RECAP: Sherbrooke pulls away from Redmen (stats)

SHERBROOKE, Que. — David Dumas-Goulet rushed for a pair of touchdowns and Jeremi Roch passed for 358 yards and one TD as the Sherbrooke Vert & Or handed visiting McGill a 43-21 defeat in their 134th season opener before 4,500 to begin the Quebec university football regular schedule for both teams at Stade de Sherbrooke, Saturday.

The Vert & Or, who haven’t lost to McGill since 2009, extended their win streak over the Redmen to seven straight, improving to 11-5 lifetime in head-to-head meetings. Sherbrooke, which only committed one turnover, took advantage of seven McGill miscues to lead 10-0 after the opening quarter, 22-7 at halftime and 22-14 after three stanzas.

Roch, who was 21-of-39 passing and had one interception, directed an offence that had 23 first downs and generated 464 yards. McGill collected 27 first downs and 367 yards of offence.

Both starting quarterbacks reached the 300-yard plateau in passing, with McGill’s Dallon Kuprowski tossing for 304 in his first start since his freshman campaign. But the junior from Kanata, Ont., was picked off three times, completing 29 of 40 passing attempts and connecting for a pair of TDs.

His favourite receiver on the day was Louis Brouillette, an engineering junior from the Sherbrooke area, who hauled in seven receptions for 109 yards. teammate Remi Bertellin, a freshman from France, caught four passes for 49 yards and was of two Redmen receivers to corral a TD reception. The other to reach the endzone was Montrealer Damian Massey-Hirt, a sophomore who collected a pair of passes for 19 yards.

Luis Guimont-Mota, an all-conference running back from Quebec City,  led McGill’s ground attack with 73 yards on 19 carries. Back-up quarterback Joel Houle scored the team’s lone rushing TD on a one-yard plunge.

Dumas-Goulet, who rushed for a game-high 78 yards on 14 carries, put Sherbrooke ahead 10-10 with a seven-yard run at 10:04 of the first quarter and added another major on a 10-yard jaunt, to put the game out of reach at 36-21 in the final minute of the game. On the next play, Alexandre Branco picked off an errant Kupowski pass and ran it back for a 20-yard TD to cap the scoring.

Sherbrooke kicker Mathieu Hebert added 11 points, including a pair of field-goals from distances of 38 and 37. Rounding out the scoring for Sherbrooke was a three-yard surge by issac Lauzon just before halftime and a 58-yard pass-and-run TD pass from Roch’s rifle arm to Sebastien Blanchard to put his side ahead 29-14 early in the final quarter. Blanchard ended the day with 11 catches for 155 yards.

McGill (0-1) will host Cocordia (1-0) in the 46th annual Shaughnessy Cup rivalry game on Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. Sherbrooke (1-0) will host Laval (1-0), the defending Vanier Cup champs, on Sept. 13.

REDMEN RAP: Jean-Philippe Paquette led the Redmen with 108 all-purpose yards, includuing 64 on three kickoff returns, seven on a pair of punt returns and  37 on four carries… Kicker Nils Jonkmans, a senior in his first season with the team, averaged 31.4 yards on eight punts, with a longest of 41… He also averaged a booming 53.8 yards on five kickoffs and was not called upon for a field-goal attempt… Rookie linebacker Karl Forgues was credited with a game-high eight tackles…DL Carl Laverdiere had the team’s lone QB sack and DL Kadeem Lewis collected his first career interception.

SOURCE: Earl Zukerman

Sébastien Blanchard

Photo : Yves Longpré

McGill vs. Sherbrooke at Sherbrooke, Qc 06 sept 2014 at 16:00
McGill  21	Sherbrooke  43