University of Montreal Carabins needed a fourth quarter comeback to defeat the Wilfrid LaurierGolden Hawks by a score of 37-33 on Saturday afternoon in front of 3000 supporters gathered at CEPSUM for the pre-season game.
“It was a typical pre-season game with several players getting a chance to see the field”, said Carabins head coach Danny Maciocia. “We had the chance to evaluate them, there was good and less good, but it’s part of the preparation for the season.”
The Golden Hawks scored the first points of the game with a 47 yards Nathan Mesher field goal midway in the first quarter. Montreal replied seven minutes later with another field goal, this time from 45 yards from the foot of Felix Menard-Brière. After another Lauirier field goal, Menard-Brière added two others of 46 and 16 yards.
At the 13th minute of the second quarter, the Golden Hawks scored the first touchdown on a long pass of 75 yards from QB Julien John to Brentyn Hall. The visitors led 13-9 at halftime.
The offense awakens in second half
Early in the second half new quarterback Samuel Caron connected with second-year receiver Louis-Mathieu Normandin for a touchdown of 90 yards. Wilfrid Laurier lost no time answering with a touchdown in turn. An eight-yard run by Eric Guiltinan gave the visitors the lead, 20-16.
“We started a little slowly and we would have liked to score more points before halftime”, Normandin said who completed his work day with 128 yards on four receptions. “We then saw their defensive tendencies and was able to adjust, which paid off.”
Before giving way after the third quarter, Caron had completed 18 of 26 passes for gains of 239 yards, with an interception.
“I was very excited to play that first game, I think it went well overall”, said Caron. “We were able to perform better in the second half. ”
Ménard-Brière then added a fourth field goal but the Golden Hawks added another major two minutes from the end of the third quarter. Malcom Thompson returned a fumble 50 yards into the end zone to give them an eight point lead.
Eric Parr took over the quarterback position and he was quick to make his presence felt. The rookie from Collège Montmorency led the offense down the field. His teammate Julien Choquette-Daigneault finished the job with a three-yard touchdown run. The Carabins managed the two-point conversion to tie it at 27-27.
Offensive coordinator Marco Iadelcua then inserted QB Pierre-Luc Várhegyi. The latter completed his first pass to Raphael Majot Dagenais who scampred 55 yards and gave the Carabins a seven-point lead. After another Carabins field goal, Laurier scored a touchdown in the dying moments to end the scoring.
“We have a good core of players and depth at several positions”, said Maciocia. “With such a comeback to win the game, it looks good for us. We must now continue to work and make several adjustments before the start of the season. ”
It was the first clash between the two universities since 1966 while UdeM lost 36-7 to Laurier. The first generation of Carabins football was from 1959 to 1972.
With files: Benoit Mongeon
Photo Crédit : Claude-André Fortin
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