PREVIEW (RSEQ 2x): Carabins & Redmen renew Mount Royal rivalry; Gaiters host Rouge et Or

Montreal  – With a convincing victory over the Bishop’s Gaiters last week, the Montreal Carabins welcome the McGill Redmen on Friday night at CEPSUM. Despite the Carabins success against their neighbors in the past, there is always a rivalry between the Carabins and the Redmen.

“We are all very excited after our last game,” linebacker Alex Cromer-Emond. “The Redmen are from Montreal, that makes them our direct rivals and we want to show them that this is our territory.”

During the offseason, three Carabins coaches moved over to the other side of the mountain – new Redmen Defensive Coordinator Ronald Hilaire, Offensive Line Coach Alain Mainguy and Defensive Backs coach David Edmunds.

“These are three quality coaches who have a say in the Redmen,” said Carabins Head Coach Danny Maciocia. “We feel their presence in recruiting and there will be a direct impact in the long term.”

“It also reviews some of our philosophies on defense.”

After a defeat in the season opener, the Carabins rallied last week in front of the home crowd to defeat the Bishop’s Gaiters 41-7.

The Carabins air attack has been successful since the beginning of the season. Besides, Mikhail Davidson (Economics) could become the most prolific receiver in the history of the team this week. In his fourth season, the product of André-Grasset has amassed 1,509 yards on 93 receptions so far. He only needs 93 yards to join the leader, Frank Bruno, who played for the Blues from 2007 to 2010.

“I do not think about records,” said Davidson who will turn 23 on Friday.  “It’s more important for the people around me who are talking.”

“I prefer to win games.  McGill always gives us a good opposition. After our win last week, we’ll go back with even more motivation and with the same intensity.”

For their part,  the Redmen’s attack will be led by star running back Luis Guimont-Mota who is constantly a threat. Wide receiver Louis Brouillette is also off to a good start to the season with 187 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, linebacker Karl Forgues leads the RSEQ with 15 tackles.

“They have an aggressive defense and a great running back,” assessed Maciocia. “We will need to play at our level if we are to be successful in this game.”

Success against the Redmen

Since their inaugural season in 2002, the Carabins have been successful against their Montreal rivals. The Carabins are currently riding a streak of 16 consecutive victories against the Redmen. Moreover, in the last two games in the regular season, Carabins defeated the Redmen by a 72-3 points margin.

So far this season, McGill has suffered two defeats against both the Sherbrooke Vert & Or and the Concordia Stingers.

Photo credit -Davidson: James Hajjar

(With files from Mathieu Dauphinais)

Bishop's Gaiters preview against Rouge et Or 2014

Purple and Silver look to trump Rouge et Or in home opener

SHERBROOKE  – The top ranked team in the nation invades Lennoxville on Saturday, September 20 as the Bishop’s Gaiters football team will play in front of their home crowd for the first time in 2014.  Their opponents are the two-time defending Vanier Cup Champion Laval Rouge et Or. The RSEQ University Football match-up is slated for 1 p.m. on Coulter Field.

Laval (2-0) has clearly lamented themselves as the top dog in CIS football once again this year.  The perennial powerhouse has cruised to two victories over No. 5 Montreal and Sherbrooke and along the way garnered every first place vote in the CIS top-10 rankings. Under the guidance of rookie quarterback Hugo Richard (St-Bruno, Que.) Laval has put up 83 points in their two contests while allowing just 14.

Bishop’s (0-2) has struggled in their two losses to open the season. They fell to a much improved Concordia Stingers (2-0) squad in Montreal in week one and a hungry and talented Montreal Carabins (1-1) team in week 2. A bright spot for the Gaiters has been the play of running back Ronlee King-Fileen (Toronto).  He’s averaged 97.5 yards rushing to date. On the defensive side of the ball linebacker Adrian Clarke (Mississauga, Ont.) is second in the conference with 12.5 tackles, 11 of them solo.

A season ago on Coulter Field Laval and Bishop’s played one of the all-time great games.  The Rouge et Or ultimately won the contest 46-38 where there was 1152 yards of total offense, 630 by the Gaiters.

“Our goal is to compete each and every play,” said Gaiters head coach and defensive coordinator Kevin Mackey. “We need to win the little battles within the game to be successful.  Our guys are ready and they are going to come out disciplined and work hard.”

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