BLOG: Stingers versus Vert et Or preview

The Stingers will start year two of the Mickey Donovan era against Sherbrooke’s at home with new sharp uniforms. The Stingers come into this season with a lot of question marks, who will be the starting QB in the home opener and who are the leaders of this team because they lack a lot of experience only ten players that are in their fourth or fifth year. The Vert et Or come into their first game of the year ready to prove that they belong with the top dogs of the conference, University of Montreal and Laval. The Vert et Or will have their fifth year quarterback, Jérémi Roch behind center again.Roch is considered to be one of the best QBs in Quebec history as he is sixth all time in touchdown passes with 53 if he can threw 14 touchdown passes this year he will break former Laval’s pivot, Benoît Groulx record of 66. Roch is ranked second for most pass completion in a career with 718, the leader is former McGill’s Redmen quarterback and now Stingers offensive coordinator, Matt Connell who had 816. Roch is also second in most passing yards in a career with 9380 passing yards, the leader also is Connell who had 10455 yards. The two teams last year split the series, 1-1. Stingers beat Sherbrooke, 29-22 on September 19. The Stingers lost Sherbrooke on October 25 when they were shutout, 25-0.

Quarterbacking
The Stingers will have a new starter this season as last year starter, Frank Dessureault did not return this year. Dessureault had 1307 passing yards along with eight touchdowns and four interceptions in seven games last year. He also competed 57.1% of his passes. This year, the Stingers have competition for the starting job between American rookie, Trenton Miller and Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren who last played for Edmonton Wildcats in the OJFL in their secondary and has experience in the CIS with Saskatchewan Huskies as a receiver and QB. The two QBs are very different as Miller is your prototype QB who stands in the pocket and throws the ball compare to Gilbert-Knorren who is more of running QB. Miller in this year preseason game win over the Queen’s Golden Gaels was 13/21 for 142 yards and one touchdown. Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren in the Queens game was 7/10 for 78 yards. He was the leading rusher for the Stingers with eight carries for 54 yards and one touchdown. It’s very tough to say who will win the job because they both bring something different to the table. I expect Coach Donovan will have a two quarterback system this year. On the other sideline, Sherbrooke has one of the most accomplished quarterback in Quebec with Jérémi Roch. Roch last year had 2317 yards passing which was second in the CIS along with eleven touchdowns and averaged 289 yards per a game which third in the CIS. Roch will look to prove that he is one of the best QBs in Canada this year.

Rushing
Last season, the Stingers had many problems with their running backs as their starter, Gunner Tatum got a concussion last year against Vert et Or in September and was out for the year. The Stingers rode Olivier Dupont and Kevin Wade for the rest of the year. Dupont had 318 rushing yards on 77 carries and one touchdown last year and Wade had 79 rushing yards on 22 carries. The Stingers finished 25th in the country last year which was third worst in the CIS. This year, the Stingers have Myles Browne who played on Team Canada U18 in the International Bowl in January and comes from Calgary. He led his Notre Dame H.S. to Alberta provincial championship in 2014. Browne had 34 rushing yards on 9 carries in the preseason game against Queens. The other key running back for the team is Alexandre Bouvrette. Bouvrette last year played for Cegep de St. Jerome and was named MVP of the conference. The Vert et Or starting rusher will be fifth year player, Simon Benoît who last season had 273 rushing yards on 43 carries and one touchdown.

Receiving
The Stingers this year have many new faces as receivers however fifth year starter, Jamal Henry will be return. Henry is the Stingers main offensive weapon as he is a deep threat every time he receives the ball. He had 428 receiving yards last year along with four touchdowns and 23 receptions in seven games. He will look to improve on these numbers this year and prove to CFL scouts that he is one of the best receivers in the country. The Stingers also have Daniel Skube and Kyle Santana returning from last year receiving core. Skube had 16 receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns last year. In the preseason game against Queens this year he caught nine passes for 107 yards. Santana had seven receptions for 79 yards and one touchdown last year. The new receivers that are looking to make impact are Yanic Lessard, James Ohayon and Justin Julien. Lessard had four catches for 37 yards in the game against Queens. Ohayon had four catches for 34 yards and the game winning touchdown in the Queens game. Julien had two catches for 36 yards in the Queens game. The Vert et Or will not have their RSEQ all-star, Sébastien Blanchard this year because he is gone. Sherbrooke will look for Vincent Cléroux-Gaudreau to move up as their top wideout this year and their second wideout will be Olivier Emond. Cléroux-Gaudreau had 22 receptions for 309 receiving yards and one touchdown last year. Emond had 12 catches for 180 yards.

Defense
Last year, the Stingers had one of the best defenses in country as they led the CIS in most interceptions and most defensive touchdowns. This year, Stingers will not have last season All-Canadian, Kris Robertson who led the CIS in picks with five last year. A few other key players are not returning, Kevin Prempeh, Eric Noivo, Travis Bent and Mike Asare. This year’s defense will be anchored by the fourth year duo of defensive end, Andrew Barlett and safety, Mikael Charland. Mikael Charland led the Stingers in total tackles last year with 53.5 and also had two forced fumbles. Andrew Barlett had 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks last season. The two other key players for the defense this year will be third year duo of defensive tackle Sam Narkaj and cornerback Rashawn Perry. Narkaj had 14 tackles and two sacks last year. Narkaj was the best defensive player in the Queens game as he had six solo tackles, two assists and three sacks for a loss of eleven yards. Perry had 15 tackles and one interception that was return for a touchdown last year. The Vert et Or defensive last year was fourth in the CIS least amount of point scored by its opponents. The team will not have its RSEQ all-star linebacker, Samuel Bibeault anymore. The team will be leaning on fourth year safety, Alexandre Gagné to step up and be a leader on defense. Gagné led the Vert et Or in total tackles last year with 32.5. He also had two sacks, one force fumble and one interception. The team will also look for fifth year SE, Olivier Goulet-Veilleux to be a big playmaker like he was a year ago. Goulet-Veilleux had 26.5 tackles along with one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The Vert et Or are hoping that fifth year defensive tackle, Francis Guay can continue to bring quarterback down to the ground this year as he had three sacks last year along with 21 tackles.

Kicking/Punting
The Stingers have one of the best kickers in Canada with fifth year kicker, Keegan Treloar. Treloar last season was 16/20- 80% of field goal and was 17/17 on extra points. Treloar had 65 points last year. This year,Treloar could also be punting as well because the Stingers lost Clark Green. Treloar last season punted three times for 84 yards. In the preseason game against Queens, he had two field goals one from 42 yards and the other from 32 yard field goals and was perfect extra points. Treloar also punted the ball eleven times for 412 yards. Sherbrooke kicker and punter is third year player, Mathieu Hébert. Hébert was 14/23-61% on field goal last year and 24/24 on extra points.

I believe that Stingers will win the game, 30-27..

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