Nova Scotia holds off Manitoba Silver, to face Manitoba Gold Friday

By Kevin Hirschfield, Special to Football Canada

Photo credit: Mike Lukyn

Adam Bennett rumbled his way through the opposition and helped Nova Scotia snag their first victory at the 2016 Football Canada Cup Tuesday.

Bennett rushed for 161 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 22-15 Nova Scotia victory over Manitoba Silver.

Nova Scotia will now play Manitoba Gold in the 5th place game on Friday.

“Overall, the play of the d-line was outstanding,” said Nova Scotia coach Steve Snyder on the keys to victory. “The ability to run the ball and the ability for our quarterback to just show up and play really well.”

Nova Scotia went down the field on their first drive and capped it off with Bennett’s first touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run. The defence came up with an impact play in the second quarter as Adrian Brown intercepted a pass and took it 50 yards to the house, putting Nova Scotia up 12-1 at the half.

But Manitoba Silver wouldn’t go away as Zachary Hynna caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dylan Ford to cut the lead to 12-8. Bennett would strike again for Nova Scotia before the third quarter was up, punching it in from 10 yards for a 19-8 lead.

After a field goal put Nova Scotia up by 14, back came Manitoba as Alex France caught a touchdown pass late in the 4th to make it 22-15.

But Bennett made sure there would be no rally, gaining huge chunks of yardage and killing clock to assure Nova Scotia of the win.

“That’s where he’s really specialized, in that last 4 minutes of the game,” said Snyder. “He’s got great ball security, runs downhill, runs physical and wears you down a little bit.”

For Manitoba Silver, it was an improvement from their shutout loss to Quebec on Day 1.

“We just have to continue building on the positives so far,” said coach Rolf Waffler. “First game, we didn’t put any points on board. This game, we did put points on the board. Next game, we have to put more points on the other team. It’s simple math.”

They will face New Brunswick in the 7th-place game on Friday.

Nova Scotia, meanwhile, was in the fifth place game last year, losing in a rout to Quebec. They’ll hope for a much better result in 2016.

“Our goal is to come here and win more games then we lose,” said Snyder. “We got a chance to go 2-1 and finish strong and seed real well for next year.”