Jacobs in playoff hunt at Brier after split

There will be plenty on the line when Brad Jacobs returns to action representing Northern Ontario for a pair of games on Friday at the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier in Brandon, Man.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and fifth Lee Toner, split a pair of games in Championship Pool action on Thursday.

Jacobs dropped a 6-5 decision to Scott McDonald (Ontario) in an extra end on Thursday evening for his first loss of the nine-day event.

McDonald had a draw for one in the final end to pick up the win.

Jacobs battled back in the game after falling behind early as McDonald stole two in the opening end before stealing another in the second end to go up 3-0.

After Jacobs scored one in the third, McDonald went up 5-1 by scoring a single in the fourth end and stealing another in the fifth.

Jacobs proceeded to score one in the sixth and stealing one each in the seventh and eighth ends to cut McDonald’s lead to 5-4.

McDonald would go up 6-4 with a single in the ninth but Jacobs forced the extra end with two in 10.

McDonald told Curling.ca following the game that he felt forcing Jacobs to try to make a tough shot in the opening end helped set the tone for the game.

“We were always able to control the scoreboard and that helped us later in the game,” McDonald said.

The Jacobs rink opened action on Thursday with an 11-5 win over Jim Cotter (British Columbia) in eight ends.

Against Cotter, a big third end put Northern Ontario in the drivers seat early on.

After the teams traded deuces in the opening two ends, Jacobs scored five in the third end to break the game open.

“We got off to a quick start and got a nice early deuce,” Jacobs told Curling.ca following the win over Cotter. “We gave it back but we got fortunate when we had an easy shot for five, a nose hit for five. We were able to cruise to a pretty easy win from there.”

Jacobs added deuces in the fifth and seventh ends to cap off the win.

Jacobs said that even after opening the tournament with eight consecutive wins, there were also some points that challenged the team.

“There still has been some stressful times,” Jacobs said. “We’ve had some misses. We’ve faced a little bit of adversity here and there, but we welcome any setbacks, any challenges, any adversities this week.”

“When you face adversity, it means that you’re learning and you’re growing,” Jacobs added. “We welcome the challenge. We’re ready for it. In my mind right now, we can’t fail.”

Kevin Koe (Alberta) clinched a Page Playoff spot thanks to a pair of wins on Thursday to move to 9-0.

After dropping a pair of games each on Thursday, Cotter, Mike McEwen (Manitoba), and Kirk Muyers (Saskatchewan) all dropped to 4-5 and were eliminated from Page Playoff contention heading into the final day of Championship Pool play on Friday.

Brad Gushue (Team Canada) is in good position heading into Friday with an 8-1 record.

Jacobs returns to action on Friday at 3 p.m. (eastern time) against Gushue before wrapping up Championship Pool action at 8 p.m. against Koe.

The top four teams in Championship Pool action advance to the Page Playoff, which is set for Saturday.

The 3vs4 game is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday’s semifinal.

The 1vs2 game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday with the winner advancing directly into Sunday’s final and the loser playing the winner of the 3vs4 game in the semifinal.

Sunday’s semifinal is set for 2 p.m. with the final at 8 p.m.