BLOG: RSEQ Award Winner Predictions

On Saturday afternoon,Laval Rouge et Or and University of Montreal Carabins will duel each other to see who will take home the Dunsmore Cup and be crowned Quebec Champions. Before the big occurs on Saturday,there is another matter at hand as the RSEQ will hand out its yearly awards on Thursday or Friday. As being somewhat an expert in RSEQ football, I made my picks for the top awards.

RSEQ MVP/ Trophée Jeff Russel- Stingers third year QB,Trenton Miller.
I would like to first start off by saying that I’m not being biased picking Miller, since I covered several Stinger games this year for the Concordian. Miller was born in Buffalo and came to Concordia from Mars Hill University in North Carolina where he graduated at the age of 20. He is now doing an MBA at Concordia University. Miller was not the Stingers starting quarterback at the start of the season but did come in quite often in the first two games when Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren struggled. Miller played his best against the Laval and Montreal this season. Miller in the three games against Laval and Montreal completed 79 passes out of 117 attempts. He also passed for 1020 passing yards along with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. The American ended the year with 2384 yards, which ranked him fifth in the CIS this year in passing yards and also threw for 20 touchdowns which ranked him third in the CIS and only eight interceptions in eight games. He also completed 204 passes which ranked him second best in the CIS and also had completion percentage of 66 %. Miller won the RSEQ passing title beating likes of Sherbrooke Vert et Or’s all-star pivot, Jeremi Roch and University of Montreal’s Carabins QB, Gabriel Cousineau. Miller in his great season broke two Stingers records that belonged to Rob Mackay. His 20 touchdowns beat Mackay’s mark of 18 and also his completion of 204 beat Mackay’s 201. In the Stingers playoff game lost against Laval, he went down in the second quarter and do not return. Miller was 7/11 for 59 yards in the playoff game.

The future is bright for the Stingers for the next few years with Miller at the helm of the offense. Miller likely will be battle Laval Rouge et Or pivot, Hugo Richard for the next few years for being the best passer in Quebec.

Honorable mention-Laval Rouge et Or defensive lineman, Mathieu Betts and Sherbrooke Vert et Or pivot, Jeremai Roch. Roch ended his legendary CIS career on Saturday afternoon in a lost to UDM. He finished as CIS career leader in passing yards with 11477 and CIS all-time leader in passing attempts with 1470 and finally all-time most passes completed with 866. He is seventh all-time in touchdown passes with 68.

Rookie of the year and lineman of the year-Rouge et Or defensive lineman, Mathieu Betts.
The Rouge et Or defense was a force of nature this year as they lead the CIS in least amount points allowed to their opponent with 12.6 points per a game and 101 points all together. They finished second in the CIS for least amount of rushing yards allowed with 105.8 yards per a game. A big reason for their defensive success was the outstanding play of Betts. Betts like Vincent Desloges last year led the nation in sacks with 12. He also had 19 solo tackles and three forced fumbles in eight games this year. He is my pick both for rookie of the year and lineman of the year.

Honorable mention-Stingers rookie wide out, Yanic Lessard who had eight touchdowns (CIS 6th) for 728 receiving yards (CIS 7th). Lessard also had 50 catches (CIS 8th).

Defensive player of the year- Stingers free safety, Mikael Charland. Charland had 37 solo tackles (CIS 16th) this season along with 19 assists and three interceptions. The Stingers defense finished fourth in the CIS for most interceptions with 13. The Stingers defense finished fifth in least amount of rushing yards allowed in a game with 117.1 yards per a game.

Honorable mention- McGill Redmen linebacker, Karl Forgues. Forgues last year won the defensive rookie of the year. Forgues had 33 solo tackles along with 17 assists. He averaged 8.3 tackles per a game which was second best in the CIS. Forgues lastly had three sacks in 2015.

Coach of the year- Montreal Carabins coach, Danny Maciocia. Maciocia has never won RSEQ coach of the year and in my opinion this is the year to give it to him. The defending Vanier Cup Champions did not have it easy this year. The Carabins finished the year with a 6-2 record. Their only losses came at the hands of Laval and a different look Sherbrooke team.

Honorable mention-Laval Rouge et Or coach, Glen Constantin who could win this award every year and has won it five times. McGill Redmen head coach, Ronald Hilaire who led the Redmen to a 4-4 record after last season 0-8 year. McGill was win away from clinching a playoff spot but game winning 30 yard field goal by Stingers kicker, Keegan Treolar ended that dream.

——————————————————————————————————-

All content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views of Canadafootballchat.com (CFC).   CFC makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information in the blogger section or found by following any link in this section.   CFC will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information.  CFC will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information