Manitoba overcomes early deficit to capture 5th place in win over Sask-white
Manitoba captured 5th place on the final day of the 2014 Football Canada Cup at the University of Saskatchewan’s Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon with a 24-10 comeback win.
Saskatchewan-White drew first blood following a fumble recovery at the Manitoba 32-yard line. Quarterback Tyler Hermann hit Sean Renouf in the corner of the end zone to make the score 7-0 with 2 minutes to play in the opening quarter.
A rouge followed by a conceded safety touch made the score 9-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Manitoba replied following a Saskatchewan fumble at midfield. After a Trevor Wright touchdown run was called back due to an offsides penalty, he ran the ball down to the 12-yard line on the next play. Brandon Stitch took over from there narrowing the Sask lead 9-7.
Manitoba took the lead 10-9 at the end of the first half with a 39-yard line drive field goal by Keenan Onyebuchi.
With four minutes to play in the first half, Manitoba struck again following a fumble recovery which gave them great field position at the Sask 35-yard line. Quarterback William Reimer found Jake Robertson on a 12-yard touchdown strike to widen the ‘Toba lead 17-9.
A Trevor Wright rushing touchdown sealed the Manitoba victory 23-10.
Manitoba head coach Dan Washnuk was happy his team’s improvement over the course of the tournament.
“We were really happy to finish up this tournament 2 and 1 the nice thing about it is that were in 5th but also there are only three teams who get to finish up this tournament with a winning record,” said Washnuk.
“Luke Sperry had an unreal game, one of the best linebacker games that I’ve ever seen. Trevor Wright if you add up his penalty yardage he might have run for 1000. Our defense this whole tournament has been fantastic and the offense really clicked today.”
“Three of our tailbacks are eligible to return next year and there’s a lot to build on from this week.”
Saskatchewan-White head coach Dan Houle believes that giving an additional 40 Sask players the chance to compete in the Canada Cup this year is a benefit to Saskatchewan football.
“We’ve got 40 more guys in Saskatchewan playing football at an elite level so this just makes Saskatchewan football better at every level,” said Houle. “These guys are going to take it back to their programs and hopefully we helped them and taught them new things they can take back and hopefully we’ve made them better football players.”
Game 10 – players of the game
| Saskatchewan-White | Manitoba | |
| Offensive | #17 REC, Sean Renouf (Melford / Melford) | #1 RB, Trevor Wright (St Paul’s Crusaders / Winnipeg) |
| Defensive | #42 LB, Baxton Moffatt (A.E. Peacock / Moose Jaw) | #49 LB, Luke Sperry (St Paul’s Crusaders / Winnipeg) |
