Host, Ontario West defends home turf in hard fought win over Manitoba

(London, ON) — Host Ontario West defended their home turf in a 31-16 win against Manitoba in the fourth game of the opening round of the 2012 Football Canada Cup, hosted by the Ontario Football Alliance (OFA) at TD Waterhouse Stadium on the campus of Western University.

Ontario West opened the scoring on a 24-yard Gabriel Ferraro (#14) field goal which was followed up by quarterback, James Roberts (#9) who found Daniel Peterman (#85) on a 15-yard touchdown strike.

Ontario West extended their lead to 16 later in the half when running back, Jahvanni Bennett (#30) found the end zone on a 15-yard run which was set up by a fake field goal pass from Kyle VanWynsberghe (#12) to Nick Parisotto (#24).

Manitoba replied on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jayden McKoy to make the score 16-7.

Ontario West recovered a Manitoba fumble at the Manitoba 28 which proved costly as Bennett scored his second TD of the day, this time from the five to make the score 23-7 with just over a minute to play in the half. With only 16 seconds left in the half, Roberts connected with Zach Marcus (#80) for a 32-yard touchdown strike to make the score 30-7.

After Ontario West opened the half by recovering an onside kick, Manitoba recovered a fumble at their own 7 which set up a 93-yard touchdown run by running back, Alex Taylor (#33), narrowing the Ontario West lead 30-14. An Ontario West safety touch midway through the third quarter made the score 30-16.

Manitoba was unable to capitalize on two turnovers, the second coming on the first play of the final quarter on a spectacular diving interception by defensive lineman, Jeremy Drouin (#95) on a batted ball.

On the very next play, a Parisotto interception ended Manitoba’s drive however a block in the back penalty negated what would have been an 80-yard return. After the turnover, a 58-yard Bennett run to the Manitoba 17 yard line led to a 23-yard field goal attempt. The Ferraro kick was blocked by Manitoba and landed in the end zone for a rouge, making the final score 31-16 in favour of Ontario West.

Ontario West’s came up with a big third down stop on a Manitoba run up the middle with 3:23 remaining to preserve the win.

Ontario West running back, Jahvari Bennett had big day on the ground rushing for a 178 yards on 15 carries for two touchdowns.

Manitoba will now face Nova Scotia in Wednesday’s opening game at 10 am ET against Nova Scotia while Ontario West faces Alberta at 7 pm.

Players of the game:

Stats

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