The SFU football team lost their season finale 38–17 to California’s Azusa Pacific University last week, capping off a winless season. Despite several close games in which they had second half leads, the rebuilding Clan football team finished with a 0–9 record in Head Coach Kelly Bates’ first season at the helm. The Clan was hopeful to finish the season with a win after a close 10–6 loss to Azusa Pacific in the first game of the season.
The Clan started out strong, opening the scoring on a 37 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Stanford to wide receiver Christian Berger. SFU started out forcing three consecutive punts on defence before a costly mistake on offence created an avalanche of momentum for the Azusa Pacific Cougars. The Cougars were able to strip sack Ryan Stanfield in the endzone for a touchdown that evened the game at 7–7.
Pass protection was a problem all game for the Clan, who yielded five quarterback sacks to the Cougar defence. Azusa Pacific added 10 more points in the last half of the second quarter to take a 17–7 lead into the locker room at halftime. The third quarter was all Cougars, as they reached the endzone three times offset by a lone Tiernan Docherty field goal. The fourth quarter saw the Clan finish strong with a blocked punt followed by Justin Buren’s nine-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep.
The offence was led by SFU running back Ante Milanovic-Litre who rushed for 157 yards on 26 carries. This was his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game which built on his 142-yard, two-touchdown performance from the week before. Quarterback Ryan Stanford passed for 133 yards and was backed up by Tyler Nickel who passed for 27 yards. Defensively, linebacker Jordan Herdman had another stellar game with 15 total tackles.
Coach Bates remarked how Jordan Herdman and his twin brother Justin “are a unique group of kids from Winnipeg, Manitoba whose father played in the CFL. Here they are setting GNAC records last year, [conference] player of the year last year for Jordan and manning our defence and making it what it is. They aren’t loud kids but lead by example.
“They are also both academic all-stars” he added. “Jordan has been in the top 10 for all SFU athletes. They are both on their way to become radiologists. This tells you what type of kids those guys are. You can see this across the board on this team.”
Jordan Herdman was rewarded for his efforts by being named GNAC defensive player of the year for the second straight year.
Bates is clearly a man with a conviction and passion for football, who genuinely cares about his players and is committed to building a lasting tradition of excellence for SFU football. Despite the team’s disappointing showing this season, the program seems to be in good hands under his watch.
