THIS WEEK: The #8 Bishop’s Gaiters return home to the friendly confines of Coulter Field to take on the #3 Montreal Carabins.
NOTHIN’ BUT NET: Saturday’s game will be webcast on SSN Canada. Fans can access it from [url]www.gaiters.ca or [url]www.ssncanada.ca. Sean O’Neill ‘08 and Geoff Britnell ‘11 will provide commentary.
UPDATES: In addition to the usual score and quarter updates at [url]www.gaiters.ca and www.twitter.com/BishopsGaiters, fans can now follow along using the live stats viewer at [url]www.gaiters.ca and livestats.prestosports.com/bishops.
TICKETS, PLEASE: Tickets are available at the gate. Adult tickets cost $12. Concession tickets are priced at $5 (Champlain/high school students), $3 (Bishop’s students) and $2 (children under 12).
THE RECORDS: The Gaiters enter the game at 3-1, riding a three-game winning streak. Montreal is a perfect 4-0 on the year, with wins over Sherbrooke, Concordia, St. F.X. and McGill.
LAST TIME OUT: A 22-yard field goal by Josh Maveety with 24 seconds to go lifted the No. 9-ranked Gaiters to an 18-17 victory over Concordia on Sept. 25. Maveety’s field goal capped a Bishop’s comeback from 17-7 down with three minutes left. The Gaiters’ comeback started with 2:43 left, when David Haddrall caught a seven-yard pass from Jesse Andrews in the back of the end zone, pulling the Gaiters to within three points at 17-14, capping a six-play, 75-yard drive. On the ensuing kickoff, Maveety fired the ball through the end zone to score an 85-yard single, cutting the margin to 17-15. Maveety finished the game with 12 points, as he was good on three of four field goal attempts (from 19, 15 and 22), scored one conversion and added two single points. Andrews went 17-for-28 for 219 yards and a touchdown, and was the Gaiters’ leading rusher, with 49 yards on eight carries.
THE SERIES: The Bishop’s-Montreal series dates back over 80 years, the second-longest-running series for Bishop’s. The first recorded meeting was on October 16, 1926, a 35-1 Bishop’s win. After three meetings in the 1920s, the series went on a more than 30-year hiatus, resuming on October 20, 1962 with the Gaiters winning 47-9. After a 70-0 Gaiter win in 1971, the teams would not meet again until 2002. The Gaiters hold the overall series lead 17-7. Since the Carabins’ re-launch, the Gaiters are 4-7 against Montréal (2-3 at Coulter Field). The teams split two meetings last year, with Bishop’s winning 21-16 at home, but falling 40-15 in the QUFL semifinal in Montreal two weeks later.
LAST MEETING: Rotrand Sené and Marc-Olivier Brouillette led the No. 8–ranked Montreal Carabins to a 40-15 victory over the Gaiters in a QUFL semifinal game. The crowd of 3,057 at the CEPSUM saw Sené run for 236 yards, including two touchdowns, while Brouillette threw for 363 yards and a touchdown. The Gaiters took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Carabins rattled off 37 unanswered points to book their place in the Dunsmore Cup final. For Bishop’s, Jordan Heather finished the day going 12-for-18 for 205 yards with an interception and a touchdown in his first career start. Shawn Gore had his second 100-yard day of the season, with five catches for 114 yards. Matt Burke was the Gaiters’ leading rusher, with seven carries for 29 yards. Defensively, Jermaine Lewis-Parris led the Gaiters with ten tackles, while Jermaine Gabriel made two interceptions.
RANKING MEMBERS: The Gaiters moved up one spot in this week’s Football Reporters of Canada-CIS Top Ten this week. The Gaiters finished in eighth place, up from ninth the week before. The top six teams in the the weekly poll were unchanged, while McMaster moved up from eighth to seventh. Alberta, who had been No. 7, dropped out, and were replaced by Saskatchewan, who came in ninth. Guelph held on to tenth spot. The Gaiters remain the third of three QUFL teams to be ranked, with Laval at #1 and Montreal at #3. Concordia and Sherbrooke both continued to receive votes.
SIMPLY MAV-ELOUS: With 53 points, fourth-year kicker Josh Maveety continues to lead the CIS in scoring. Maveety scored 12 of the Gaiters’ 18 points on Saturday, as he hit on three of four field goals (including the game-winning 22-yarder), made one conversion and kicked two singles. His second single, an 85-yard kickoff (tying his personal best), cut the Stingers lead to 17-15, allowing Gaiters to win the game on his final placement. Maveety leads the CIS with 12 field goals this year, and is kicking at an 80% success rate. With 53 points on the year, Maveety has already exceeded his highest season points total.
MR. 5,000: Jesse Andrews is the first Gaiter quarterback to throw for 5,000 career yards. He now has 5,629 career passing yards. The fifth-year Pickering native also holds all the Gaiters’ major career passing records. With his touchdown pass to David Haddrall last week, he beat Tony Harris’ team record of 27 career touchdown passes.
ANDREWS AIR FORCE: Andrews has made 33 consecutive regular-season starts under centre for the Gaiters, the longest current streak in the QUFL. Andrews took over as the Gaiters’ #1 quarterback in the second quarter of the Laval game on Sept. 24, 2006, and made his first start one week later. His overall streak was snapped at 30 games when Jordan Heather started last year’s QUFL semi-final.
THE JOY OF SACKS: The Gaiters lead the QUFL, and are 8th in the CIS, with ten sacks this season. Leading the Gaiters’ sack attack is second-year defensive end Elie Ngoyi, whose 4.5 sacks are second in the province.
SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS: The Gaiters have recorded 27 tackles for loss so far this season, an average of 6.75 per game. Mathieu Boulay leads the team, and is tied for the league lead with 7.5 tackles for loss, while Elie Ngoyi is third in the league with 6.0.
BLOCK PARTY: Kyle Exume made his third career blocked punt against Concordia on Saturday, and the second of the season. He is one of only two CIS players to block two kicks this year—Christopher Johnson of Toronto is the other.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR: Both the Gaiters and Carabins have a pair of players who transferred from the other school. For Bishop’s, punter Mathieu Paquette and quarterback Alex Rivet are ex-Carabins, while former Gaiters Roody Longchamps and Delien Charles have made their way to Montreal.
SEEING PINK: As part of a breast cancer awareness initiative, QUFL referees will be using pink whistles and pink flags throughout October. While it is true that the Gaiters and Carabins are the league’s two most penalized teams, there is no truth to the rumour that Coulter Field will look like it has been covered with insulation on Saturday. The Gaiters have averaged 130.8 yards in penalties per game, while Montreal has marched back 137.8 yards per contest. The teams have combined for 129 penalties this year (Bishop’s 61, Montreal 68), and have helped make the QUFL the most penalized league in the country. The average QUFL game has a combined 25 penalties for 234 yards, 33 yards per game more than the next-closest league (OUA, 201).
MILESTONES: Several Gaiters are approaching career milestones:
[LIST]
[*]Nick Poloniato has 14 interceptions, two short of the school record
[*]Olivier Mongeau needs 48 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for his career.
[*]Jesse Andrews needs 152 passing yards to reach 6,000 for his career.
[*]Jesse Andrews needs 143 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career.
[/LIST]
TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY: On October 2, 1954, the Gaiters cruised to a 12-0 shutout of the Royal Military College in their season-opener. The Gaiters went on to go undefeated that season, and did not allow a touchdown. The 1954 team was the first of three consecutive Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association “B” Division championships for Bishop’s.
UP NEXT: The Gaiters make the short trip around Mount Bellevue to visit the Sherbrooke Vert & Or on Friday, October 8. Kickoff at Sherbrooke’s university stadium is set for 7 p.m.
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