Cornford rallies Bombers to dramatic gridiron victory

Published Monday November 1st, 2010 by Robert Touchie of the Daily Gleaner

In a season that has left UNB Red Bombers quarterback Brendan Cornford feeling he’s been at the losing end of a bad trick, Cornford was pleased to come off the bench and provide his Bomber mates an early treat to their Halloween celebrations, leading the Red Bombers to a last minute 22-21 Atlantic Football League victory over the Holland College Hurricanes before 269 frozen fans at Chapman Field.

With the win, UNB runs its AFL record to 3-3, while the Hurricanes fall to 2-4 as the playoff picture begins to come closer into focus for the expansion Island entry and the defending league champion Bombers.

UNB came out strong after forcing and recovering a Hurricane fumble on their first play from scrimmage. Just one possession later, starting quarterback Jeff Madsen found Pat Forbes with a 20 yard pass play at the 10 minute mark of the first quarter to put UNB ahead 7-0.

Holland College responded midway through the second quarter when Jeff Hillier took a 15 yard Nick Hunsley pass 55 yards after finding a seam in the Bomber defence and darting diagonally across the frozen Chapman turf to even the score at 7-7.

The half would end 13-7 after a 15 yard TD scamper by Madsen (the PAT was no good) just 1:20 before halftime. UNB added two more points on a Holland College safety on the ‘Canes first possession in the second half.

Madsen left the game late in the fourth quarter with a hand injury, giving way to Cornford.

“The whole game Jeff carried us and then he got banged up and they needed me to come in, but I wasn’t fazed at all about the situation, I actually was really calm and had been playing through my mind from the bench, exactly what I would do if I had to go in,” said Cornford, the starter for the Bombers in their inaugural season..

“Our O-line did an amazing job and when I went in I wanted to score, we needed the win and I felt I had a statement to make. I think I made it, and hopefully there may be more opportunities for me over the remainder of the season.”

In just two series’ Cornford drove his team to the Hurricane goal line twice, winding up with 43 yards passing from four of six pass attempts, drilling one for a TD and one for an interception, just to keep things interesting.

Coming in ‘cold’ on a night that was numbing enough to those brave enough to venture out, Cornford entered the game with UNB trailing 21-15 and 2:39 remaining in the game. Starting on the UNB 40, Cornford led the Bombers on a six play drive that died on the Hurricanes three when he was picked off by Dave Clark. The whole thing took 53 seconds.

As quickly as Cornford had pumped the UNB faithful up, the air quickly appeared gone and it seemed to be ‘game over’.

UNB lineman Tyler Doak and the Bomber defence had something to say about that.

UNB’s stellar defence, led on this night by Doak, Justin DeMerchant, Brian Gilliland and Mike McSorley, came on to stuff the ‘Canes in two plays and force a punt.

That ate up 33 more seconds. More importantly, it forced the Hurricanes to punt from terrible field position and set Cornford and company up on the Hurricane 40 with 1:13 left to play.

Cornford went to work quickly, hitting Andrew Guest with a 12 yard pass, setting up the Bombers on the 28 yard line with a little under a minute to play. Randy Madsen ran 13 yards up the gut on a draw play, right into the eye of the Hurricanes, so to speak.

Cornford didn’t give them time to recover, quickly going to bruising Eric Smith running off tackle for another six yard gain and setting the ‘Canes up for a play action call that sent the UNB faithful into a frenzy.

“The pick on that first series almost threw me off but when I saw I’d get another chance, there was nothing but touchdown in my head,” said Cornford.

It came on a broken play.

“(Pat) Forbes was my last outlet, the tight end (Andrew Guest) was the first but he got held up at the line with the play action and then I saw Ethan McClellan was covered and I finally saw Pat’s hand up and I put it in the space they gave me.”

There wasn’t much: possibly a two foot window of opportunity before Forbes would run out of real estate at the back of the end zone.

“I had maybe a yard, maybe less and I really didn’t notice until the last second when the ball was on me that it was as close as it was,” said Forbes. “But it was a perfect throw under tough circumstances by Brendan and all that was going through my mind at the moment the ball came into my hands was ‘what a perfect ending!’, he said.

The former StFX X-Men, in his first year at UNB, scored the first and last touchdowns for the Bombers. He wound up with six catches for 75 yards. He believes the Bombers are revving up for another title run.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of this year and our ‘D’ is really coming together and taking control of this team,” said Forbes.

UNB also put together a solid ground game as Smith rambled for 127 yards on 15 carries and Randy Madsen, had 71 yards on 11 carries. Randy’s brother Jeff finished 6-of-16 passing for 58 yards and a TD while also running for 42 yards and a touchdown.

“It was an up and down game, as it has been really in all our games this year and that’s what you get in a league that is evenly matched like ours is,” said UNB head coach Mike Dollimore. “It’s great to watch and great to coach and I think we are showing everyone, with efforts like these tonight, that this is an excellent place for local talent to play.”

Dollimore was impressed most by Leo Hayes High School alum, Cornford, and Forbes, the Riverview High alum receiver who combined on UNB’s final score.

“That last play of the game with Cornford coming in cold, driving us down the field, giving up an interception; then he turns around and does it all over again, seconds left on the clock, freezing cold, with four Holland College defenders in his face, firing a bullet that’s bang-on to Forbes at the back of the end zone…it was just an amazing play and it speaks volumes of our local talent. The highlight…the story of this game, is Cornford coming in cold and doing what he did.”

DeMerchant looks to lay down the law on ‘Canes

Published Thursday October 28th, 2010 by Bill Hunt of the Daily Gleaner

Justin DeMerchant says he has “a pretty terrible football record” over his 10-year career.

But he’s still trying to change.

The 24-year-old law student at the University of New Brunswick is in the latter stages of his final season as a player with the University of New Brunswick Red Bombers, the local entry in the five-team Atlantic Football League.

The 2-3 Bombers play their final regular season home game Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Chapman Field against the Holland College Hurricanes – the same team they beat 52-48 in Charlottetown a couple of weeks ago in a game that was an affront to defensive football.

They turned around and lost last week, a 5-3 defeat at the hands, or more correctly, the feet of the UNBSJ SeaWolves on a late field goal by UNBSJ kicker John Phillips, so they need this win to get back on an even keel heading into the playoffs. The hope is that DeMerchant and friends can recreate history. They won the AFL’s inaugural championship a year ago, defeating the SeaWolves 3-1 in the championship game.

It was a particularly sweet win for DeMerchant, a stalwart on the Bombers’ defensive unit.

“It was a really low-scoring game, but the offence didn’t make any mistakes and the defence played the game we needed to, so it meant a lot. It was the first championship I think I’ve ever won in anything.”

Football has taught him a lot, going back to the days when the Rusagonis resident finally talked his mom into letting him play junior varsity football for the Oromocto Junior Blues.

The OHS Blues teams he played with “were terrible,” he said. “I think we won one game my senior year…we lost 82-0 to FHS…I played wide receiver and defensive back and I can’t catch to save my life.”

But he kept coming back for more. He’s played with the Capital Area Gladiators. He’s coached in the Capital Area Minor Football Associaton program.

He’ll remain with the Bombers in some capacity – as a coach, or a member of the executive, or something – after he hangs up the gear.

“I enjoy the game,” he explained. “I think I have a probably terrible football record…I’ve coached some teams that haven’t done so well, But I think I’ve really learned how to lose gracefully and take things away from games besides purely winning and losing. Obviously, winning is nice.”

The thing about this year’s Bombers is, you never know. Their scores have been somewhat schizophrenic this season, from a 30-0 loss to the Seawolves in their homecoming game one week, to a 52-48 barnburner victory over the Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago to…well, who knows?

“It’s got to be somewhere in between,” said DeMerchant. “It’s too bad we couldn’t have pulled it out against Saint John (last week). That would really have characterized how our team is. It was a heartbreaker, but coming back after losing to them 30-0 earlier in the season, it was almost a victory.”

DeMerchant doesn’t expect the defensive unit to be so generous against the Hurricanes Friday.

“We’ve made some adjustments to take care of what they like to do,” he said. “They want to get their quarterback out of the pocket. If he does that this week, he’s going to get planted on his butt a few more times. We know what to expect from their receivers now.”

DeMerchant played a single quarter in that contest. He’s been sidelined since breaking his left thumb in the first meeting of the season against the SeaWolves, but returned for a quarter against the Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago and played the entire game with his thumb wrapped up last week.

DeMerchant isn’t getting sentimental about his football career just yet.

“We’re focused on one thing right now…going 3-3 and getting a revenge game against Dal. We have to beat PEI this week to get that revenge game against Dal. And we proved last year that once it gets to playoffs, the regular season goes out the window.”

For Demerchant, who will graduate with a joint LLB-MBA degree next spring, it’s been, and will continue to be, a labour of love.

“Some sports are really one-on-one and some are team sports. Football is the ultimate hybrid. You’ve got one guy you’re lined up against and it’s your job to beat him. And you have 12 guys on each side of the field trying to do that. It’s a great game.”

Seawolves blank Fredericton rivals in capital

Published Monday October 4th, 2010 by Chris Fox of the Telegraph Journal

FREDERICTON – The University of New Brunswick Red Bombers had their first homecoming game ruined by a Blizzard on Saturday night.

UNB Saint John Seawolves running back Jordan Blizzard racked up more than 100 yards rushing and had two touchdowns as the Seawolves made up for a loss to the Red Bombers in the inaugural Moosehead Cup last year, with a 30-0 pasting in Atlantic Football League regular season action at Chapman Field.

“That was our plan all along. We wanted to come in and spoil their homecoming and get some revenge,” said Blizzard, who wasn’t around for last year’s rain-soaked 3-1 loss in the final.

“Ever since we started practice in the summer time this game has kind of been on our radar. It was a chance to make up for the way things ended for the guys last year.”

On a night in which former Red Bombers filled the stands to see the modern day incarnation of the squad in action, they weren’t given very much to cheer about.

The fact that the ceremonial kickoff drew the loudest applause of the night should back that up.

Simply put the Red Bombers were awful.

They didn’t complete a pass until late in the first quarter, had trouble stopping the Seawolves potent ground attack and at times looked like boys among men.

Just 10 minutes in Saint John took advantage, as Justin Cavan broke a 30-yard run down the left sideline allowing Blizzard to break a tackle at the line of scrimmage and punch it in from four yards out.

The Seawolves then went ahead 14-0 midway through the second quarter when Cavan scrambled left and ran the ball in from seven yards. Early in the second half Seawolves quarterback Jeremy McAulay delivered a 25-yard pass to Ryan Crouse to put his team back in the red zone. Blizzard then finished the job off, leaping over the Bombers defensive line for a two-yard rushing major.

The Seawolves ended up scoring three of their four touchdowns on the ground, the lone exception being a 20-yard Kurtis Bonnevie touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

“They have some very good runners and tremendous athletes period,” Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore said. “Most of their significant runs or plays we had them stopped in the backfield and then all of a sudden they would make a cut back, find a seam and that was it.

“The problem is they have guys that can do that and just get space and create yards themselves once they get into the secondary,” Dollimore said. “We struggled stopping them tonight.”

In other action, the Dalhousie University Tigers, playing their first home game in 34 years, dropped a 23-21 decision Saturday to the Holland College Hurricanes before 2,500 fans at Wickwire Field.

The Hurricanes are in Saint John to face the 2-0 Seawolves Monday, Oct. 11. the game marks the Seawolves home opener at the newly-renovated Canada Games Stadium on the UNB Saint John campus. Game time is 4 p.m.

Cornford right at home at Red Bombers controls

Published Saturday October 2nd, 2010 by Bill Hunt of The Daily Gleaner

It’s Homecoming Weekend on the campus of the University of New Brunswick – and quarterback Brendan Cornford feels right at home at the controls of the University of New Brunswick Red Bombers.

It wasn’t always that way for the 20-year-old Fredericton native, who was actually cut by the St. Mary’s Leo Hayes Lions when he tried out for the team in Grade 11.

“They cut me for MacKenzie Washburn,” he said. “Then, in the first game against Hampton, he broke his arm. Tommy Broad was the backup, and in our second game against Saint John High, he messed up his shoulder. So halfway through the second game against Saint John, they asked me to go in. I was so nervous…all season long, really.”

But he learned and he improved – and, lo and behold, last year he and the Bombers captured the Atlantic Football League’s first championship.

Tonight’s Homecoming Game – a 7 p.m. kickoff under the lights at Chapman Field – is a rematch of that game and a duel between the UNB campuses: the hometown Bombers against the University of New Brunswick in Saint John Seawolves.

Some 1,200 fans watched the Bombers’ home opener, a 22-19 loss to the Dalhousie Tigers.

“I love the atmosphere,” said Cornford. “It’s one of the best feelings you could ever feel to get on the field and hear the crowd go nuts.”

As they did a couple of weeks ago, for instance, when Cornford and company concocted a reverse flea flicker play and connected with Andrew Hubbard on a 35-yard touchdown play that gave the Bombers a 19-15 fourth quarter lead and had the crowd buzzing. Alas, it didn’t last long: Dalhousie returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and held on for the three-point victory.

There may be more where that came from, but Cornford, cagey quarterback that he’s become, isn’t tipping his hand.

“That might have to be for you to see,” he said, chuckling. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

Cornford has clearly come a long way from the kid who was summoned in an emergency. He attended instructional quarterback camps at St. Francis Xavier, in Maine, and at home in the summer between his Grade 11 and Grade 12 seasons at Leo Hayes. He also played summer football with the Capital Area Gladiators and has now been around the block with the Bombers a bit.

And while he recognizes there’s room for improvement in the areas of reading plays, to knowing the playbook to being in better shape to leading the team – “there’s always room to grow,” he said – he also recognizes how far he’s come.

“In my mind, I’ve developed a lot better techniques,” he said.

“At the camps, I worked mostly on footwork, and reading defences to find out where the coverage is going to be…how to read the field when you get to the line instead of snapping the ball and then you see where the players are going. It’s basically second nature to me now. Sometimes it’s a little confusing, but I can basically see what’s going on. You need to know what players are doing at all times. It’s mentally challenging. But there’s nothing that compares to being able to play quarterback.”

Cornford says the calibre of the Atlantic Football League – expanded to five teams this season from the three charter members a year ago – is “10 times better” than the ball he played in high school.

“It’s night and day,” he said. “You have guys who are way bigger, you have speed like nothing you saw in high school. Just the game play, and the plays that you run and that kind of stuff…it’s completely different.”

He expects tonight’s game to be much different from the last meeting between the squads – a 3-1 victory for the Bombers in the championship game in Moncton last November.

“We’re going to put some points on the board,” promised Cornford. “They’ll probably put some points up too. But we plan to come out on top.”

Cornford has plans of his own. The six-foot-two, 190-pound signal caller hopes to go to the newly opened New Brunswick Community College opening on the UNB campus next season to become an engineering technician. The new building is only a few long bombs away from the Bombers’ Chapman Field home.

“I don’t know if the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport football) is calling my name, but I can keep playing UNB ball,” he said.

Atlantic Football League | All N.B. matchup for UNB Homecoming contest

Published Friday October 1st, 2010 by Bill Hunt of The Daily Gleaner

The University of New Brunswick Red Bombers hope to give the Homecoming Crowd something to celebrate Saturday night.

Homecoming Weekend, celebrating the 225th anniversary of the University of New Brunswick, will feature a clash between its’ two football teams — the reigning Atlantic Football League champion UNB Red Bombers, and the team they beat in last year’s championship game, the University of New Brunswick at Saint John Seawolves.

Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday night under the lights at Chapman Field.

“The homecoming should be a big deal for any campus, and with the return of football, we’ve got a focal point where we can bring some of the alumni back, and they can have a good time watching our football team and meeting some old friends,” said Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore, who was hoping to have former Bomber Tom Foulkes talk to the team at practice last night.

Some 1200 fans crowded in to watch the Bombers fall 22-19 to the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax in the Bombers’ home opener a couple of weeks ago, an entertaining fixture ultimately decided by Greg Pelly’s 104-yard kickoff return with less than seven minutes remaining. Bombers had taken the lead seconds before on a reverse flea-flicker — quarterback Brendan Cornford to Jeff Madsen, back to Cornford, who connected with receiver Andrew Hubbard on a 35-yard touchdown strike.

“We had some real high spots,” said Dollimore. “We thought we moved the ball fairly well offensively, and we tightened up on the defence. We let a couple of big plays happen that hurt us. Those are obviously the things we need to stop. It’s youth…we’ve got a lot of young players, and you break discipline for a second, and there you go, all of a sudden, you’ve got a big play happening.”

They’ve had a couple of weeks to work out the kinks — Bombers had the bye in the schedule last week — and Dollimore says fixing mistakes and getting better is an ongoing process.

“It’s a game of mistakes, as all sports are,” said Dollimore. “The people who make the fewer and execute the best win the football game, the baseball game, the golf match. It’s standard through all sports…try to minimize your mistakes.”

Dollimore continues to be impressed by the development of quarterback Brendan Cornford, the second year quarterback out of Leo Hayes High School.

“I see a lot of new leadership skills coming out in Brendan every practise. He certainly has the skills and the talent to play at this level. We’ve got to get him some confidence. We’ve got to get some short passes completed early in the game and get him some confidence. Once we get his confidence established, we can get him moving forward in the game without nerves bothering him too much. He can certainly throw the football and he can move well too. So we have options in our offence that will allow him or Jeff Madsen, our other quarterback, to run the ball if they need to do that. They’re both big, strong guys who can lug the football.”

Andrew Hubbard is the top target as a receiver.

The league’s two expansion entries this season, the Holland College Hurricanes of Prince Edward Island, and the Tigers, meet Saturday in Halifax as well, the back half of their home and home series. Dal improved to 2-0 on their maiden voyage in the circuit, winning 56-40. The Moncton Junior Mustangs, the other team in the five-team loop, have the bye after absorbing a 53-13 loss to the Seawolves last week.

The all New Brunswick homecoming game will will mark the first meeting between the teams since the Bombers topped the SeaWolves 3-1 in last year’s championship game in Moncton and won the league’s first championship.

Tigers drop Red Bombers in AFL season opener

Christopher Cameron – Sports Editor The Brunswickan September 22, 2010

The UNB Red Bombers are pleased with the way they played in their season opener, but not with the result.

Taking on Dalhousie Tigers in the first game of the AFL’s second season, the Bombers came up short losing 22-19.

UNB had the victory in their clutches as they went 19-15 after a pretty reverse play that left the Dalhousie defence baffled. A defence, which held the Bombers most of the game, did not see this coming.

Quarterback Brendan Cornford took the snap handing it off to wide receiver Jeff Madsen.

After two laterals across the field, Cornford had the ball back in his hands and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Hubbard.

Hubbard gives credit to his offensive teammates in making such a great play.

“(Cornford) made a nice throw,” said Hubbard. “We saw a breakdown in coverage and went for it and it worked out.”

The 1,200 at Chapman Field erupted in approval only to be silenced moments later.

On the kickoff, Tigers star Greg Pelly was ready to upset the fans. Pelly received the ball in the Dalhousie end zone with 6:41 remaining in the fourth quarter taking it 106 yards to the house. Aside from the roar of the Tigers team, every fan was silent as the Bombers trailed again with minimal time left. Hubbard knows Pelly’s play made a significant difference in the result of the game.

“He was electric,” said Hubbard. “That is a game changing play right there and we need to learn how to respond to that and come back stronger.”

Part of the problem the Bombers had in stopping the Dalhousie offense was the great field position on kickoff returns. Head Coach Mike Dollimore knows his kickers Zac Cann and Alden Pezerovic are skilled kickers, but this also posses a problem.

“Part of the problem with our kicking game is we have such phenomenal kickers,” said Dollimore. “If you look at it closely, Alden is outkicking his coverage by about 10-15 yards. The same thing is happening with Zach Cann. We have to be a lot more strategic because when you put the ball in the hands number (Pelly) or (James Green) and you don’t have the coverage down tight on them, they’ll start picking the angles on you. It’s great to have kickers who can boom it, but we have to be more strategic where they put the ball.”

Coming into the game the Tigers were an unknown team in the league as a new team. UNB knew they would be good, but knows they can match any team in the league, that has lots of parody.

“There is a lot of parody in the league. I mean a three-point game, back and forth, back and forth,” said Dollimore. “It was very entertaining to watch from a coaching standpoint.”

“We knew DAL would be tough. They have a tremendous coaching staff and there is a good history of football in Halifax at the high school level. We knew they would have some good solid players out there.”

Dollimore is not worried about the result. They started off last season similarly, losing their opener and eventually winning the Moosehead Cup. He knows there are a few little things that need to be worked on in order to succeed, but knows the team is ready to work on them.

“The league is very tight and we were in the same position last year,” he said. “You make a mistake and you pay for it big time. That happened to both teams. Both teams paid for it. It comes down to a three point ball game and we weren’t able to punch home our field goal in the first quarter and there’s the difference in the game.”

The Red Bombers have a bye week next weekend and will be back in action Oct. 2 against the UNBSJ Seawolves at home.

Pelly’s TD makes for successful grid debut for Tigers

Published Monday September 20th, 2010 in the Daily Gleaner by Bruce Hallihan

Greg Pelly is one quick cat for the Dalhousie Tigers.

Pelly’s 104-yard kickoff return with 6:41 remaining in the fourth quarter lifted the Dalhousie Tigers to a thrilling 22-19 victory over the UNB-Fredericton Red Bombers in club-level Atlantic Football League action on Saturday night.

The back-breaking run before 1,200 fans at Chapman Field lifted the Tigers to a ground-breaking win: it was their first football game since 1976.

“This is really exciting,” Pelly said. “Taking that kick back felt really good. To be part of the school’s first game in 34 years is special. We knew it would be a battle. UNB wanted it bad, too, but there’s a sense of pride to get the job done on opening night.”

The league’s other expansion entry, the Holland College Hurricanes, also won their debut Saturday, downing the Moncton Junior Mustangs 44-33 in front of 2,100 fans in Charlottetown.

The defending champion Red Bombers had just taken a 19-15 lead on a reverse flea flicker pass, with Jeff Madsen pitching the ball back to quarterback Brendan Cornford, who hit a wide-open Andrew Hubbard for a 35-yard touchdown strike. Cornford overthrew Hubbard on the two-point conversion attempt.

That set the stage for Pelly, a former Halifax West star who gathered in Zac Cann’s booming boot at his own six and took off.

“I almost stopped in the centre, waited for them to come at me, then just turned on the jets on the outside,” Pelly, 20, said. “I saw the hole and took it to the house.”

Hubbard tipped his helmet to Pelly: “He was electric. That was a game-changing play right there.”

“Part of the problem with our kicking game is that we have such phenomenal kickers,” Red Bombers head coach Mike Dollimore said of Cann and Alden Pezerovic, who unleashed long punts all game. “Alden is outkicking his coverage by 12-15 yards -the same with Zac – so we have to be a lot more strategic. When you put the ball in the hands of No. 24 (Pelly) or No. 27 (former St. FX all-star RB James Green), if you don’t have that coverage down tight on them, they’ll start picking the angles on you. They’re really hard to contain.”

After two defensive stands deep in their own territory, the Red Bombers took over at their own 11-yard line with 39 seconds left. But Cornford’s sideline pass intended for Andrew Guest was tipped into the waiting arms of free safety Bryce Wade, who hauled it in for his third interception.

Wade, whose brother Cameron plays CIS football at Acadia, was an all-star in 2007 for Bernice MacNaughton High in Moncton.

“It’s exciting to finally get to put on the pads again,” Wade said. “It’s competitive football. Both teams battled. Special teams were pivotal, especially when Pelly took off to give us the lead for good.”

“Both teams played great, it was tough,” Hubbard said. “It’s unfortunate to come out on the losing side of it, but there are some mistakes that we’ll fix in practice and come back stronger.”

Hubbard wasn’t surprised by the Tigers’ solid showing.

“We heard they had 80-to-100 guys out for tryouts, so they have a big pool to choose from. We knew they were going to be tough.”

The Tigers scored their first points of the 21st century late in the first half when QB Brendan Festeryga hooked up with former Mount A receiver Darko Stasevic for an 85-yard pass-and-run play.

Wade’s point after made it 7-0. UNB, with Jeff Madsen replacing Cornford for a spell, drove down to Dal’s 21-yard line in the final minute, but Cann was wide right on the field goal attempt.

The Red Bombers tied it early in the third quarter, though. Hubbard’s 30-yard punt return to Dal’s 26 was followed up by Randy Madsen scampering into the end zone. Cann’s convert tied it 7-up.

The Tigers went back in front with 5:32 left in the third quarter. Pelly’s 24-yard run took it to UNB’s 39. Festergya, who was picked off three times but was 18-of-23 for 254 yards, completed a 14-yard pass to Andrew Adamczyk, a nine-yarder to Cody Hollohan and a 16-yard TD strike to Stasevic to make it 13-7.

Wade alertly picked up the ball on a botched snap and ran it in for a two-point convert and a 15-7 lead.

After a string of strong runs by Tommy Broad, UNB started the fourth quarter at the Dal 11-yard line. Electing to go for it on third-and-6, Cornford zipped a TD pass to Pat Forbes to cut the deficit to 15-13. Cornford couldn’t connect with Guest for the tying two-point convert, but the the Bombers were back in business.

A Pelly 50-yard kickoff return, UNB penalty and a seven-yard run by Green had Dal down to UNB’s 33. But DB Ryan Soles picked off a Fertergya pass to give the Bombers the ball back at their own 23 with 12:40 remaining.

The key plays in UNB’s go-ahead drive were Cornford’s 24-yard pass to Forbes and, of course, the aforementioned trick play to give the Bombers their first lead.

“I think it’s going to be (tight) like this all year long from all teams,” Dollimore said. “This was very entertaining. As a coach standing on the sidelines, it was fun to watch.”

The Red Bombers are idle until hosting the UNBSJ Seawolves as part of homecoming weekend Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. – a rematch of last year’s final, won 3-1 by UNB.

Dal opens AFL season with win over Bombers

Published Monday September 20th, 2010 in the Telegraph Journal

FREDERICTON – Greg Pelly is one quick cat for the Dalhousie Tigers.

Pelly’s 104-yard kickoff return with 6:41 remaining in the fourth quarter lifted the Dalhousie Tigers to a thrilling 22-19 victory over the UNB Red Bombers in Atlantic Football League action on Saturday night.

The back-breaking run before 1,200 fans at Chapman Field lifted the Tigers to a ground-breaking win: it was their first football game since 1976.

“This is really exciting,” Pelly said. “Taking that kick back felt really good. To be part of the school’s first game in 34 years is special. We knew it would be a battle. UNB wanted it bad, too, but there’s a sense of pride to get the job done on opening night.”

The league’s other expansion entry, the Holland College Hurricanes, also won their debut Saturday, downing the Moncton Junior Mustangs 44-33 in front of 2,100 fans in Charlottetown.

The defending champion Red Bombers had just taken a 19-15 lead on a reverse flea flicker pass, with Jeff Madsen pitching the ball back to quarterback Brendan Cornford, who hit a wide-open Andrew Hubbard for a 35-yard touchdown strike. Cornford overthrew Hubbard on the two-point conversion attempt.

That set the stage for Pelly, a former Halifax West star who gathered in Zac Cann’s booming boot at his own six and took off.

“I almost stopped in the centre, waited for them to come at me, then just turned on the jets on the outside,” Pelly, 20, said. “I saw the hole and took it to the house.”

Hubbard tipped his helmet to Pelly: “He was electric.

“That was a game-changing play right there.”

The Red Bombers are idle until hosting the UNB Saint John Seawolves as part of homecoming weekend Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. – a rematch of last year’s final, won 3-1 by the Red Bombers.

Dolly’s Season Outlook

The 2010 version of the Red Bombers take to the field on Saturday, August 28 at Chapman Field.  We look forward to a large number of players returning for year 2 as well as 20 or more new players from all over the province’s high school programs.  Having recreational football on campus has given many students a different option for school.

The league is bigger by two teams and both Holland College and the Dalhousie Tigers are keen to make their presence felt immediately.  Last year’s league was extremely well matched and we look forward to the same exciting play which could see each and every game be up for grabs.

Our intention is to cross train many of our players to develop the kind of depth in our team that we lacked last year once injuries set in.  Players will learn a position on both sides of the ball to help in this regard.  Additionally we hope to begin to develop the skills and techniques of our younger players so that we can build towards the future.

We hope that alumni in the area are able to make it out to the games and drop by the bench to say “hi” and meet some of the players.  Repeating last year’s accomplishments will be very difficult but it certainly is our goal, as a team and a coaching staff!

Spring Training

2010  Spring Camp

Returning Players and New Comers

Sat.  April 24 : 9:30AM-11:30AM
Marshall D’Avry Hall  RM 120(UNB Campus, Adjacent to Chapman Field)

Sat. April 24:  1:00PM- 4:00PM
Chapman Field

Sun. April 25:  1:00PM-4:00PM
Chapman Field

Sat. April 24@1:00PM – Chapman Filed
Parents and Volunteers willing to help our organization are ask to attend

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