Stayin' Alive: Jacobs heading to quarters (22 photos, update)

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs is heading to the quarter-finals at The National.

Jacobs picked up a pair of wins on Friday to advance.

A steal of one in the eighth end gave Jacobs a 4-3 win over Matthew Blandford in draw eight before running John Epping out of rocks in the final end to win 5-2 and advance.

Facing three Jacobs rocks, Blandford attempted to nudge one of the Jacobs rocks off the button. The two rocks wound up side-by-side with the Jacobs rock barely holding shot position.

“We beat him out probably by a centimeter,” Jacobs said following the win.

“You do what you have to do in a situation like that,” Jacobs said. “We played a fantastic final end. We made all of our shots and we got a break with them just missing their last (shot).”

After a disappointing day on Thursday that saw Jacobs drop a pair of games, Jacobs was still not pleased after Friday’s early win but said the win on Friday was all that really mattered.

“We found a way to win and that’s all that matters,” Jacobs said.

Against Epping, Jacobs scored a pair in the first end to open a lead they would never relinquish in the game.

Jacobs ran the Epping rink out of rocks in the eighth end to cap off the win.

“We didn’t give them a chance,” Jacobs said of the win over Epping. “I really like the fact that we were able to come out and play with the passion and play with the intensity that we normally play with and get two big wins heading into the playoffs.”

Jacobs will play Reid Carruthers (5-0) in the quarter-final at noon on Saturday.

“They’re obviously playing very well this week,” Jacobs said of the Carruthers rink. “They’ve got a good handle on the ice.”

The other quarter-finals matchups see Glenn Howard (5-0) takes on Heath McCormick (3-2); Brendan Bottcher (4-1) faces John Morris (3-2); Mike McEwen (3-2) faces Steve Laycock (3-2);

Draw 6 Results
Mike McEwen beat John Shuster 7-4 (seven ends)
Brendan Bottcher beat Rob Rumfeldt 7-5
Matthew Blandford beat Adam Casey 5-2 (seven ends)
Mark Kean beat John Epping 8-6
Reid Carruthers beat Brad Gushue 6-4 (seven ends)

Draw 7 Results
Steve Laycock beat Heath McCormick 6-5
Peter De Cruz beat Brad Gushue 9-2 (five ends)
Glenn Howard beat John Epping 8-5 (seven ends)
John Morris beat John Shuster 10-2 (five ends)
Kevin Koe beat Rob Rumfeldt 6-3 (seven ends)

Draw 8 Results
Adam Casey beat Mark Kean 9-2 (six ends)
Heath McCormick beat Jeff Stoughton 7-4 (seven ends)
Reid Carruthers beat Brendan Bottcher 9-2 (five ends)
Steve Laycock beat Mike McEwen 9-5 (seven ends)

Draw 9 Results
Glenn Howard beat Matthew Blandford 5-2 (seven ends)
Brad Gushue beat Kevin Koe 4-3 (extra end)
Peter De Cruz beat Rob Rumfeldt 7-2 (six ends)
John Morris beat Jeff Stoughton 7-4 (seven ends)

Round Robin Standings
Glenn Howard: 5-0
Reid Carruthers: 5-0
Brendan Bottcher: 4-1
Steve Laycock: 3-2
Mike McEwen: 3-2
John Morris: 3-2
Brad Jacobs: 3-2
Heath McCormick: 3-2
Peter De Cruz: 2-3
Brad Gushue: 2-3
Matthew Blandford: 2-3
Jeff Soughton: 2-3
Adam Casey: 2-3
Kevin Koe: 2-3
John Epping: 2-3
Mark Kean: 1-4
John Shuster: 1-4
Rob Rumfeldt: 0-5

(PHOTO: Skip Brad Jacobs throws the rock during a draw against team Blandford at the National on November 21, 2014 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)