Jacobs returns to provincial playdowns, Brier spot on the line

In addition to a return to competitive men’s curling with Reid Carruthers and his Manitoba-based team for the remainder of the Grand Slam of Curling schedule, Brad Jacobs also made a return to provincials this week.

The Northern Ontario Curling Association is holding its annual men’s provincials this week in Kenora, with a Brier spot on the line, and Jacobs is back at the event with some new, but familiar teammates.

Jacobs is skipping a team at the event that includes third Jordan Chandler, second Kyle Chandler, and lead Jamie Broad.

It’s not the first time Jacobs and Jordan Chandler have curled at a provincial tournament together.

Chandler stepped in for the Jacobs rink one year ago at the event to fill in for Marc Kennedy.

The Jacobs rink, which at that time included E.J. and Ryan Harnden in addition to Kennedy, won the event to advance to the Brier, where Chandler would join them as an alternate.

Jacobs opened the current tournament with a convincing 8-1 victory over Chris Glibota, also from the Sault, on Wednesday evening.

Against Glibota, the Jacobs rink scored a pair with the hammer in the opening end before steals of two in the second, one in the third, and three more in the fourth extended the lead before Glibota capped off the scoring with a single in the fifth end.

Jacobs remained unbeaten thanks to a 10-6 win in 11 ends over Sandy MacEwan of Curl Sudbury on Thursday.

After MacEwan opened the scoring with the hammer in the opening end, scoring one.

After a single of their own in the second end, the Jacobs rink stole in the third to take a 2-1 lead, but MacEwan scored a pair in the fourth end to retake the lead.

Jacobs tied the game at three with a single in the fifth only to see MacEwan pull ahead by two with a single in the sixth and a steal of one in the seventh.

In the eighth end, after MacEwan removed a pair of Jacobs rocks, the Sault skip made a draw for two, tying the game at five.

After Jacobs took the lead with a steal of one in the ninth end, MacEwan had an opportunity to score a pair for the win in the 10^th end, but rolled out after removing a Jacobs rock, sending the game to an extra end.

In the extra end, MacEwan looked to run back a Jacobs rock, but couldn’t, which led to a score of four for the Jacobs rink and the victory.

The Jacobs rink returns to action on Friday afternoon when they face Trevor Bonot’s team from the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay in the A bracket qualifier.

The winner of that game secures a playoff berth on the weekend, while the loser will drop into the B bracket but still have an opportunity to get into the playoffs.

Glibota sits at 1-1 in the triple knockout event, beating Kenora’s Ryan Meadows in Wednesday’s opening draw.

The Glibota rink is scheduled to return to action tonight against Kory Carr of the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay.