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Laval, Calgary, McMaster, Acadia advance to national semifinals
OTTAWA (CIS) – The CIS football national semifinals are set following wins by the top-ranked Laval Rouge et Or, No. 2 Calgary Dinos, No. 4 McMaster Marauders and No. 9 Acadia Axemen in the conference finals.
Acadia (8-1) will now host McMaster (9-1) in the Uteck Bowl at Moncton Stadium in Moncton, while Calgary (9-1) will host Laval (10-1) in the Mitchell Bowl at McMahon Stadium
Both games will air live on TSN and RDS on Friday, Nov. 18, with the Uteck kicking off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (7:30 p.m. Atlantic) and the Mitchell following at 9:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Mountain).
The Rouge et Or advanced thanks to a 30-7 home win over No. 7 Montreal (7-4) in the RSEQ’s Dunsmore Cup final in Quebec City; the Dinos crushed No. 6 UBC (7-3) 62-13 in the Canada West final, the Hardy Cup, in Calgary; the Marauders travelled to London, Ont., to defeat No. 3 Western Ontario (8-2) 41-19 in the 104th OUA Yates Cup title match; and the Axemen dominated unranked Saint Mary’s (8-2) 39-20 in the AUS championship game, the Loney Bowl, in Wolfville, N.S.
Interestingly, all four conference champions triumphed against the only team to beat them in the regular season.
Laval lost to Montreal 17-12 on Oct. 8. Calgary dropped a 36-23 decision to UBC on Oct. 29. McMaster was outscored 48-21 by Western on Sept. 10. Acadia was edged 8-3 by Saint Mary’s on Oct. 1.
The CIS Bowl winners will face off in the 47th Vanier Cup final on Friday, Nov. 25, at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. Kickoff for the CIS championship game is set for 6 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Eastern), live on TSN and RDS.
CANADA WEST FINAL (HARDY CUP): Calgary 62, UBC 13
CGY 10-10-7-35: 62
UBC 10-3-0-0: 13
At McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Friday night, sophomore quarterback Eric Dzwilewski ran for 101 yards and four touchdowns and the second-ranked Dinos used 42 unanswered points in the second half – including a 35-0 fourth quarter - to crush the No. 6 Thunderbirds 62-13 and claim a record-tying fourth straight Canada West title.
Saskatchewan was the only previous school to capture four
consecutive Canada West banners outright, way back in the 1930s
(1934-1937).
Calgary held a 20-13 lead at halftime but the game turned into a record-setting, lopsided affair after the break. Dzwilewski became the first Canada West player and the first pivot in CIS history to rush for four majors in a playoff contest as the Dinos racked up a mind-boggling 409 yards along the ground. Their 62 points scored are the highest single-game total since the inception of the Hardy Cup final in 1976.
Steven Lumbala carried the ball 22 times for 194 yards, Chris Dobko and Adam Osterling each had a receiving major, while Wyatt Getty and John Kadiebwe both returned an interception all the way to the end zone for the winners. Dzwilewski, the 2010 CIS rookie of the year from Boise, Idaho, only attempted 13 passes and completed nine of them for 112 yards.
For UBC, it was a night to forget for quarterback Billy Greene, the Canada West MVP and Hec Crighton trophy nominee. The native of Surrey, B.C., who entered the contest with the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the country (23-4), completed only 10 of 29 passes for a season-low 175 yards and three picks. He did however tally a team-high 99 yards on 12 carries and connected with Jordan Grieve for an 87-yard scoring play that tied the game at 10-10 after one quarter.
RSEQ FINAL (DUNSMORE CUP): Laval 30, Montreal 7
At TELUS-Université Laval Stadium in Quebec City, Sébastien Lévesque rushed for 197 yards and a pair of long touchdowns on 17 carries and the Rouge et Or defence was true to its reputation as top-ranked Laval defeated archrival Montreal 30-7 to repeat as Dunsmore cup champion.
With the victory, the reigning Vanier cup champions extended a
pair of CIS-record streaks. Laval has now claimed nine straight
conference titles and is undefeated in 51 consecutive games on home
turf, dating back to 2004.
Lévesque, who led the RSEQ this season with a team-record 1,059 rushing yards, gave Laval a 14-0 lead with one minute left in the opening quarter thanks to a 40-yard scamper to the end zone, and then put the game away with a minute remaining in the third when he exploded for an 85-yard major that made it 25-7.
Senior quarterback Bruno Prud’homme played a conservative, mistake-free contest finishing with 145 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-18 passing, with no interceptions. His 26-yard TD strike to Junior Seydou Haidara opened the scoring 10 minutes into the game.
The Laval defence was especially effective against RSEQ all-star running back Rotrand Sené, who was held to 60 yards on 15 attempts. Quarterback Alexandre Nadeau-Piuze completed 16 of 32 passes for 187 yards but was intercepted twice. He scored the Carabins’ lone touchdown on a one-yard run to cut the deficit to 18-7 with five minutes left in the third period.
Montreal was hurt by penalties as the visitors were flagged 16 times for losses of 210 yards.
AUS FINAL (LONEY BOWL): Acadia 39, Saint Mary’s 20
ACA 15-7-7-10: 39
SMU 10-0-7-3: 20
At Raymond Field in Wolfville, N.S., quarterback Kyle Graves rushed for three touchdowns as ninth-ranked Acadia ended Saint Mary’s four-year domination in the Atlantic conference with a 39-20 win over the visiting Huskies in the Loney Bowl final.
The Axemen, who avenged a 37-8 loss to Saint Mary’s in last
year’s AUS championship match, led 22-10 at the half and
never looked back en route to capturing their first title since
back-to-back banners in 2005 and 2006.
Graves, the AUS player of the year from Barrie, Ont., finished with 78 rushing yards on 10 carries and completed 12 of 16 passes for 170 yards, with no interceptions, to claim the Don Loney memorial trophy as the game MVP. Running back Zack Skibin also starred in the victory with 147 yards and one major on 27 runs as Acadia dominated 315 yards to 71 in the ground game.
The Huskies led 10-7 midway through the first quarter thanks to a 51-yard touchdown pass from Jack Creighton to Jahmeek Taylor and a Brett Lauther field goal but saw their rivals respond with 22 unanswered points over the next 30 minutes to put the game away.
Creighton racked up 251 yards on 17-of-30 passing but was intercepted twice. Taylor was his favourite target and finished with 108 yards on six catches.
Acadia had 25 first downs to Saint Mary’s 15. The Huskies were also hurt by 15 penalties for losses of 106 yards.
OUA FINAL (YATES CUP): McMaster 41, Western Ontario 19
At TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont., Kyle Quinlan threw for four touchdowns, including a record-setting strike to OUA player of the year Michael DiCroce, to lead the fourth-ranked Marauders to a convincing 41-19 road win over No. 3 and defending champion Western in the 104th Yates Cup final.
It marked the first OUA title for McMaster since a streak of four
consecutive championships from 2000 to 2003, while Western was
looking for a fourth crown in five years.
Trailing 3-0 after the opening quarter, the explosive Marauders, who led the country this season with 530 yards of total offence per game, scored 34 straight points before the Mustangs answered back midway through the final frame, when the affair was already out of reach.
Quinlan earned game-MVP honours after he completed 16 of 24
passes for 275 yards with no interceptions, while rushing for
another 103 yards on only 10 carries. With McMaster holding on to a
10-3 advantage midway through the third quarter, he connected with
DiCroce for a 102-yard scoring play to set an OUA playoff record,
which ranks second in CIS post-season history.
DiCroce also had a four-yard TD catch late in the contest and
finished with four receptions for 128 yards. Brad Fochesato and
Robert Babic had one receiving major apiece, while Chris Pezzetta
scored on a seven-yard run.
The Marauders’ defence was dominant against a team that scored a CIS-best 38.9 points per game in conference play.
In his return from an injury, Western quarterback Donnie
Marshall was 14-of-27 for 187 yards, one touchdown and one
interception. One of the lone bright spots for the Mustangs was
running back Tyler Varga, the OUA rookie of the year, who rushed 30
times for 154 yards and a score.
SCHEDULE: 2011 BOWLS & VANIER CUP (all time LOCAL)
November 18
19:30 (AST) Uteck Bowl: No. 4 McMaster (9-1) at No. 9
Acadia (8-1) (TSN & RDS)
19:30 (MST) Mitchell Bowl: No. 1 Laval (10-1) at No. 2 Calgary
(9-1) (TSN & RDS)
November 25
18:00 (PST) Vanier Cup: at B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver
(TSN & RDS)
ALL-TIME CIS BOWL RESULTS (since start of CIS national semifinals in 1967)
2010
Uteck (PEPS Stadium, Quebec City): Laval 13, Western 11
Mitchell (McMahon Stadium, Calgary): Calgary 35, Saint Mary’s
8
2009
Uteck (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Calgary 38, Saint Mary’s
14
Mitchell (Richardson Stadium, Kingston): Queen’s 33, Laval
30
2008
Uteck (PEPS Stadium, Quebec City): Laval 59, Calgary 10
Mitchell (TD Waterhouse Stadium, London): Western 28, Saint
Mary’s 12
2007
Uteck (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 24, Laval
2
Mitchell (Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg): Manitoba 52, Western
20
2006
Uteck (PEPS Stadium, Quebec City): Laval 57, Acadia 10
Mitchell (Frank Clair Stadium, Ottawa): Saskatchewan 35, Ottawa
28
2005
Uteck (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Wilfrid Laurier 31, Acadia 10
Mitchell (Griffiths Stadium, Saskatoon): Saskatchewan 29, Laval
27
2004
Uteck (PEPS Stadium, Quebec City): Laval 30, Wilfrid Laurier 11
Mitchell (Griffiths Stadium, Saskatoon): Saskatchewan 31, Saint
Mary’s 16
2003
Uteck (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 60, Simon
Fraser 9
Mitchell (Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton): Laval 36, McMaster 32
2002
Churchill (Les Prince Field, Hamilton): Saint Mary’s 36,
McMaster 25
Mitchell (Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal): Saskatchewan
22, McGill 0
2001
Churchill (Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg): Manitoba 27, McMaster
6
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 48, Laval
8
2000
Churchill (Les Prince Field, Hamilton): Ottawa 20, McMaster 15
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Regina 40, Saint Mary’s
36
1999
Churchill (PEPS Stadium, Quebec City): Laval 27, Saskatchewan
21
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 21,
Waterloo 14
1998
Churchill (Griffiths Stadium, Saskatoon): Saskatchewan 33, Western
17
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Concordia 25, Acadia 24
1997 (1)
Churchill (Frank Clair Stadium, Ottawa): Waterloo 1, Ottawa 0
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): UBC 34, Mount Allison 29
1996
Churchill (University Stadium, Waterloo): Saskatchewan 33, Guelph
9
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): StFX 13, Ottawa 5
1995
Churchill (McMahon Stadium, Calgary): Calgary 37, Ottawa 7
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Western 55, Acadia 45 (OT)
1994
Churchill (Coulter Field, Lennoxville, Que.): Western 41,
Bishop’s 24
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saskatchewan 35, Saint
Mary’s 24
1993
Churchill (SkyDome, Toronto): Toronto 26, Concordia 16
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Calgary 37, Saint Mary’s
23
1992
Churchill (SkyDome, Toronto): Queen’s 23, Guelph 16
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 21, Calgary
11
1991
Churchill (SkyDome, Toronto): Wilfrid Laurier 42, Queen’s
22
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Mount Allison 31, Saskatchewan
14
1990
Churchill (Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal):
Saskatchewan 41, Bishop’s 13
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 31, Western
30
1989
Churchill (Griffiths Stadium, Saskatoon): Saskatchewan 40,
Queen’s 10
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Western 38, Saint Mary’s
33
1988
Western (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Calgary 34, Western 15
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 44,
Bishop’s 10
1987
Western (Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver): UBC 33, Wilfrid Laurier
31
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): McGill 30, Saint Mary’s
29
1986
Central (Bishop’s Field, Lennoxville, Que.): UBC 32,
Bishop’s 30
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Western 29, Acadia 22
1985
Central (McMahon Stadium, Calgary): Calgary 56, Carleton 14
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Western 34, Mount Allison
3
1984
Central (Alumni Stadium, Guelph): Guelph 12, Calgary 7
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Mount Allison 29,
Queen’s 17
1983 (2)
Western (Richardson Stadium, Kingston): Queen’s 22, Toronto
7
1982
Western (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Western 17, Concordia 7
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): UBC 54, StFX 1
1981
Western (Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton): Alberta 32, Western
31
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Acadia 40, Queen’s
14
1980
Western (Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton): Alberta 14, Western 4
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Ottawa 28, Acadia 8
1979
Yates Cup (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Western 32, Queen’s
14
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Acadia 27, Alberta 3
1978
Western (Empire Stadium, Vancouver): UBC 25, Wilfrid Laurier 16
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Queen’s 32, StFX 10
1977
Forest City (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Western 24, Calgary
22
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Acadia 35, Queen’s
22
1976
Forest City (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Western 30, UBC 8
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Acadia 18, Ottawa 16
1975
Central (Lansdowne Park, Ottawa): Ottawa 45, Windsor 6
Atlantic (Raymond Field, Wolfville, N.S.): Calgary 38, Acadia
13
1974
Central (J.W. Little Stadium, London): Western 41, Saskatchewan
17
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Toronto 45, Saint Mary’s
1
1973
Western (Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg): McGill 16, Manitoba 0
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Saint Mary’s 19, Wilfrid
Laurier 17
1972
Western (Varsity Stadium, Edmonton): Alberta 58, Loyola 6
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Waterloo Lutheran 50, Saint
Mary’s 17
1971
Western (Varsity Stadium, Edmonton): Alberta 53, Bishop’s
2
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Western 44, Saint Mary’s
13
1970
Western (University Stadium, Winnipeg): Manitoba 24, Queen’s
20 (OT)
Atlantic (Huskies Stadium, Halifax): Ottawa 24, UNB 11
1969
Western (University Stadium, Winnipeg): Manitoba 41, Windsor 7
Atlantic (Wanderers Grounds, Halifax): McGill 20, UNB 6
1968
Western (University Stadium, Winnipeg): Queen’s 29, Manitoba
6
Atlantic (Wanderers Grounds, Halifax): Waterloo Lutheran 37, Saint
Mary’s 7
1967 (3)
Atlantic (Wanderers Grounds, Halifax): McMaster 7, StFX 0
NOTES:
(1) In 1997, Ottawa beat Waterloo 44-37 but later forfeited the game due to the use of ineligible players (official score: 1-0 Waterloo).
(2) In 1983, the AUAA chose not to participate in a Bowl game as a protest against CIAU. WIFL champion Calgary received a direct berth in the national final.
(3) In 1967, the OQAA voted against any league participation in the Vanier Cup championship game. WIFL champion Alberta received a direct berth in the national final.
-CIS-
