Kettyle boils 'Birds to the Bone

EDMONTON - Fourth-year standout Carter Kettyle caught nine passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and added another passing, as the Alberta Golden Bears showed out with a 38-18 dominant win over the UBC Thunderbirds Friday night at Foote Field.

It was the first win of the year for the Bears, and dually first in the Stevenson Bone era, which moves them to 1-4 on the season. The offence was humming in this one, racking up 500 yards of total offence including 349 through the air. Kettyle was fantastic, but was joined with great performances from fourth-year quarterback Trey Reider in his first start (20-27 284 yards, two TDs) and fifth-year Chevy Thomas (five receptions, 112 yards, one TD).

It was the first Bears win against the 'Birds in Edmonton since 2022, and just their second in the last six meetings overall. It was a statement win for the Alberta squad, who still sit in last place in the division but are now just a game back of UBC and possibly the fourth and last playoff place team pending the games on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds move to 2-3 on the season, and now sit in fifth in the division, though as mentioned earlier they may well be in a tie for the last playoff spot when the weekend games are finished tomorrow. They saw a solid game from running back Toluwalope Ayedegbe, who went for 80 yards on 17 attempts, but were largely unable to get anything going through the air, and even the ground in the second half as the Bears defence had easily their best showing of the year.

After the first drives of the game stalled out, it was the Thunderbirds who would strike first. A botched end-around by the Bears resulted in a fumble that was fallen on by UBC's Aaron Parker, and on the ensuing drive Toluwalope Ayedegbe rushed six times for thirty yards capped of by a three-yard touchdown in which he bounced to the outside for his fourth major of the year to put the visitors up 7-0.

The Bears did not take long to respond as quarterback Trey Reider, who was at six completions on the year coming into tonight, unleashed a 37-yard bomb to Chevy Thomas on the right sideline for a big gain. Fourth-year Eli Hetlinger would punch in his first rushing touchdown of the year six plays later as Alberta tied the score with an impressive 10-play 82-yard scoring drive. Then, after a four-play stop from an impressive Bears defence, the hosts got the ball back with around five-minutes left in the half. Reider found a connection with the standout fourth-year receiver Carter Kettyle who had successive receptions of 18 and 27 yards, the latter being a diving touchdown that gave the home side a 16-7 lead, one that would grow on the ensuing kickoff which was booted out for a rouge. UBC would rattle off a 12-play 67-yard drive and boot a 15-yard field goal as time expired to bring us into the half at 17-10.

Out of the half, Alberta ripped out possibly the most impressive drive of the game (or yet - their season) as they took the ball out from their own four. It started with a Reider completion to Thomas for 16 yards, and five plays later the offence found themselves on the UBC 37-yardline. That's when Reider took the snap, handed off to Oshinubi on a seeming outside run but pitched to a reverse-sweeping Kettyle who uncorked a 37-yard bomb of a throw to a wider-than-wide open Thomas for a play of the year touchdown that extended the lead to 24-10. In truth, it was an incredible playcall and impressive bit of trickery from head coach Stevenson Bone, whose offensive prowess and history with the visiting team preceded his first-year role in Edmonton.

Kettyle and the offence was not finished there, as two drives later he was on the receiving end of 10 and nine-yard receptions, the latter for his second touchdown of the day, as the Bears snatched a large 31-10 lead late in the third quarter. The fourth would play into their hand, as they dominated time of possession, but the tricks and fun were not finished in this one. On a third-and-short, Bone dialed up what looked like a classic quarterback sneak for the first down, but Hetlinger spilled out and threw a 21-yard dime to a streaking Adam Dahoy, rookie offensive lineman, for a beautiful touchdown and a 38-10 lead. It was Dahoy's first touchdown, catch, and possibly route run on what was a phenomenal playcall and with it was the third different Bear to throw a TD on the day. The 'Birds would add a late touchdown courtesy of Edgerrin Williams-Hernandez from quarterback Drew Viotto, but the Bears would take this one with a big 38-18 win.

Next Saturday, the Bears visit Saskatchewan for a date with the Huskies (2-2), while the Thunderbirds continue on the road against the Manitoba Bison (2-2).