The ‘OUA is more exciting,’ says Carleton Ravens commit

Carleton adds an out-of-province commit to their Class of 2018.

Cédric Thériault, a defensive lineman from Champlain College Lennoxville, has spent his entire career playing in Québec, but now he has decided to test his talents against Ontario opponents after committing to the Carleton Ravens.

With 11 teams, the OUA has the most football teams in U Sports. The RSEQ, on the other hand, contains five teams. To Thériault, this difference in league size played a role into his decision to cross over into Ontario.

“I think the OUA football league is more exciting than the RSEQ as you play a new team every week and there is more parity,” Thériault said.

Before 2013, the OUA had one less team than it does now. It was in 2013 that the Carleton Ravens revived their football team. “Carleton is a fairly young football program,” Thériault said. “I want to be apart of that new generation that will bring this program to the highest levels.”

In its five-year inception, the Ravens have had limited changes to the coaching staff. “I liked the fact that the coaching staff has been really stable since the program restarted and many of them will most likely be there for my whole U Sports career,” Thériault said. “I also already knew the defensive line coach, David Caron, and he is full-time, which is a great advantage.”

Thériault is originally from Québec City, Québec, where he played high school football with Les Blizzard du Séminaire Saint-François (RSEQ). After five years, the 6’0, 230lbs defensive end moved to Lennoxville and played three years with the Champlain College Cougars (RSEQ Division 1).

In 2015 and 2017, Thériault and the Cougars captured the Bol d’Or championship. In 2015, while he was a captain on Team Québec White, he was player of the game versus Team Nova Scotia at the Football Canada Cup.

At Carleton, Thériault will be studying finance with a co-op option at the Sprott School of Business.

“I really like the city of Ottawa and instantaneously fell in love with the place and the city during my official and unofficial visits,” Thériault said. “Ottawa looks like Québec City in some ways and it felt like home.”

(feature photo credit: Maxime Bellemare)