWolves. Donations of $1 to the ALS Society of New Brunswick will be made for each fan in attendance in addition to voluntary donations being accepted.

At the start of the game the Red Bombers will retire Tony’s Red Bombers jersey number 24 by presenting the jersey to family members and unveiling a number 24 banner that will be displayed at BMO Centre during each Red Bombers home game and at the Aitken Centre between games.

The game also marks UNB Homecoming and the ceremonial kick-off will be made by UNB’s President Eddy Campbell. At half time the first Tony Proudfoot Memorial Scholarship will be presented to a UNB student.

UNBSJ teams come up empty on the field of play

Published Monday September 26th, 2011  in the Telegraph Journal

It was not a good day on the field of play for the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves.

St. Thomas University Tommies soccer teams collected a pair of victories over UNBSJ, registering a 2-1 triumph in men’s action and a 2-0 decision in women’s play.

In women’s action, STU captain Rachel Green score in the 70th minute and Hailee Cornford score a minute later in the 71th minute to give STU the win and the all-important three points.

Elmer Morales and Craig Draper scored for the Tommies while Manuel Reyes answered for UNBSJ. The Tommies defended hard to record their third win of the season and remain unbeaten.

On Sunday, St. Thomas and Crandall University played to a 1-1 draw. STU’s Amanda Benedict was ejected from the game in the 36th minute for a hard tackle on defender Meaghan Dickie. Cornford broke the scoreless game with a run through the Crandall defence at the 59th minute but Crandall answered on a terrific header by Heather Gallant with three minutes left.

In football action, the Fredericton Red Bombers dropped the Seawolves 33-7. In other action, Holland College of Charlottetown got past Dalhousie University 16-13. Matt Hanson returned the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown but the Seawolves dropped a 33-7 decision to the Fredericton Red Bombers in Atlantic Football League acion on Saturday at the Canada Games Stadium.

In women’s rugby action, the Mounties held on for a 10-7 win over St. Thomas, which moved them into first place.

In football action, the Saint Mary’s Huskies handed the Mount Allison Mounties a 60-6 defeat at Moncton’s Rocky Stone Field during the CIS game that was part of Scotiabank’s 2011 Touchdown Atlantic festivities. Major scoring for Saint Mary’s came from kicker Brett Lauther with 21 points (five field goals and six extra points), while Michael Dawes added two rushing touchdowns, and Jahmeek Taylor scored the first major of the game and made an 80-yard punt return for six points late in the third quarter. Jesse Mills and Melvin Abankwah contributed single touchdowns each. Mounties’ kicker Alex Curtis accounted for Mount Allison’s scoring with his two field goals of 35 and 29 yards. Leading rusher for the Huskies was Craig Leger with 129 yards on 14 carries. Mount Allison’s leader in the ground game was Emmanuel Musangu with 82 yards on 22 carries. In other action, the St. Francis Xavier X-Men fell 33-14 to the Acadia Axemen.

In Atlantic University Sport soccer action, the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men enjoyed a swing through Sackville on the weekend, defeating the Mount Allison University Mounties 4-0 in women’s university soccer action and 2-0 in men’s play.

Hurricanes rock Red Bombers on weekend

By K. Bryannah James – Sports Editor on September 21, 2011 in the Brunswickan

The UNB Red Bombers may have lost this past weekend against the Holland College Hurricanes, but it wasn’t due to any lack of commitment by the team. During the game, it was a hard-pressed struggle between the two teams, until the final quarter when the Hurricanes blew past the Bombers.

The first quarter started with a touchdown 15 seconds into the beginning of play by the Hurricanes’ Demetrius Ferguson. However, it was quickly balanced by a 13-yard run by Bomber, Eric Smith to tie the game 7-7.

“My offensive line was wicked tonight, I just can’t thank them enough,” Smith said.

Smith, who’s playing his last year as a Red Bomber, is one of the leading players to put points on the board, as his touchdown was one of three for the evening.

“I’m just a big guy who likes to play football. The boys on the field call me tanker, because I’m a firefighter in Oromocto. I just like getting the ball and playing.”

By the second quarter of the game the stakes were raised when the Hurricanes seized an opportunity as quarterback Jeffrey Madsen fumbled the ball, allowing the Hurricanes to one-up the Bombers, 14-7.

However, as the Bombers’ offense lined up on the 30-yard line, Sean Middleton ran downfield to the 14-yard line, securing the Bombers’ second first down.

Directly following, Smith put together two runs to get his second touchdown of the game and get the Bombers back on even ground at 14-14.

As the neck-to-neck game continued, it was just before the end of the first half when the Hurricanes blew past the Bombers with a touchdown by Ferguson, unsettling the Bombers and going into halftime with a 21-14 lead.

The Bombers started the third quarter with a bang as their special teams put the ball on the 50-yard line, giving UNB a good run.

Madsen had a strong pass to Cody Stewart, grabbing a first down for the Bombers, which was directly followed by Smith’s third touchdown for the evening, to tie the game again, 21-21.

“Eric was just phenomenal tonight, his effort was just incredible. Second, third, fourth, effort all the way through to score those touchdowns,” said Bomber head coach, Mike Dollimore.

Holland College answered back off he kickoff to take the lead again, 28-21. The Bombers scored their a fourth and final touchdown against the Hurricanes, when Madsen passed the ball to Stewart for nine-yard TD catch; the score now at 28-28.

“Jeff, we’ve given him a whole new offence in some ways and he’s getting used to that. But you know I thought he threw the ball fairly well, he got pressured and it sort of threw him off a little bit and he got sacked a couple times and you can’t do much when you’ve got peoples’ hands in your face. He did well to get the ball out a couple of times and he threw some very nice passes and I thought he did a great job tonight,” Dollimore said.

By the fourth quarter of the game, the Bombers didn’t move much on the scoreboard, but the Hurricanes did rock them down the lines as they pulled away with two more touchdown passes, leaving the BMO Centre with a 44-28 victory.

Special teams cost Bombers

Published Monday September 19th, 2011 By CHRISTOPHER CAMERON For The Daily Gleaner

The University of New Brunswick Red Bombers struggled on special teams from the opening kickoff Saturday night, resulting in a 44-28 loss to the Holland College Hurricanes in their Atlantic Football League season opener at BMO Centre.

Demetrius Ferguson returned the opening kick for a touchdown just 15 seconds in and the Charlottetown-based Hurricanes grabbed an instant 7-0 lead.

The Red Bombers tied it when Eric Smith ran 13 yards to the Hurricanes’ 14, then capped the drive with a seven-yard TD – his first of three.

In the second quarter, Holland College defensive tackle Tom Lund pounced on the ball on the UNB 38-yard line after quarterback Jeff Madsen fumbled the ball. Solid running by Dave Clark and Vinnie DeSciscio set up a two-yard strike from Nick Hunsley to Robbie Tufts and gave the Hurricanes a 14-7 lead.

The Red Bombers tied it 14-14 two possessions later, as Sean Middleton had a 25-yard run and Smith had back-to-back short runs for his second touchdown of the game.

“Eric was phenomenal tonight with second, third and fourth efforts all the way through to score those touchdowns,” said UNB head coach Mike Dollimore. “The offensive line gave him some holes to run through, but he broke some tackles and it was just incredible to watch and inspiring for the team.”

With just a minute left in the first half, the speedy Fergsuon took in a long UNB punt near his own goal line. He started up the near sideline before reversing direction and outrunning everyone for a 105-yard touchdown. The ‘Canes took a 21-14 lead to the dressing room.

“Special teams is always the weakest part (of the team) when you start off the season like this,” said Dollimore. “The difficulty is getting everyone out on time before the season. Special teams take a week or two to gel.

“If you take away those plays, it’s an even game.”

The Bombers tied it 21-21 in the third quarter, thanks to a 23-yard TD run by Smith.

“I’m just a big guy that likes to play football,” said Smith. “The guys on the field like to call me tanker cause I’m a firefighter in Oromocto. I just like getting the ball and playing. It’s my last year; I’ve got a career. I might as well have fun.”

The ‘Canes answered back on the ensuing kickoff, which was returned 60 yards by Clark to UNB’s 37, setting up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hunsley to wideout Jeff Hillier. The score and the convert by Enrique Alonzo-Ruiz, who was perfect on the night, made it 28-21 for the visitors.

Answering back one last time, the Bombers would push the ball down the field from their own 45 into the endzone as Cody Stewart caught a nine-yard TD pass from Madsen with 1:01 left in the third quarter.

That would be all the offence for the Red Bombers, however.

The Hurricanes took control in the fourth quarter.

A 58-yard touchdown run by Clark – he rushed for 182 yards on 16 carries – gave the ‘Canes a 35-28 lead. The defence then stepped up with a big tackle in the backfield by Marcus Dunphy, followed by a huge quarterback sack by Nathan Condon and Ryan Adams. It proved to be the turning point of the game.

Taking over on downs, the Hurricanes capped a drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Hunsley to Justin Murphy, extending the lead to 42-28. A James Court interception sealed the win and a UNB safety rounded out the scoring.

Prior to the match Dollimore expected Holland College and Dalhousie to be his team’s toughest tests this season, but felt the Bombers played well against the Hurricanes, who had routed the UNBSJ Seawolves 62-0 the week before.

“I was quite pleased with the way we moved the ball and we showed some real promise at defence as well,” said Dollimore. “I don’t think Saint John is a pushover because they just beat Dal.”

UNB’s next game is Saturday at Saint John.

Coaching Staff Introduced

We are pleased to introduce the coaching staff of this year’s UNBF Red Bombers:

Mike Dollimore: Head Coach

Coach Mike Dollimore has been part of the football scene in Fredericton and New Brunswick for over 40 years. He joined the UNB Red Bombers in 1970 as a member of offensive line. Mike continued to play and coach with the Red Bombers until 1980 when the program folded. He became involved in the Fredericton Minor Football program and  Football New Brunswick  in 1975 and was part of the group of coaches that started football at Fredericton High School in 1984.  Coach Dollimore was instrumental is  starting many of the elite programs now popular in the province that competed at the national level.

 

Mike has organized several re-unions of the “old” Red  Bombers in an effort to re-instate Football on the UNB Campus at the CIS Level.   Mike was pleased to step into the breach as the Head Coach for the current UNB Red Bomber Football Club of the AFL.

He considers the AFL as “The most exciting football I have ever been involved with in 40 years. You just never know how the game will end , but you know its going to be exciting  down to the last minute.” He was thrilled to be part of the 2009 Championship team.

The return of football to UNB has been a longstanding dream for Mike because he wanted help build a sense of community at UNB and give students a sense of tradition   they could remember for years ,as it was in the past!  With this dream come true,  Coach Dollimore looks forward to another fun-filled year for players and fans alike. He hopes to field a very competitive team for 2011!!

 

Ron Squires: Receivers and Special Teams Coordinator

Ron  was born in Nova Scotia and grew up in the Fredericton area. His Football career began at Fredericton High School playing for the FHS Black Kats. During two years of high school football, Ron played in 2 NBIAA High School Championships. Upon completion of high school, Ron attended Champlain Regional College for two years in Lennoxville, Quebec where he made it to the Bol D’or (Quebec CEGEP Championship). From here Ron went on to play for the Mount Allison Mounties where he was named to the AUS All-Star team and Rookie of the year for the Mounties. During his time with the Mount Allison Mounties, he played in the 1991 Vanier Cup in Toronto.

Ron began his coaching career shortly after University when he began coaching at Fredericton High School. He moved on to coach at Oromocto High School for 8 years as a Receivers coach. During his last three years, he had the role of Offensive Co-ordinator. After his 8 years with OHS, He joined the UNB Red Bombers for the 2010 season.

 

Jeff Taylor: Offensive Coordinator

Jeff began his football career with the Fredericton High School Black Kats. From there he moved on to the New Brunswick Under 19 Provincial Team and taking part in the Canada Cup National Championships.  Jeff has had a n extended coaching career with both FHS and Leo Hayes High both as Offensive and Defensive Coordinator.

Coach  Taylor has held the unique position as “Player Coach”for the Tamaki Lightning of Gridiron New Zealand in 2001 and the Fredericton Gladiators of the Maritime Football League where he has continued that role since 2004.

Jeff was the Red Bomber Receiver Coach in  our championship first season of 2009. He has held the position as Offensive coordinator for the past 2seasons.

 

Neil Cody: Linebackers

Neil is a Dartmouth, NS native who now studying towards a

Master of Business Administration degree  in Sports and Recreation Management at UNB.

Following a High School career as a lIne backer and Defensive lineman with  High School Panthers he represented Nova Scotia on the 99-01 Provincial teams. Neil played one year for the St. mary’s HUskies of the CIS as Linebacker before continuing his football career with the Dartmouth Knights of the Maritime Football League. Neil then turned his attention to coaching as Defensive Coordinator at Lockview High School, NS before joining the Red Bomber Coaching Staff as Linebacker coach in 2010.

 

Jay Thomas  Special Teams and Running Backs

Jay was introduced to football in grade 10 at Leo Hayes High School and is proud to be a member of that schools first graduating class.

He then went on to play for the “Champlain Cougars” in CEGEPin Lennoxville Quebec..It was there he was transformed from a slotback/Tight End into a Full back, a position he still enjoys playing for the Fredericton ”Gladiators” in the MFL.

Jay started coaching football in 2003, with a Bantam team at  Nashwaaksis Middle School and then helped Leo Hayes  High School under Coach Lee Hoyt .

Jay loves the game of football and the “bombers” are pleased to welcome to their coaching staff.

 

Terry McIntyre-Defensive Backs Coach

Coach McIntyre is a native of Truro, Nova Scotia where he played minor and high school football before heading to Mount Allison for a four year career as a defensive back with the football Mounties from 1972-75.

He has been involved in all levels of football in the greater Fredericton area, New Brunswick  and the Maritimes for the past 17 years as a coach, builder and official. He built Capital Area Minor Football into the largest youth football organization in the province. He founded both the Maritime Football League and the Maritime Women’s Football League. In 2001 he received Football Canada’s Bill Leveridge Award for outstanding service to football. He is a Past President of Football New Brunswick. For the past two seasons he has been head coach of the Capital Area Gladiators of the Maritime Football  League. In May 2011 he was inducted onto the Fredericton Sports Wall of Fame for his contribution to the game.

 

Jamie Edwards: Defensive Coordinator

Jamie started his football career getting recruited by Mike Dollimore during grade five to burn off some excess energy. He played two years with Coach Dollimore and did not play again until drug out by Donny Davis in grade 12 to play football play for the BlackKats.  He played that season at DT and was defensive MVP of the Championship game 1996 while also winning Rookie of the Year.  He was then recruited as an OL to Champlain Regional College in Lennoxville.  Jamie started every game for the Champlain Cougars and in his second season won the Bol D’or in 1999.  Jamie enjoyed a 5 year playing career with Bishops playing against many of the top teams and players in the country.  In his third season won the Marcel Lebrun award which signifies outstanding performance and dedication to the Bishops Gaiters program.  Since 2001, the first season of the MFL, he has been a player coach on the defence and in 2003 he took over as the full time defensive coordinator until present.

Jamie  began coaching with the Under 17 program in the spring of 2005 and that fall helped Jeff Taylor with the defence at FHS.  In 2009  he joined the  Red Bombers as Defensive Line coach. jamie is very excited to be entering his second season as the Bombers Defensive coordinator.

 

Jeremy Curnew: Defensive Line

Jeremy Curnew played football for the Fredericton High School Black Kats and the Mount Allison Mounties. He later coached Defensive Line for the Black Kats and then the inaugural Leo Hayes Lions. Jeremy is a teacher and has recently returned to Fredericton with his family after living overseas. If teaching doesn’t work out he’s going to drive the Zamboni for the Montreal Canadiens.

 

Isaac Gorge: Special Teams/ Defensive Backs

John Skillen: Special Teams/ Linebackers

Erik Watson: Offensive Line

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