September 8 - The nation's fourth-ranked Manitoba Bisons grinded out a 21-12 victory over a stubborn UBC Thunderbirds team on Saturday in front of 1,200 fans at Thunderbird Stadium.

Manitoba moves to 2-0 on the campaign, while UBC, playing its second game in five days, drops to 1-1.

John Makie (Regina) hooked up with Simon Blaszczak (Winnipeg) for a six-yard score six-and-a-half minutes into the fourth quarter to finally give the Bisons breathing room at 21-6. A Shawn McIsaac (Chilliwack, B.C.) field goal had brought UBC within striking distance at 14-6 just before the half and the teams played a scoreless third quarter.

T-Bird pivot Doug Goldsby (White Rock, B.C.) capped off a three-minute, 80-yard drive with a one-yard plunge at 9:45 of the fourth quarter to again give UBC life but he was picked off on the two-point convert attempt to all but end the game.

"They're the No. 4 team in the country and that's not a fluke," said UBC head coach Ted Goveia, whose squad beat SFU 19-11 on Tuesday. "We're going to get better and better every week and we'll be there in Week 8. I'm proud of our effort today, it was really encouraging, and I think games like this kind of bring you together."

It was a bend but don't break day for the UBC defence, who consistently turned away Manitoba inside the red zone. They forced the Bisons to settle for field goals, blocked a field goal and intercepted a pass on the goal line. Manitoba added to their troubles but hitting the upright on another field-goal attempt, and by taking a holding penalty that brought back a touchdown.

"It was a frustrating game," said Manitoba head coach Brian Dobie, whose troops squeezed two touchdowns out of 444 yards of total offence. "I thought UBC really held the fort down in their red zone and we had two or three opportunities to accomplish far more than we did and UBC didn't allow us to do that. But overall, I thought we had more possession and more chances to score and we're happy to steal two on the road to start the season."

Manitoba kicker Scott Dixon (Victoria) opened the scoring with back-to-back 20-yard field goals in the first quarter, then the Bisons conceded a safety to put UBC on the board early in the second. Matt Henry (Mississauga, Ont.) capped off a quick seven-play, 90-yard drive with a 12-yard run to make it 13-2 for the visitors midway through the quarter. The teams traded rouges before McIsaac ended the first half with his 24-yard field goal.

Makie completed 19-of-31 passes for 250 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Goldsby finished 24-of-39 for 277 yards and two picks. On the ground, Manitoba's vaunted front seven did the job on all-Canadian running back Chris Ciezki (Sherwood Park, Alta.), holding him to just 38 yards on 13 carries and leaving quarterback Goldsby as the team's leading rusher with 69 yards. On the other side, Henry (13-91-1) and Karim Lowen (Manson, St. Kitts, 11-89-0) proved to be an effective one-two punch, combining to average 7.5 yards per carry.

Wide receiver Tyler Hamade (Abbotsford) had a strong game for the T-Birds with 144 yards on 10 catches, while Blaszczak finished with 74 yards on five catches.

Highly-touted Eastern Washington transfer linebacker Shea Emry (Richmond, B.C.) lived up to the hype in his debut, leading all players with 12 tackles and a pair of big hits. Bob Reist (Mission, B.C.) led the Bisons with eight tackles and recorded two interceptions, while Joel Barry (Sherwood Park, Alta.) picked off his first pass for UBC. Manitoba's Mike Kissinger (Brentwood, B.C.) and Jim Jeavons (Brantford, Ont.) and UBC's Scott McCuaig (Surrey), who blocked the field goal, all collected sacks.

After two games on the road to open the season, the Bisons now head home to host Calgary (1-1) on Saturday, while UBC remains in Vancouver for their third straight week, welcoming Alberta (0-2) on Saturday. Around the Canada West today, Regina clipped Alberta 24-22 and Saskatchewan came back from 13-0 down to beat Calgary 27-13.

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