Sunday, Sept. 24
Concordia (8), Laval (12)
With files from: Laval Rouge et Or
The Rouge et Or held on Sunday afternoon at the TELUS-UL Stadium, winning 12 to 8.
Laval temporarily took second place in the RSEQ league with a 3-1 record. The Stingers (2-2) slide to third position.
In front of 12,957 spectators who defied a suffocating heat, the Rouge et Or has experienced a few pips in front of a formation ready to take up the challenge, Concordia having not beaten Laval since 2003.
“It was a very good challenge, we have to give credit to Concordia, who played an inspired game. They arrived here ready, unlike us. We suffered from the sequel of the break week. It came to haunt us,” said Laval Head Coach Glen Constantin.
Constantin particularly noted the trouble to keep the ball on offense. “We had a hard time getting offensive. Concordia dominated our line to the attack. We have to do well on the three phases of the game, but that was not the case today,” said Constantin, who gave the example of possession time in the first half, largely in favor of the Bees.
The R & O boss was also not entirely satisfied with the defensive unit, although it gave only a few points to the visitors. The Stingers nevertheless had 438 yards, against 293 for Laval.
“We’re glad we did not give a touchdown, but we left too many yards. We must tighten our blankets,” Constantin analyzed.
Low score
After conceding a safety touch to their first offensive series, the Stingers seemed to be on the offensive in their second possession. It was before Kevin McGee intercepted a long pass from Trenton Miller, the larceny he brought back for a major. The game was however recalled due to a penalty, but Laval kept possession.
It was only partly handed over to Laval who, scarcely three plays later, found the goal area on a five-yard pass from Hugo Richard to Simon Gingras-Gagnon. In the middle of the first quarter, Laval was 9-0.
The Reds had a safety touch at the beginning of the second engagement. Then, Concordia went from a 28-yard placement that brought the gap to only four points at half, to 9-5 in favor of R & O.
The offense started well in the second half but could not reach the red zone. Laval added three points on an 11-yard placement by David Côté that was 12-5.
The Stingers were going to lose their quarterback starting at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Trenton Miller was knocked out of the game by the Laval defense and did not return.
The score remained unchanged until late in the fourth quarter when Andrew Stevens was getting a 20-yard kick to bring the Bees to four points.
Concordia went one last push at the end of the game, except that the Laval defense resisted again, allowing the R & O to win a 28th straight victory over the Stingers.
The Rouge et Or will be back at the TELUS-UL Stadium in exactly one week, on Sunday, October 1st at 1 pm. The McGill Redmen (1-3) will be the visitors for the occasion. Tickets for this event are available online or at the Rouge et Or Box Office at 418 656-FOOT (3668).
Laval Leaders
Offense
Quarterback: Hugo Richard 20-27, 215 yards, 1 touchdown
Rugby: Hugo Richard 5 races, 41 yards / Vincent Alarie-Tardif 9 races, 39 yards
Jonathan Breton-Robert 8 catches, 84 yards / Alexandre Savard 3 catches, 15 yards
Defense
(6 solo) / Kevin McGee 6.5 (6 solo) / Kean Harelimana 5.0 (4 solo) This is the second time I have ever been to the Tsunami.
Bags of the quarter: Vincent Desjardins 1 / Edward Godin 1
Interceptions: Adam Auclair 2 / Kevin McGee 1
Special Teams
Investments: David Côté 1/2 (11 vges passed, 42 vges missed)
Elapsed: Dominic Lévesque 11 kicks, average of 41.5 yards
Kickoff: David Côté 2 kicks, average of 65.0 yards
Kick back: Antony Dufour 1 return, 25 yards
Back to back: Antony Dufour 5 returns, average of 9.4 yards
Saturday, Sept. 24
UBC (41), Alberta (21)
Source: UBC Thunderbirds
EDMONTON, AB. – An injury depleted UBC Thunderbirds (3-1) team overcame a slow start against the winless Alberta Golden Bears to pick up a 41-21 victory on Saturday afternoon at Foote Field.
With the ‘Birds down 14-7 midway through the second quarter, Will Maxwell returned a Bears’ kick-off 96 yards for a touchdown, giving UBC momentum they would never relinquish. The Thunderbirds outscored the Bears 34-7 the rest of the way.
Thunderbirds’ quarterback Michael O’Connor, throwing to a receiving core missing stars Marcus Davis, Trivel Pinto and Will Watson, passed for 251 yards and a touchdown. Second-year wide receiver Trey Kellogg was O’Connor’s top target on the day with four catches for 108 yards. UBC kicker Greg Hutchins hit three of the four field goals he attempted in the contest.
“We have to be realistic. We want to be more consistent,” said UBC head coach Blake Nill. “But we found a way to win again. There are certain inconsistencies with this particular Thunderbirds team and we just have to keep working to become more consistent.”
Kory Nagata, starting for the injured Ben Cummings, rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. Liam Mahara, who also saw his number called several times with the absence of Cummings, rushed for 44 yards on nine carries and a major score.
“That’s the big thing. We knew we were going to sit a lot of key starters. All week we were telling guys that it was their opportunity to come out and compete and show us what they could do in a bigger role,” explained Nill.
Alberta was held in the game by senior running back Ed Ilnicki. The powerful Ilnicki, who spent the summer at Ottawa Redblacks training camp after they selected him in the seventh round of the CFL entry draft, rushed for 196 yards on 22 carries including three touchdowns.
UBC receiver Liam Wishart scored his first career U SPORTS touchdown at the end of the second quarter, to put the Thunderbirds ahead 23-14. The Kamloops, BC native caught a four yard pass from O’Connor, giving the ‘Birds a commanding lead going into halftime. Wishart ended the day with eight catches for 55 yards.
The win for UBC sets up a huge match-up next Friday at Thunderbird Stadium. The ‘Birds will square off against the Calgary Dinos, with the winner of the game moving into first-place in Canada West and holding the all-important tie breaker as the teams cross the mid-point of the regular season.
“Until someone knocks off Calgary, they are the team to beat in Canada West,” explained Nill. “We’ve got to prepare for the kind of team they are, which is a veteran team with a very explosive offence and a very capable defence that puts a lot of pressure on you and forces you to make plays.”
The contest will be UBC’s ‘Black Out’ game, where the Thunderbirds will unveil a third jersey for the first time the in the program’s 93-year history.
Wilfird Laurier (71), Waterloo (24)
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Throughout the 2017 OUA football season, the Waterloo Warriors have served notice that they’re a changed program. But on Saturday afternoon at Warrior field, the Laurier Golden Hawks served notice that they’re still the defending Yates Cup champions.
The Golden Hawks used an explosive third quarter to pull away from the upstart Warriors in the 2017 Battle of Waterloo, as Laurier toppled the Warriors 71-24 on a scorching afternoon at Warrior field in Waterloo.
The Warriors, ranked ninth in the nation, stuck with the defending champions early in the matchup of undefeated teams, trailing by as few as four points late in the second quarter. But the fifth-ranked Hawks started rolling in the closing minutes of the half, and continued their onslaught in the third. All told, Laurier scored 38 straight points in a span of 10:26 straddling halftime, putting the game out of reach.
Hawks QB Michael Knevel helped push his team to 4-0 with 270 yards passing, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Meanwhile, Warriors pivot Lucas McConnell (Waterford/) went 12-23 with 195 yards and 2 TD in a losing cause. Rookie QB Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/) returned from a one-game injury hiatus to complete 2 of 5 passes for 44 yards and an interception, while adding 86 yards on 10 carries.
The Laurier rushing attack was punishing all day, led by Levondre Gordon’s 106 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Osayi Iginuan added 93 yards and a pair of scores, including a 66-yard gallop in the third. Not only were the Hawks able to run the ball, but they were able to hold the Warriors’ rushing attack – ranked 2nd in the nation coming into the game – in check all afternoon. Laurier outrushed the Warriors 282-142 on the day, controlling the line of scrimmage.
On the defensive side of things, the Hawks were in Waterloo’s backfield all day – Laurier finished with 8 tackles for losses, including 4 sacks. For the Warriors, veteran Brandon Corelli (Sault Ste. Marie/) had a big day with a pass breakup and 5.5 tackles, while Michael Reid (Sault Ste. Marie/) added an interception.
Despite the slanted boxscore, though, the Warriors were very much in the game throughout the first half. The Hawks raced to an early 12-0 lead, but Waterloo receiving touchdowns from Brandon Loewen (Waterloo/) and Richmond Nketiah (Brampton/) made the score 19-15 late in the second quarter.
After failing to convert on a third down late in the half, Knevel and the Hawks drove 76 yards, capped off by an Iginuan 3-yard touchdown scamper to make it 26-15 Laurier. It looked like that would be the score entering the half, but, following a Waterloo 2-and-out, Kurleigh Gittens Jr returned a punt 65 yards with no time left on the clock to flip the momentum firmly on the Hawks sideline after two quarters.
Fuelled by the late return score, Laurier erupted in the third: a Gordon 1-yard run, Iginuan’s 66-yarder, and a Brentyn Hall screen pass-turned-89-yard touchdown meant the rout was on. Hall finished the day with 144 yards receiving on just 3 catches, 2 for touchdowns.
The Warriors, now 4-1, will shift their focus to the Guelph Gryphons, as they close out their home schedule next week. Kick off is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday, September 30.
McMaster (29), Guelph (9)
Source: Guelph Gryphons
GUELPH – A sold out crowd of 8,500 were on hand Saturday afternoon to brave scorching conditions at Alumni Stadium as the Gryphons played host to the McMaster Marauders in the 2017 edition of the Gryphons’ annual Homecoming football game. After a tight opening half, the No. 8-ranked Marauders would pull away in the second half to spoil the Homecoming party and escape Guelph with a 29-9 victory. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 2-3 on the season while McMaster improves to 3-1.
Factoring in the humidity, temperatures at field level were hovering just over 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday as the Gryphons and Marauders squared off in one of the most anticipated matchups on the OUA calendar. Early on, it was the McMaster defence who were feeling the effects of the heat as they were on the field for the majority of the opening 15 minutes of play. In the 1st quarter, the Gryphons ran a total of 22 plays on offence, compared to just seven for Mac, but were forced to settle for a pair of Gabe Ferraro field goals and a 6-0 lead.
In the 2nd quarter, the Marauders offence would put together a methodical, 10-play, 86-yard drive, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from McMaster’s rookie quarterback Jackson White to receiver Tommy Nield, giving the visitors a 10-6 lead. With :17 seconds remaining in the half, the Marauders were looking to extend the lead to 13-6 when Adam Preocanin lined up for a 44-yard field goal. Instead of pushing the lead to seven however, the Gryphons would suddenly make it a one-point game thanks to a big return and a clutch kick. After Preocanin’s long field goal attempt sailed wide, Gryphons receiver Jacob Scarfone would head 87-yards the other way to put the Gryphs in McMaster territory with just :04 seconds remaining. Gabe Ferraro, the reigning U SPORTS Special Teams Player of the Week, would then step up and connect on his third field goal of the half, this one coming from 48-yards out and into a light breeze, making it a 10-9 game heading into halftime.
Before the Gryphons were able to enter the locker room however, they suffered a big loss as starting quarterback James Roberts was forced to leave the game after taking a hard hit from McMaster’s Mark Mackie. Roberts, who went 11-18, 125 yards before being forced to exit, would give way to third year man Theo Landers (Maple Ridge, BC). Unfortunately for Landers and the rest of the Gryphon offence, they were not able to solve the OUA’s top defence. The Marauders, who are limiting opponents to an OUA-best 13.5 points per game, shutout the Gryphons in the 2nd half and for the third time in four games this season, kept their opponent out of the end zone.
Despite not finding the end zone on the day, the Gryphons actually out-gained the Marauders on the day, finishing with 327 yards compared to Mac’s 305. The turnover battle however was won by the Marauders, who were able to come up with a pair of timely interceptions on Landers during the 2nd half to help seal the victory.
“Our kids battled hard today,” said Gryphons head coach Kevin MacNeill. “The game came down to a few big plays that they were able to make that we weren’t.”
The Gryphons (2-3) will now turn their attention to the upstart and No. 9-ranked Waterloo Warriors (4-1). The Gryphons will travel to Warrior Field for a 1pm kickoff on Saturday, September 30 in a game that will carry significant playoff implications with it. Following their matchup with the Warriors, the Gryphons will have their bye week before returning home against Laurier on October 14.
(Credit: Greg Mason)
Windsor (14), Ottawa (39)
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
The uOttawa Gee-Gees football team rode a strong start to a commanding 39-14 victory over the visiting Windsor Lancers on Saturday afternoon at Gee-Gees Field. The win moves Ottawa to 4-1 and into a four-way tie for first place in the OUA.
First-year starting quarterback Alex Lavric broke the 300-yard passing barrier for the first time, finding Carter Matheson for a team-high of 88 yards on four catches. Lavric finished 20-31 with 309 yards.
The Gee-Gees pulled out to a 30-0 lead on the strength of two receiving touchdowns thrown by Lavric, a one yard punch-in from running back Bryce Vieira and an interception returned 41 yards by Cody Cranston. The interception was the third of the season for the third-year from Winnipeg, and the first touchdown of his Gee-Gees career.
“Coach JB puts us in positions to make plays which is nice and I’m feeling more comfortable this year,” notes Cranston. “Playing on the field as opposed to the boundary half has opened some stuff up for me and I enjoy playing in the system. My strength is reading the field and seeing the space which is where I’ve seen improvement in my game.”
Ottawa as a team now has eight interceptions, which is tied for the OUA lead.
Windsor scored its first major just before halftime and added its second at the end of the fourth quarter. The Lancers relied on running backs Marvin Gaynor and Marcus Kenner for 97 and 74 yards, respectively, of the team’s 259 total yards.
Penalties for Ottawa took back big plays such as a would-be Kalem Beaver TD punt return in the first half, a 40-yard sideline strike to Matheson midway through the fourth, and a Rashad Spooner interception late. The Gee-Gees finished the game with a season-high 127 penalty yards against.
“I congratulated the team and I’m proud of the fact that they won, but we are making too many mistakes. We cannot be the team we need to be if we are going make those mistakes,” said head coach Jamie Barresi, who noted that the team’s youth was apparent at times.
The special teams unit was a bright spot again for the Gee-Gees with Jackson Bennett providing a 91-yard return while the punt coverage team provided excellent field position. Lewis Ward provided the final nine points for uOttawa and added to his program record for field goals made in a career, which now stands at 81.
With four games remaining, Ward is within reach of the all-time U SPORTS record, 91. His next field goal will move him into third position in the all-time national rankings.
Ottawa now sets its sights on the September 30 Panda Game at TD Place.
Toronto (16), York (41)
Source: York Lions
The York University Lions football team claimed its first Argo Cup since 2012 on Saturday afternoon with a dominant 41-16 victory over the rival Toronto Varsity Blues in the 48th annual Red & Blue Bowl at Alumni Field.
Fifth-year receiver Adam Adeboboye, playing in his final game against his city rivals, made sure his team was victorious on Saturday, returning from injury to set a new Red & Blue Bowl record with 14 receptions, gaining 140 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns.
Both scoring passes came from third-year quarterback Brett Hunchak, who had his best game of the season going 19-of-27 for 244 yards, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. He also picked up 22 yards on the ground on three carries.
“It feels great!,” said head coach Warren Craney about the result. “I’m really proud of how our guys played today. All in all, I think we dominated almost every aspect of that football game. We made a lot of correctable mistakes, but it’s a good leap forward to the second half of the season.”
The game did not begin the way the Lions would have hoped. On the first drive, a long return was negated by penalty and they started on their own six-yard line, going 2-and-out and ultimately conceding a safety. But it was all York after that.
The Lions stuffed the Blues on a third-down attempt on Toronto’s first drive and then rookie kicker Dante Mastrogiuseppe nailed a 34-yard field goal for York’s first points of the game. Toronto’s next drive ended with a 43-yard interception return by rookie defensive back Talik Ehouman, and two drives later the Lions scored their first touchdown of the afternoon, an eight-yard catch by Alex Daley to make it 10-2, the score after the first quarter.
Third-year running back Jesse Amankwaa extended the lead in the second with a two-yard touchdown run that capped a seven-play, 100-yard drive highlighted by the play of the game. Facing first-and-10 from their own 49-yard line, Hunchak was wrapped up around the waist but somehow escaped and then found Daley a few yards down field. Daley turned and sprinted 59 yards before he was tackled right before the end zone.
Two plays after Amankwaa’s score the Lions got on the board again with a 10-yard fumble recovery touchdown by second-year defensive end Rossini Sandjong-Djabome that he picked up after a huge strip-sack by second-year linebacker Damian Jamieson. That made it 24-2, a lead the Lions carried into halftime.
The Lions’ offence struggled to get anything going in the third quarter and Toronto scored the only points of the frame, a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Clay Sequeira.
The offence came to life again in the fourth when the Lions began the frame with an 11-play, 90-yard drive that ended with Adeboboye’s first touchdown.
The Blues had a big play on the next drive, an 85-yard touchdown by Jaykwon Thompson, but soon after Adeboboye found the end zone again with a great individual effort to reach over the goal line and add to the Lions’ lead. Another field goal by Mastrogiuseppe rounded out the scoring.
Sequeira finished the game 10-of-19 for 225 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Toronto starting quarterback Connor Ennis went 5-of-9 for 54 yards.
The Lions improved to 1-3 with the victory, and the Blues now have the same score after the loss.
The Lions will finally head back out on the road again next weekend with a trip to Hamilton, Ont., to take on the McMaster Marauders on Saturday beginning at 1pm.
(credit: Emery Gbodossou)
StFX (37), Bishop’s (27)
Source: Bishop’s Gaiters
SHERBROOKE, Que. — The Bishop’s Gaiters scored a pair of late touchdowns, but could not complete a second straight miracle comeback, as they dropped a 37-27 decision to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Atlantic University Sport action at Coulter Field, Saturday. The Gaiters trailed 23-1 at halftime, and 30-12 after the third quarter, but mounted a charge near the end, on touchdowns by Nathan Walker (Brampton, Ont./St. Roch C.S.S.) and Alex Bouffard.
The Gaiters (1-3) got off to a slow start offensively, putting up only 20 total yards in the first quarter. However, the defence held the X-Men (2-2) to a pair of field goals by Jonathan Heidebrecht, and StFX led 6-0 after the first quarter.
The X-Men broke the game open in the second quarter, as Josh Millar hit on a pair of big plays, the first a 72-yard pass to Kaion Julien-Grant and the second a 75-yard strike to Greg McDonald. Between the two X-Men majors, the Gaiters put together their best drive of the game, a 10-play, 44-yard march, but came away with only a single point. A 48-yard field goal by Heidebrecht with three seconds left in the half rounded out the scoring.
The Gaiters surprised StFX on the opening kickoff of the second half with a pooch kick, but were forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Vincent Dube. Later, Millar’s third touchdown pass of the day, a 20-yarder to Julien-Grant, gave the X-Men their largest lead of the day, at 30-4.
Bishop’s finally found pay dirt with five minutes left in the third, as Mathieu Demers (Quebec City, Que./Cégep LImoilou) scored on a quarterback sneak from one yard out. He then connected with Dashaun Smellie (Mississauga, Ont./Champlain-Lennoxville) on a two-point conversion, making the score 30-12.
Julien-Grant scored his third touchdown of the game 2:28 into the fourth quarter, as he ran a punt back 91 yards for a touchdown. The Gaiters offence got untracked midway through the final frame, as Demers drove the Gaiters from their own 12 to the StFX 9. After his run set the Gaiters up on first and goal, he left with an injury, and was replaced by rookie Stephen Casey (Boucherville, Que./Champlain College St-Lambert). Casey threw his first university touchdown two plays later, a 9-yarder to Nathan Walker (Brampton, Ont./St. Roch C.S.S.). Walker then made the conversion, scoring on an end-around, to make the score 37-20.
The Gaiters forced a two-and-out, and Casey led the Gaiters on a six-play, 65-yard drive, capped by a three-yard pass to Alex Bouffard, to pull Bishop’s within 10 with 1:11 to play.
However, the hopes of a comeback for the ages were dashed when Bishop’s was unable to convert on the short kickoff.
For the Gaiters, Demers finished with 206 yards as he went 29-for-43 passing. He also carried six times for 18 yards and a touchdown. Stephen Casey (Boucherville, Que./Champlain College St-Lambert)‘s first AUS action was successful, as he went 4-for-8 for 44 yards and two touchdowns. Keith Normandin (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que./Collège de Valleyfield) had a nice day in the Bishop’s backfield, finishing with 69 yards on eight carries. Walker had 10 catches for 76 yards, including a touchdown.
X-Men quarterback Josh Millar finished with 356 yards passing as he went 24 for 38 and threw three touchdowns and an interception. Jordan Socholotiuk was the visitors’ leading rusher, with 18 carries for 68 yards. Julien-Grant had six catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while McDonald caught four balls for 101 yards and a major.
Julien-Grant led the X-Men with 312 all-purpose yards, including 188 on punt returns, while Walker had 186 for the Gaiters, including 96 total return yards.
Defensively, Arnaud Dandin (Paris, France/Cégep de Thetford) led the Gaiters with eight tackles and broke up one pass. Jeremy Magan-France (Rexdale, Ont./Don Bosco C.S.S.) had the only sack for Bishop’s, while Nicholas Cartagenise (Brampton, Ont./Sheridan College) made his first career interception, a 31-yard runback in the first quarter.
Jonah Williams’s nine tackles led StFX, while Jeremy Pike and Jimmie Cunningham each had one sack.
The Gaiters are off next week, and return to action on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they host the Acadia Axemen at Coulter Field. StFX is back in action next Saturday for their Homecoming game, where they will welcome Saint Mary’s.
SMU (27), MTA (26)
Source: MTA
The Saint Mary’s Huskies defeated the hometown Mount Allison Mounties 27-26 at Homecoming on Saturday in front of a raucous Mounties crown of over 2,300 fans. It was the 2nd straight week that a game was decided with less than a minute to play at Alumni Field.
Saint Mary’s was the first to hit the scoreboard, capitalizing on good field position on their opening drive to score the game’s first touchdown just 3 minutes into the game. The Huskies drove 57 yards on the first drive of the game, capped by a 1 yard run by Liam O’Brien. The Huskies missed on their 2-point convert attempt, leaving the score at 6-0.
The score remained 6-0 for the Huskies until the 2nd quarter. With the Huskies threatening Nate Rostek picked up an interception in the Mounties end zone after a thunderous hit from Devante Sampson. The Mounties drove to Saint Mary’s territory but then turned the ball over on a missed field goal. The Mounties went back to work, forcing a fumble by Huskies’ quarterback Kaleb Scott.
Five plays later Mounties QB Jakob Loucks called his own number and scored from 1 yard out to give the Mounties a 7-6. Saint Mary’s answered with two and half minutes remaining in the first half, when Scott hooked up with Johnny King for a
50 yard touchdown. This gave the Huskies a 13-7 lead heading into halftime.
The Mounties took their first lead of the game at the end of the 3rd quarter. They started with an 89 yard drive that stalled on the SMU 3 yard line. The Mounties defense then held and forced the Huskies to concede a safety to make the score 13-9. On the ensuing possession the Mounties drove 75 yards, capped off by a 2 yard touchdown pass to Josh Hicks from senior Troy Downton. This gave the Mounties a 16-13 advantage.
The most electrifying play of the game came 4 minutes into the 4th quarter when Saint Mary’s kicker Brian Hope missed a field goal and returner Idahosa Yorke returned it 119 yards for a touchdown. With the Homecoming crowd going wild, the Mounties took a 23-13 lead. Saint Mary’s got a rouge from Hope on the next possession as the score moved to 23-14.
Brian Hope hit a 31 yard field goal with just under 7 minutes remaining as the Huskies pulled to within six. After Idahosa Yorke returned Hope’s punt 51 yards, the Mounties were able to add a Ryan Lambert field goal with 2:42 remaining.
With the score now 26-17, the Huskies moved the ball quickly highlighted by a 57 yard hook up from Scott to Rick Lemoignan to bring the ball to MTA 18 yard line. Hope would kick a 21 yard field goal to run the score to 26-20.
After the Mounties failed to hold on to the ball, the Huskies found themselves starting on the MTA 49 yard line with 1 minute and 10 seconds remaining. The Huskies scored with 24 seconds left when Liam O’Brien scored from 1 yard out to give the Huskies a 27-26 lead.
The Mounties would drive 47 yard into field goal range on their final possession but the clock expired before they could attempt a game winning field goal.
Jakob Loucks was 7 of 13 for 114 yards before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury. Troy Downton was 10 of 14 for 168 yard and 1 touchdown in relief. For the Huskies, Caleb Scott was 21 of 40 for 356 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
The Mounties now travel to Acadia to play the Axemen on Saturday, September 30th. Saint Mary’s will travel to StFX to play the X-Men.
Manitoba (18), Regina (16)
Source: Regina Rams
The University of Regina Rams finally got the offence rolling in the second half, but it was too little, too late as Manitoba held on for an 18-16 road win on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium.
The Bisons (1-3) didn’t score an offensive touchdown in their first victory of the season, but got three field goals from Brad Mikoluff and scored their only major of the game on a 47-yard pick six by Jayden McKoy just before halftime. The Rams had two chances to tie the game in the last three minutes, but Daniel Scraper and Thomas Huber both missed field goals from identical 42-yard distances.
Manitoba’s defence picked off Rams quarterback Noah Picton three times, all in the second quarter. James Mau had the first one and McKoy had critical interceptions on back-to-back possessions late in the quarter, the first coming on the pick six and the second in the end zone as the Rams were trying to answer right back from the defensive touchdown. Houston Rennie and Derek Dufault both had sacks for Manitoba, with Rennie’s coming in the final minute to force the Rams into a second-and-19 situation.
Des Catellier got the start at quarterback for the Bisons and finished 18-for-29 and racked up 212 passing yards. Manitoba running back Jamel Lyles led all players with 207 all-purpose yards, 77 of which came on his 20 rushing attempts.
The only points of the first quarter went to Manitoba on a conceded safety by the Rams, and the Bisons went up 8-0 in the second on Mikoluff field goals from 32 yards out and 11 yards out. Possibly the turning point of the entire game came on a two-play sequence late in the second after the Rams had just collected a pair of first downs to get out to their own 35-yard line. Picton found Kyle Moortgat behind coverage for what surely would have been a 75-yard touchdown, but Moortgat couldn’t find the handle on it and the next play was McKoy’s interception return major. And on the very next drive, the Rams drove 59 yards downfield before Picton’s pass to Huber was picked off by McKoy for his second interception in as many possessions.
The Rams also missed an opportunity in the third quarter after Danny Nesbitt collected the fourth longest interception return in school history, picking off a ball near the Rams’ goal line and bringing it all the way back to the Manitoba 39-yard line. The Rams got all the way down to the three, but Atlee Simon fumbled right at the goal line and Manitoba’s Shae Weekes was there to recover.
In the fourth, the Rams scored the only offensive touchdown of the game for either team after a 56-yard completion to Mitchell Picton set the table for a one-yard plunge for a major by short-yardage quarterback Frankie Gray. On the Rams’ two chances to tie up the game with 42-yard field goals, Scraper’s attempt was wide to the right and run out by Lyles while Huber pulled his kick left of the uprights for a single point with just 23 seconds remaining. Manitoba was then able to kneel out the clock for the win.
Noah Picton ended up 27-for-36 for the Rams and finished with 338 passing yards, but was held without a touchdown pass for the first time since the team’s loss to Alberta last season. Mitchell Picton had nine receptions for 136 yards, while Ryan Schienbein also had nine catches and finished with 86 receiving yards. Layne Hull had Regina’s lone sack, while Cord Delinte was credited with a pair of pass breakups.
The Rams, who outgained Manitoba 263 to 115 in the second half and 390 to 274 overall, fall to 2-2 on the season and will now prepare for a Week 5 road game against a Saskatchewan team that’s currently playing Calgary.
Manitoba will play host to winless Alberta (0-4) next week as those two teams meet for the only time this season.
Saskatchewan (28), Calgary (51)
Source: Ben Matchett; Assistant Athletic Director (Communications), Dinos
CALGARY – After a wild third quarter pulled the visitors within two points, the third-ranked University of Calgary Dinos scored 21 unanswered in the fourth to emerge with a 51-28 win over the No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.
After the Huskies had scored two touchdowns in 56 seconds in the waning moments of the third quarter to make the score 30-28, Jeshrun Antwi scored an eight-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Dinos some breathing room. An impressive 60-yard punt return TD by freshman Deane Leonard put the game away, and Michael Klukas‘ second major of the night iced it late as the Dinos improved their record to 4-0 at the midway point of the 2017 season.
“I think our experience came through at the end,” said Dinos Head Coach Wayne Harris. “We knew it would be a back-and-forth, tough game, and that Saskatchewan was going to battle all the way through. You need to take advantage of your opportunities when you get them – we didn’t do that as much in the first half, but we were able to later. When you’re scoring defensive and special teams points, that always helps.”
The game featured plenty of turnovers, with five interceptions and a trio of fumbles between the two sides. Boston Rowe got his second defensive touchdown in as many weeks with a pick-six midway through the third for the Dinos, a score that turned out to be the winning points. The Dinos managed to score 15 points off turnovers, against the Huskies’ 10.
The Dinos pulled starting quarterback Adam Sinagra after he was picked off for the second time in the game by Saskatchewan’s Payton Hall late in the third, leading to the Huskies’ second touchdown in that short span. Josiah Joseph came on in relief to lead the Dinos through the fourth, completing 11 of 13 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
“It was really just to settle Adam down,” explained Harris. “He was trying to force the ball a little too much and make the big play. We have lots of confidence in Josiah, we know he can come in there and perform well, and that’s what he did.”
Kyle Siemens threw the ball up often for Saskatchewan, tossing 48 passes and connecting 21 times with his receivers – led by Mitch Hillis’ 140 yards on just six catches. Siemens finished with 281 passing yards, but it could have been significantly more as he just missed connecting with his target twice in the second half on plays where the receiver had found space in the Calgary defence. One of those overthrows, intended for Colton Klassen, could have changed the game: with Klassen behind the Calgary defence early in the fourth and the game still just a two-point Calgary lead, the Siemens pass sailed over the receiver’s head. On the next play, Calgary’s Adam Laurensse intercepted Siemens, setting up the Antwi touchdown.
For his part, Klassen picked up 88 yards and two touchdowns along the ground, along with 49 receiving yards and another 23 on kickoff return for a total of 160 all-purpose yards.
For the Dinos, Klukas’ touchdowns came in the final minute of each half. On the last play of the second quarter, he caught a two-yard Joseph pass to give the Dinos a 22-8 edge at the half, and he stretched out in the back of the end zone to haul in a 21-yard toss from Joseph with 41 seconds left in the game. Along with Karl, who scored the game’s first TD in the opening quarter, Klukas leads the conference with five touchdown catches on the season.
The Dinos dominated the ground game with 29 rushes for 210 yards compared to just 91 for the Huskies. Calgary’s defence held the Huskies to just 363 total yards, led by Micah Teitz with six tackles, while Boston Rowe added 4.5. Cory Robinson had a solid day for the Calgary defence as well, picking up both of the team’s sacks on Siemens. On the Saskatchewan side, Brooks Falloon had a busy day with 10.5 tackles in a losing cause.
Calgary (4-0) has a short week to prepare for a first-place battle with the UBC Thunderbirds (3-1) next Friday night in Vancouver, the teams’ only meeting of the season. Saskatchewan (2-2) hosts Regina (2-2) in a key provincial battle, also next Friday night.
FOOTBALL | Strong start leads Mustangs over Gaels on Blackout night at TD Stadium: https://t.co/F5bZHijMBa #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/TS74icyu6A
— Western Mustangs (@WesternMustangs) September 24, 2017
Queen’s (10), Western (48)
Source: Western Mustangs
LONDON, Ont. – Alex Taylor ran for 184 yards and racked up three touchdowns to help lead the Western Mustangs to a 48-10 win over the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday night at TD Stadium.
“It was our best, most complete game,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. “I thought offensively that Chris [Merchant] was really good. He made good decisions, took down the ball at good times and took off with it. It wasn’t perfect, it never is.
“There were a couple drives we didn’t finish off, we took some chances and that happens some times. I thought overall when we didn’t finish, Marc [Liegghio] got points on the board for us which was very important.”
It was Blackout night at Western and the Mustangs certainly dressed for the occasion, donning black pants and uniforms for the first time in decades to the surprise of a crowd of more than 4,700 fans.
“The jerseys worked well tonight. There’s always that risk when you go off the beaten path, you do black they better work or you’re going to hear ‘it was the black jerseys that lost the game,’ so it was good to get a big convincing win with those jerseys,” said coach Marshall.
With the win, Western now moves to 5-0 on the year and remain atop the OUA standings, while Queen’s falls to 0-4.
Taylor’s season high 184 yards rushing came on only 13 carries, giving him an average of 14.2 yards per attempt, including one 35-yard touchdown run. The Winnipeg native found the end zone twice more in the win, catching touchdown passes of nine and three yards to go along with five catches and 50 receiving yards.
“I felt a lot more fresh, I don’t know if it showed a bit, but I’ve been talking about it with Tom Marshall and some of the coaches and I just felt that I was due for a couple of big runs. I’ve been trying, been chipping away all season, and finally I got a couple today so it felt good.”
Chris Merchant had another strong outing for the Mustangs, completing 18 of 29 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also added another 43 yards on the ground on seven carries, including the Mustangs first major of the day, a six-yard run on Western’s first drive.
Kicker Marc Liegghio had an outstanding game on Saturday night, going six for six on field goals to tie the Mustangs single game record for field goals in a game. Liegghio connected on four field goals from 40-yards or longer including two from 45-yards.
“When I got out there and made the first kick, went one-for-one, then two-for-two, and as I got to the sixth one I thought I could do something big here and I just did it all for the team,” said Liegghio. “I thought I kicked really well today. I thought my punting could have been better, but my field goals were on point today.”
Defensively, the Mustangs were led by linebacker Nick Vanin who recorded 10 tackles, seven solo, in the win. Hakeem Johnson provided the defensive highlight of the day with an impressive interception on the Mustangs one-yard line to stop a Gaels drive just before halftime.
The Mustangs didn’t wait long to put points on the board, as Merchant capped off Western’s opening 85-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to put the home side up 7-0 just over two minutes into the contest.
Western continued to roll on the next two possessions, with Merchant connecting with Taylor on touchdown passes of nine and three yards to give the Mustangs a 23-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Nick Liberatore put the Gaels on the board with a 34-yard field goal so start the half, before Liegghio answered back with his first of the night to maintain the Mustangs 23-point lead.
Nate Hobbs cut into the Mustangs lead late in the second quarter, finishing off a seven play, 73-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to Alex Zulys to record the Gaels lone major of the day.
Liegghio notched his second field goal of the evening on the Mustangs next drive, giving Western a 29-10 lead at the half.
The Mustangs continued to control the play over the final two quarters, with Liegghio adding another four field goals, while Taylor scored on a 35-yard run to give the Mustangs a 48-10 victory.
Next up for Western is a rematch of the 109th Yates Cup against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday, September 30. Although most would expect that the Mustangs would be looking to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss, that’s not the case according to coach Marshall.
“Laurier’s a good football team. We’re going to put last year behind us and just concentrate on winning it for the 2017 team.
“Football’s an emotional game. You try and put those things out of your mind, but it’ll be in the back of our kids’ minds and we said at the time that you don’t forget the things that happened in the past – you have to learn from them. We need to learn and finish off games. I thought today we did a good job of finishing off the game and we’ll need to do that next week.”
Game time for Saturday’s matchup is set for 1 p.m. at University Stadium in Waterloo. Fans can tune in live on OUA.tv and Radio Western 94.9 FM, or on Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.
Friday, Sept. 23
Loss to top-ranked @Carabins a morale victory for @redmenfootball @RSEQ1 @USPORTSca https://t.co/1KaQdj4GaY
— McGill Athletics (@McGillAthletics) September 23, 2017
Montreal (16), McGill (3)
Source: Earl Zukerman, McGill Athletics
MONTREAL – Linebacker Marc-Antoine Dequoy scored the game’s lone touchdown on a 66-yard interception return at 13:02 of the second quarter as the No.1 ranked Université de Montréal Carabins escaped with a 16-3 victory over McGill in university football at Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.
It was the 20th consecutive win over McGill for the omnipotent Carabins, who improved to 4-0 on the season while the Redmen dropped to 1-3. UdeM added eight points on four safeties conceded by McGill, a 31-yard rouge on a missed field-goal attempt by Louis-Philippe Simoneau and a conversion by Simoneau.
It was the first time that the McGill defence had held their opponents to no touchdowns dating back to the season finale last year, when the Carabins also struggled but came away with a 13-0 decision at Molson Stadium on Oct. 29, 2016.
Not much was expected from McGill in the wake of last week’s shocking 68-16 setback at Concordia, but the Redmen showed the mettle to compete with the Carabins, a perennial contender for the Vanier Cup national championship. McGill racked up 410 yards of net offence and 24 first downs, compared to 316 and 17, respectively, by the Carabins.
“It was a testament to our hard work in practice over the past week,” said McGill head coach Ronald Hilaire. “We wanted to bounce back from our embarrassing execution and errors against Concordia the week before. I just know that we can fight for four quarters and compete with anybody when were focusing on us and not on our opponent.
“So we were happy about our energy level and the way we played against the Carabins but ultimately we’re not satisfied with the end result. We want to be able to execute a lot more in the red zone and be able to punch it in when we have a chance to win in the fourth quarter.”
Montreal led 2-0 after the opening quarter, 13-0 at the half and 16-0 after three before McGill broke the goose-egg in the final stanza with a 27-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Findlay Brown.
McGill found themselves in a position to pull off a shocking upset but their red-zone woes continued. Trailing by 13 points with just under eight minutes remaining, the Redmen marched down the field with an impressive 18-play drive that finally fizzled at the Carabins five-yard line on a third-down pass for no gain. A touchdown there would’ve narrowed the gap to 16-10 (or 11 with a two-point conversion) and could have made for a fantastic finish.
McGill quarterback Frederic Paquette-Perrault out-performed Samuel Caron, his Carabins counterpart, throwing for 343 yards compared to 159. The Redmen sophomore completed 31 of 46 passing but was intercepted three times, including the aforementioned costly pick near his right sideline that resulted in the TD. Caron was 19-for-28 passing and picked off once. Both pivots were sacked three times.
Paquette-Perrault utilized nine different receivers, led by sophomore Joel Soucy, who hauled in a game-high nine receptions for 101 yards, freshman Emile Taillefer (7 rec., 62 yds) and sophomore Jeremy Sauvageau (5 rec., 93 yds).
The only bright spot in the Carabins offence was running back Will Altema, a six-foot, 220-pound senior who rushed for 104 yards on 13 carries. The other UdeM player who stood out like a sore thumb was kicker Felix Menard-Briere, who averaged a whopping 73.5 yards on two kickoffs and an impressive 47.3 yards on 10 punts, many of which were intentionally kicked into the coffin-corner and out of bounds. The Carabins kicking game kept the Redmen frequently in poor field position, which resulted in the four safety touches that they conceded for better field position.
McGill (1-3) will travel to Quebec City next weekend for a rematch with No.2 ranked Laval (2-1). The Rouge et Or, who defeated McGill 50-14 on Sept. 1, will host Concordia (2-1) on Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. before welcoming the Redmen on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. The Carabins (4-0) are headed into a bye week and won’t play again until Oct. 5, when they will confront Concordia at Stade CEPSUM.
REDMEN RAP: McGill DB Jean-Philippe Hudon registered a game-high 9.5 total tackles, seven of them solos, including one QB sack. The sophomore starter was all over the field and was also credited with a forced fumble… LB Antoine Mongeau, who has been converted from a DB because of his tackling ability, collected seven tackles, with four solos…
Other Redmen sacks were made by DL Xavier Bilodeau, who had 1.5, including a shared sack with DL Simon Aubin-Lavoie, giving the Redmen defence seven sacks on the season… LB Dane Wagner made the lone McGill interception, his first of the season and the team’s fourth in four games.
Source: U Sports (Box Scores)
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