Kicker Aaron Ifield provided lots of drama for fans as his record setting field goal sailed through the crossbars in the dying seconds of last Saturday’s game. Receiver Matt Walter broke a record of his own, but in a somewhat less dramatic fashion.
Ifield became the all-time CIS field goal leader with his second field goal of the game bringing his five-year total to 71. Ifield scored his first field goal in the last minute of the second quarter to put him one field goal away from the record. At the start of the third quarter Ifield missed a field goal attempt, but managed to get his second one with just three seconds remaining in the game. Ifield also set a record for the most field goals scored in a single season with 18 during the year.
“I was glad I had the opportunity. Mainly I’ve got to thank my teammates for the effort they put in to get me in range,” said Ifield.
“Aaron’s record is something that sort of flew under the radar but he’s been pretty consistent for five years,” said head coach Blake Nill.
The Dinos opened the scoring in the game with a team safety in the fourth minute of the first quarter off an unsuccessful U of A drive. Walter scored his first touchdown of the game with a one-yard run to put the Dinos up 9-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Bears got a safety of their own six minutes into the second quarter followed by a field goal two minutes later to make the score 5-9.
Walter’s second touch down of the game put him at 30 career touchdowns for the Dinos and made him the all-time touchdown leader for the Dinos beating out Dave Brown and J.P. Izquierdo at 29 each. Walter is now one of only 33 players in CIS history to achieve this milestone.
“It’s a pretty cool little milestone,” said Walter. “Just a team effort, we were able to march the ball down the field and I was able to put it in for the last five yards there.”
Walter is poised to break another school record sometime soon as he is only 312 yards away from breaking the Dinos all-time rushing yards record held by Elio Geremia (1983-87).
“Matt’s been a big force since we’ve been here,” said Nill. “He’s deserving of it and he’ll probably score a few more before he’s finished.”
The Dinos entered the second half with a 5-19 lead and dominated the Golden Bears for the rest of the game. Receiver Anthony Parker scored off a 75-yard pass from quarterback Eric Dzwilewski four minutes into the third quarter to put the Dinos up 5-27. Milos Zivkovic added to the Dinos lead halfway through the fourth quarter with a four yard run for a touch down. With Ifield’s record-setting late field goal, the Dinos finished the game 5-37.
“It was probably our best game from start to finish,” said Nill. “We’re starting to play like we’re capable of and this week we’ve got to put it all together.”
The Dinos go into the playoffs ranked second with a 6-2 record and face the 5-3 Regina Rams in the Canada West semi-finals on Nov. 6. The other semi-final will be between the first place Huskies (6-2) and the fourth place Golden Pandas (3-5) the same day.