Spectators at Friday’s homecoming game were treated to a stellar display of Huskie defense and offence in a convincing 39-17 win over the Golden Bears.

The Huskies football team returned to Griffiths Stadium with a bang on Friday night, defeating the University of Alberta Golden Bears 39-17 during the homecoming game. The Alberta Golden Bears came in as the third best scoring team in the conference but were overpowered by the Huskies’ strong defense. The Dogs are now 3-1 on the season and sit second in the Canada West standings.

The home team dominated the opening quarter, immediately pressuring the Bears’ offence and posting 19 unanswered points to the board .

On the first drive of the game, Bears quarterback Ryan Schwartz was sacked by Joel Sutter for a loss of nine yards. Schwartz would be brought to the ground eight times over the night.

Pushed deep into their own territory, the Bears surrendered a safety and the Huskies had their first two points.

On their opening drive the Huskies displayed their offensive strength, bringing a seven play 54-yard march downfield into the endzone. The drive was capped off by a nine-yard pass from quarterback Drew Burko to running back Dexter Janke in the endzone. After earning a single point off Denton Kolodzinski’s punt five minutes later, the Huskies were up 10-0.

The Dogs would put even more distance between themselves and the Bears when Burko connected with receiver Mitch Hillis for a 20-yard pass. The touchdown was Hillis’ first in the conference. In the following drive the Bears would find themselves once again pushed deep into their own zone and would concede another safety, giving the Huskies a 19-0 lead.

The second quarter would see the first signs of life from the Bears’ offence. Stephen Fabian opened the quarter with a field goal to finally put the Bears on the board. The momentum didn’t stay with the Bears long, as another sack by Seutter led to a fumble which the Huskies recovered. In the ensuing drive Kolodzinski would hit a field goal of his own from 32 yards out.

The Bears would score their first touchdown of the night on their next possession off of a 60-yard run into the endzone by Ed Ilnicki. At the end of the half the score was 22-10 for the home team.

The Huskies would find the endzone in the 13th minute of the third quarter when running back Shane Buchanan brought the ball into the endzone after a nine play 70-yard drive. The Huskies’ touchdown would be the only tally added to the board during the quarter.

The Bears would score their second and final touchdown in the fourth quarter when Schwartz ran one yard into the endzone. Four minutes later Buchanan would run 29-yards into the endzone to add another seven points to the scoreboard for the home team. Before the night was over, Kolodzinski would kick a 33-yard field goal to secure the Huskies’ win 39-17.

Ben Rush was awarded defensive player of the week for his contributions to the Huskies defence. Rush recorded 3.5 tackles including 2.5 sacks and also recovered a fumble.

The Huskies take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday Sept. 28 in Vancouver.

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Photo: Jordan Dumba/Photo Editor