Gaiters look to rebound at home to Concordia

THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (0-1) conclude their season-opening two-game homestand with a visit from the Concordia Stingers (0-1)

THE RECORDS: Both teams suffered season-opening losses at home. Concordia fell 36-8 to No. 1 Laval, while the Gaiters dropped a 25-23 decision to then-No. 8 Sherbrooke. Last year, the Gaiters went 5-4, while Concordia was 4-5.

LAST TIME OUT: A pair of second-quarter touchdowns by Simon Charbonneau-Campeau led Sherbrooke to a 25-23 win over the Gaiters on Sept. 4 at Coulter Field. He gave Sherbrooke a 22-7 halftime lead, and they held off a late Gaiters’ comeback to escape with the two-point victory. Geoff Coventry, John Jean-Baptiste scored touchdowns for the Gaiters. The Gaiters outgained Sherbrooke 384-274, including 343 passing yards. Bishop’s committed five turnovers, while only forcing two. The teams combined for 39 penalties, with Sherbrooke taking 19 for 130, while Bishop’s had 20 for 170. For Bishop’s, Jordan Heather went 17-for-26 for 213 yards, while Alex Rivet was 5-for-10 for 130 yards after taking over in the fourth. Turner had a strong game in his return to Lennoxville, making an 84-yard touchdown catch and posting a team-high 150 all-purpose yards.

THE SERIES: The Gaiters lead the all-time series 35-28-2. The Gaiters have won three of the past four games in the series, after ending a ten-game Concordia winning streak. The teams split a pair of low-scoring games last season, with Concordia picking up a 17-14 win in Lennoxville, and Bishop’s edging the Stingers 18-17 in Montreal. The Gaiters have won two of the last three matchups at Coulter Field. The first meeting between the two teams came in Lennoxville on October 4, 1975, when the Gaiters upset the heavily favoured Concordians 13-11.

LAST MEETING: 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, 2010. 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 to pull the Gaiters to within three points, 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 a 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.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAINS: The Gaiters will have six captains for the 2011 season, as voted on by the team’s upperclassmen. On defence, the captains are defensive backs Harrison Maloney and Jermaine Lewis-Parris as well as linebacker Tyler Jutras. On offence, the Gaiters are led by receivers Steven Turner and David Haddrall, along with offensive lineman Kyle Handy.

THE HEATHER REPORT: In his first career regular-season CIS start, Jordan Heather went 17-for-26 for 213 yards and a touchdown. He is currently 9th in the CIS with 17 completions, and is 11th in the country in both completion percentage (65.4%) and yards (213). Overall, the Gaiters have the conference’s top-rated pass offence, with 343 yards last week.

A HEAD-TURNER: Steven Turner, a former Toronto Argonauts draft pick, had an impressive return to the Gaiters on Sunday. He led the Gaiters with 150 all-purpose yards on Sunday, including six catches for 99 yards. His 84-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter was a career-long.

WATTS LIGHTS IT UP: Defensive Lineman Jonathan “JonBon” Watts had an impressive CIS debut on Sunday. Playing his first regular-season game of Canadian Football, he made one sack for four yards, and knocked down two passes. In two seasons at Butte Junior College at California, the native of Gainesville, Florida, made 62.5 tackles, including 19 tackles for loss and five sacks, and was a conference all-star both years.

CFL GAITERS UPDATE: With Justin Conn signing with Calgary on August 31, there are now nine Gaiters active in the CFL. Conn played his first game with the Stampeders on Monday. His teammate, Junior Turner, had a pair of tackles in the Stamps’ loss to Edmonton. Altogether, a record ten Gaiters have played in the CFL this year. Shawn Gore of the B.C. Lions continues to lead all Canadian receivers with 482 yards on 37 catches. Kyle Jones of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is fourth in the CFL with 12 Special Teams Tackles, while his former linebacking partner James Yurichuk (now with B.C.) has 8 Special Teams Tackles and 10 Defensive Tackles. Mathieu Boulay of Magog, Que., made his first career tackle last Sunday against Winnipeg.

TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY: On September 10, 1988, the Gaiter defeated the Concordia Stingers 23-17 in the opening game of the OQIFC season. Steve Zatylny led the Gaiters with a pair of touchdown catches, with Pat Gregory scoring the other Bishop’s major and three conversions and two singles by Simon Restall rounded out the Gaiter scoring. The Gaiters led 22-3 after three quarters, but held off a fourth-quarter Concordia comeback to take the win at Bishop’s Field (now Coulter Field). Mike Pillo went 11-for-18 for 164 yards with three touchdown passes, while Keith Kelly carried 18 times for 101 yards. The 1988 Gaiters went 6-1 on their way to the Dunsmore Cup, but fell to Saint Mary’s in the Atlantic Bowl.

UP NEXT: The Gaiters head out east next week, as they face the Mount Allison Mounties in their only interlock match of the season. Kickoff at MacAulay Field in Sackville, N.B. is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 17.

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NOTHIN’ BUT NET: The game will be webcast on SSN Canada at [url]www.ssncanada.ca. Marty Rourke will provide commentary.

FOLLOW LIVE: Score updates will be available at [url]www.gaiters.ca and @BishopsGaiters on Twitter, with live stats at [url]http://livestats.prestosports.com/bishops.

CHAT LIVE: This week, the Gaiters will inaugurate their first-ever in-game live chat. Follow the links at [url]http://www.gaiters.ca to join in.

TICKETS, PLEASE: Tickets are available at the gate. Adult tickets cost $13. Concession tickets are priced at $5 (Champlain/high school students), $3 (Bishop’s students) and $2 (children under 12).