Bishop’s looks for pass defence to continue great play against the Redmen

THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (1-3) hit the road for their only trip to Montreal this season, as they visit the winless McGill Redmen (0-4).

THE RECORDS:
The Gaiters head into the contest with a 1-3 record, with their sole win coming at Mount Allison two weeks ago. McGill is 0-4, and currently on a 16-game losing streak. McGill’s last win was on Oct. 3, 2009—a 21-19 win over the Gaiters at Coulter Field.

LAST TIME OUT:
A pair of late first-half touchdowns led the No. 4-ranked Montreal Carabins to a 36-22 win over the Bishop’s Gaiters on Saturday, September 24 at Coulter Field. The Homecoming crowd of 2,165 saw the Carabins turn a 10-6 deficit into a 20-10 halftime lead with two touchdowns in the last minute of the second quarter. Rotrand Sené scored twice for Montreal, while Alexandre Fortier-Labonté had the other Montreal touchdown. Pierre-Paul Gélinas kicked four field goals for the winners, and a safety touch and a single rounded out the Montreal scoring. For Bishop’s Shane McDonald, David Haddrall and Alexander Fox all scored touchdowns, while Mathieu Paquette added a field goal and a conversion. For Bishop’s, Jordan Heather went 22-for-43 for 233 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Defensively, the Gaiters were led by O’Shane Daley, who made 6.5 tackles, intercepted a pass and knocked down another. Dan West finished with 6.5 tackles, while Jermaine-Lewis-Parris had five.

THE SERIES:
The Gaiters lead the all-time series 40-37-1. The Gaiters-Redmen series is the longest-running series for Bishop’s, with the first meeting occurring back in 1885. However, the teams did not begin playing each other regularly until 1971, when both teams joined the Quebec Universities Athletic Association. The Gaiters have won five of the past eight games in the series, dating back to 2006. The Gaiters have won the past three meetings at Molson Stadium, a 45-21 win in 2008, a 25-20 victory in 2009 and a 26-19 (2 OT) win last year. Last year’s game was the first overtime game in the series.

LAST MEETING:
A 10-yard catch by Quincy Van De Cruize in the second period of overtime lifted the Gaiters to a 26-19 victory over the McGill Redmen at Molson Stadium on Sept. 10, 2011. Van De Cruize caught a screen pass from Jesse Andrews and dove into the left corner of the end zone to put the Gaiters in front. The Gaiters’ defence held on the next three plays to preserve the victory. Andrews went 18-for-35 for 213 yards with no interceptions and one touchdown. He was also the Gaiters’ leading rusher, with ten carries for 70 yards. Coventry, making his first career start, led Bishop’s receivers with four catches for 58 yards, while Van De Cruize finished with 91 all-purpose yards. Defensively, Elie Ngoyi led the Gaiters with eight tackles, including a 14-yard sack in the fourth quarter.

PASSING FANCY:
The Gaiters possess the top-rated pass offence in Canada, with an average of 340.5 yards per game. Gaiter quarterbacks have combined to go 95-for-165 for 1362 yards with nine touchdowns this year. Last week’s loss to Montreal was the first time the Gaiters did not reach the 300-yard plateau, and Bishop’s is one of only seven teams in Canada to average over 300 passing yards per game. The Gaiters are on pace to break their team record for single-season passing yards, which is currently believed to be 2,378, set in 1995. (NOTE: research on this record is ongoing.)

THOU SHALL NOT PASS:
Conversely, the Gaiters also have the top-rated pass defence in Quebec. The Gaiters have allowed only 223.8 passing yards per game, and have made nine interceptions. Defensive backs Marcus Lam-Peters and Ryland Smith have led the Gaiters’ pass defence this year. Lam-Peters has three knockdowns and an interception, while Smith has picked off three passes and knocked down two others. Linebacker Tyler Jutras also has a pair of interceptions.

THE HEATHER REPORT:
Third-year quarterback Jordan Heather has posted an efficiency rating of over 100 in each of his four games, and is currently third in Canada with 308 yards per game. The Oromocto, N.B., native is also third nationally in completions (90) and attempts (155). His eight touchdown passes are fourth in the country. Heather is also the Gaiters’ leading rusher, with 86 yards on eight carries, and leads Quebec in total offence (rushing + passing yards) with 329.5 yards per game.

FOX ON THE RUN:
Second-year receiver Alexander Fox picked up his fourth touchdown of the season last week, putting him in second place in Quebec (behind only Simon Charbonneau-Campeau of Sherbrooke, who has seven). Fox leads the conference with a total of 630 all-purpose yards. Fox has two 100-yard receiving games this year, as well as two 100-yard return games (combining punt and kickoff returns). Last week, he led the Gaiters with 172 all-purpose yards, including 67 receiving yards, 78 on kickoff returns, and 27 on punt returns.

CFL GAITERS UPDATE:
Former Gaiter Justin Conn got a rare chance to play in his home province last week—his first game in New Brunswick since the Gaiters travelled to Mount Allison in 2006. Conn’s Calgary Stampeders fell 55-36 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Touchdown Atlantic, and Conn did not record a tackle. Conn is one of nine Gaiters currently active in the CFL, and a record ten ex-Gaiters have played in the league this year. The current crop of CFL Gaiters hit the scoreboard on Sept. 17, as Tim Cronk ran a blocked punt in 31 yards for a touchdown. He is the first ex-Gaiter to score a touchdown in the CFL since Gilles Colon in 2006. Cronk is one of nine Gaiters currently active in the CFL. Among the other Lions-Gaiters, Shawn Gore is in third place among Canadian receivers with 45 catches for 626 yards, while Jamall Lee (10) and James Yurichuk (9) are among the team’s leaders in Special Teams Tackles. Elsewhere in the league, the Stampeders’ Junior Turner has 17 tackles on the season, while Saskatchewan’s Mathieu Boulay made his first career tackle on Aug. 30 against Winnipeg, and is currently on the one-game injured list, as is Kyle Jones, who is now with Hamilton.

TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY:
On September 30, 1989, six different players scored touchdowns for the Gaiters as they rolled to a 51-6 win over the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa. Gaiter quarterback Silvio Martel was quite efficient, as while he only threw seven completions, three went for major scores, to David Quig, Pat Gregory and Keith Kelly. The other Gaiter scores came on a 70-yard punt return by Steve Zatylny, a one-yard run by Mike Hollingsworth and a 35-yard interception return by Tait Kisby, giving the Gaiters touchdowns on offence, defence and special teams, a feat that they did not repeat until October 8, 2010. Simon Restall rounded out the Gaiter scoring with three field goals and six conversions.

UP NEXT:
The Gaiters’ three-game road trip continues next week as they visit the Sherbrooke Vert & Or in the annual Mayor’s Cup game. Kickoff at the Sherbrooke university stadium is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 8.

Click here for the full game notes

NOTHING BUT NET: Friday’s game will be webcast live on SSN Canada at [url]http://www.ssncanada.ca.

CHAT LIVE: This week, the Gaiters will once again host an in-game live chat. Follow the links at [url]www.gaiters.ca to join in.

Bishop’s Sports Info