Friday, September 8th at 8:00pm
Collège Montmorency Nomades v.s Champlain College Lennoxville Cougars
There’s nothing like the drama of football on a Friday night, but this will be a matchup that pits two programs who are striving for different goals.
On the Cougars sideline, they’ll be looking to keep the good vibes flowing after escaping their week two battle with Vanier victorious, but still there’s room for growth with a long schedule ahead, and Friday night presents a great chance to tie up some loose ends. Through two weeks their offensive numbers won’t amaze you, but CFC60 Thomas Trottier and Dhandre Weekes have performed great as a receiving tandem combining for 228 yards on 18 catches with a pair of touchdowns, so watch for them once again to make some noise in the passing game. Also watch for dual threat Jeremie Grace Kankolongo, who’s coming off a big game last week where he touched the ball 16 times for 112 total yards and a touchdown.
Montmorency on the other hand will be looking to zap the memory of last week’s defeat from their mind, and attempt to recapture their form from the first half of their opener which saw them trail just 16-7 to Limoilou. Mathieu Renault has been their biggest source of offence thus far with 134 yards receiving, while quarterback Benjamin Pelletier has been accurate despite only finding the end zone one time. Both will be needed to provide a spark early if they want to hang around with the Cougars.
Saturday, September 9th at 1:00pm
Cégep Garneau Élans v.s Cégep Limoilou Titans
Saturday’s action kicks off with what should be a tight contest between Garneau and Limoilou, who find themselves deadlocked in the standings with questions surrounding whether they’re pretenders or contenders early on in the season.
Garneau enters with a nice jolt of confidence after a convincing win over Montmorency, but they’ll need to limit their mistakes going up a Titans defence that’ve shut down both of their opponents allowing only 30 points. Their passing game led by quarterback Joé Hudon, CFC60 Mathieu Blanchette and Mathieu Hudon was much more effective last week which should be the key to success once again, but they may be wise to get Émile Malenfant more involved who has averaged 6.9 yards on just 17 carries. They’ll also need their defence to step up in a big way again, which should be led by CFC60 Thomas Landry, who flipped the tables last week with a pick-six that helped secure the victory.
For Limoilou it’s been all about defence and running game to open the year with Philippe Genest currently sitting second in the league with 184 yards on 37 carries, but eventually they’ll need their aerial attack to catch up and provide some scoring support. The Titans could easily be sitting at 2-0 if it weren’t for these woes, but the positive is their defence has gelled together nicely, and should present a lofty challenge for Garneau to figure out. Watch for Zachary Verret and Julien Matte-Lajoie to be the main suspects involved in running the defensive show for Limoilou.
Saturday, September 9th at 1:00pm
Vanier College Cheetahs v.s Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy
It’s statement time for the reigning champions who’ll be looking to get back on track versus Vanier after falling to Lévis-Lauzon a week ago.
For all the good they accomplished in that game, CNDF erased those efforts with four interceptions, which as you guessed was far too many to overcome and their coaches weren’t impressed. CFC60 Vincent Forbes-Mombleau has been a beast hauling in 12 receptions for 158 yards, but they’ll need more consistent play moving forward under centre, and we did see that from Alexandre Naud who made the case for the starter’s role in relief of Philip Charpentier. Will they make a change? That’s yet to be seen, but watch for CNDF to address the situation sooner than later if they can’t recapture the form that led them to a title last season.
Vanier is also looking to make a statement after a tough loss to Ch-Lennoxville last week, so expect them to come out with some fire in their belly and an axe to grind. Noah Craney has done a fine job at quarterback with 452 yards through the air and three touchdowns, but the potential for so much more is there, which really should terrify the rest of the league. CFC60 Samuel Emilus has been his safety blanket making 13 catches for 202 yards, which places him second in the league, but also places a big-X on his back as the guy to shut down if you want to disrupt their offensive flow. One guy who has been fairly quiet but should be prime for a breakout game is CFC60 Patrick Charles, so watch for him to bust a run or two if he’s able to find any inkling of a crease.
Saturday, September 9th at 7:30pm
Cégep Lévis-Lauzon Faucons v.s Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Géants
There hasn’t been a snap yet, but I’m willing to bet win or lose that Saint-Jean will be sick of the name Joanik Masse by the end of this one.
The CFC60 product has been the runaway star of the league with 74 carries for 627 yards and four touchdowns, which is where I feel obligated to remind you they’ve only played two games. Masse will of course be the main threat once again, but team’s will need to adjust, and the Faucons will need to reply with some threat of a passing attack that can keep them honest. With a lot of talent at the skills positions they haven’t abandoned the pass game although you may get that impression, but they’ll need a little bit more with their leading receiver Marc-Olivier Boucher clocking in under the 100 yard mark.
This will give Saint-Jean a lot to chew on, but they’ll need to dig deep if they want to avoid falling further behind the pack with limited time to play catch up. Their defence has had some holes punctured in their armour allowing 35+ points in the first two weeks, but they also haven’t been helped by costly turnover that swung some much needed points in the other direction. Quarterback Jesse Swennen has showed a lot of promise with both his arm and legs, but he’ll need to get rid of his interception hiccups in order to lead his team to a much needed victory. He’ll need to lean on Nathan Lupien to get things moving, who sits third in the league with eight receptions for 166 yards.
Saturday, September 9th at 7:30pm
Cégep du Vieux Montréal Spartiates v.s Collège André-Grasset Phénix
It’s been all smiles for André-Grasset to start the campaign with back to back blowout wins, meanwhile Vieux Montréal has been dripping sweat trying to grind out narrow victories.
The Spartiates weren’t successful in week one, but they replied with a close call versus Limoilou to pull back to .500, and now they face their biggest test of the year going up against a surging Grasset offence. Luckily their current team makeup seems tuned to handle heavy offensive pressure, and they’ve only allowed 26 points thus far, but still this will be a different battle. They do have some marquee talent on defence in CFC60 Vincy Biande and Pierre-Gabriel Germain, so don’t be shocked if they are able to find a way to slow down Grasset, even if it’s just enough for quarterback Arnaud Desjardins to pull out a victory.
That will be much easier said than done with Jonathan Sénécal calling the shots, who’s career stats read 640 yards and 7 touchdowns on 66% passing through just two games. If you couldn’t guess already, that’s by far the best numbers in the league, and really until someone stops him, it’s unknown what the ceiling is for this offence. A lot of this also has to do with their three-headed monster at receiver led by CFC60 Kevin Mitale, who currently leads the province with nine receptions for 277 yards and four touchdowns. He’ll be joined as always by François Rocheleau and Guillaume Ranger, who’ve also topped the 100 mark, meaning Grasset currently has 3 of the top 11 receivers in the league.
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