WINNIPEG – The Canada West football season is right around the corner and on Tuesday the Manitoba Bisons learned they’ll open the season as the 10th ranked team in Canadian university football.
“When I heard that maybe 15 minutes ago, I felt good for our program.” head coach Brian Dobie said.
“I felt, despite being a 3-5 team last year that, I think this program has for a very long time had a lot of national respect. I think maybe that got us into the top 10. Regardless, if you’re a top 10 team, you better go out and prove it.”
After hearing their season opening ranking, Dobie named his eight team captains as they prepare for their home opener on Friday against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Four captains were chosen on each side of the football. On offence quarterback Theo Deezar was named a captain for the third time in this his fourth year of eligibility. Running back Alex Christie, receiver Trysten Dyce and offensive lineman Anthony Daley also received nods as captains.
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Safety Tyler Fong earned captain status for the third straight season but the rest of the defensive captains are all first timers. Joining Fong as captain are defensive lineman Derek Dufault, linebacker Houston Rennie, and defensive back Jayden McKoy.
“All eight captains in 2017 form a strong leadership group that exemplifies the best of Bison Football.” said Dobie. “They posses a wealth of U Sports experience plus are great teammates, excellent student-athletes and impact players on and off the field.”
The Bisons are 2-2 in their four previous home openers at Investors Group Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Friday.
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U Sports Football Rankings (August 29)
- Laval (1-0)
- Montreal (1-0)
- Western (1-0)
- Calgary (0-0)
- Regina (0-0)
- Laurier (1-0)
- UBC (0-0)
- McMaster (0-0)
- Ottawa (1-0)
- Manitoba (0-0)