East prevails 34-27 over West in overtime of 2011 East-West Bowl: Levesque overtime winner

LONDON, Ont. – The 2011 East-West Bowl could not be decided in regulation time as the East all-star team prevailed over the West all-star team 34-27 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in London, Ont. at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

Acadia’s Kyle Graves and Laval’s Bruno Prud’homme split the quarterbacking duties for the East team. Prud’Homme was 9-for-14 passing for 122 yards with 14 yards rushing and a touchdown. Graves was 8-for-15 passing for 73 yards and added 29 yards rushing.

Bishop’s John Jean-Baptiste was the top rusher for the East with nine carries for 62 yards. Concordia’s Sanchez Deschamps had three receptions for 82 yards and Saint Mary’s Jahmeek Taylor had three catches for 30 yards.

Western’s Donnie Marshall was 6-for-13 passing for 127 yards and one touchdown and rushed five times for 57 yards and one touchdown. McMaster’s Kyle Quinlan was 7-for-11 for 94 yards passing with one rushing touchdown.

Regina’s Adrian Charles had nine rushes for 35 yards for the West. Wilfrid Laurier’s Shamawd Chambers was the top receiver with five catches for 84 yards and one touchdown and Windsor’s Jordan Brescacin had four catches for 79 yards.

The first quarter saw the East winning the field position battle and forcing the West to concede two safeties. After a 43-yard diving catch from Deschamps set the East up at first and goal, Prud’homme scrambled right for a seven-yard touchdown rush. McGill’s Austin Anderson added the point after to make it 11-0 for the East at the end of the first quarter.

The West responded on the ground in the second quarter with big gains from Marshall and Charles to set up a one-yard touchdown rush by Marshall. Western’s Lirim Hajrullahu added the extra point to cut the East lead to 11-7 with 12:01 remaining in the half.

Anderson added a nine-yard field goal to extend the East lead back to a touchdown. The West would engineer a quick scoring drive as Marshall found Chambers for a 25-yard touchdown strike with 1:56 left in the half.

The West then forced a quick punt from the East and Hajrullahu would kick a 46-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to give the West their first lead of the game at 17-14 going into halftime.

Anderson would tie the score back at 17-17 midway through the third quarter on a 40-yard field goal. Quinlan would plunge in for his own one-yard touchdown rush for the West after completing a number of passes on a 75-yard drive. Hajrullahu added the extra point to make it 24-17 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

The East got a boost from its defence as Toronto defensive lineman Everton Williams forced a Marshall fumble and Montreal linebacker Jonathan Beaulieu-Richard recovered the ball in the endzone for the touchdown to tie the game at 24-24 with 8:52 left in the game.

Anderson would put the East in the lead 27-24 with a 15-yard field goal with 3:21 remaining after the West stopped the East at the goal line. Hajrullahu would answer back with a 30-yard field goal for the West to tie the game at 27-27 with 1:49 left after Marshall and Chambers connected for a 39-yard reception.

Anderson would miss a 41-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining for the win and the fourth quarter ended with both teams tied at 27-27.

Using the CIS shootout format for overtime the East got first possession and Laval’s running back Sébastien Lévesque rushed it in for the touchdown with Anderson adding the extra point to give the East the 34-27 lead. Marshall was unable to manufacture a touchdown drive and the East held on to win the ninth annual East-West Bowl.

Scoring Summary

EAST: 11-3-3-10-7 = 34
WEST: 0-17-7-3-0 = 27

First Quarter
EAST – Safety (Hajrullahu conceded in endzone) 13:50
EAST – Safety (Hajrullahu conceded in endzone) 5:02
EAST – TD Prud’homme 7 run (Anderson Kick) 0:15

Second Quarter
WEST – TD Marshall 1 yd run (Hajrullahu kick) 12:01
EAST – FG Anderson 9 yd 3:08
WEST – TD Chambers 25 yd from Marshall (Hajrullahu kick) 1:56
WEST – FG Hajrullahu 46 yd 0:30

Third Quarter
EAST – FG Anderson 40 yd 7:11
WEST – TD Quinlan 1yd run (Hajrullahu kick) 2:56

Fourth Quarter
EAST – TD J. Beaulieu-Richard 0 yd fumble recovery (Anderson kick) 8:52
EAST – FG Anderson 15 yd 3:21
WEST – FG Hajrullahu 30 yd 1:49

Overtime
EAST – TD Levesque 9 yd run

Pictures: Rouge et or mania