CIS football Saturday roundup: Calgary's Ifield sets CIS career field goal record (VIDEO)

The win gives the Huskies the championship game bye and home field advantage while the Axemen find themselves on the road for a semi-final game in Sackville, NB against the 4-4 Mount Allison Mounties. The Mounties host the semi-final game next Saturday at 1pm because they edged out the 4-4 Axemen in points differential

A late first quarter interception for a touchdown by defensive halfback Mark Holden and a 2 yard dash to the end zone ended up being the game winner. Holden's interception was his first of two for the day and sixth of the season, tying the Saint Mary's single season record of six interceptions.

The Huskies scored their second touchdown of the day on a Jeff Hecht interception return of 40 yards off of Axemen backup pivot Andrew Healey's first pass from the line of scrimmage after starting quarterback Kyle Graves left the game with an unknown injury.

The Huskies concluded the regular season with an eleven yard run that capped a 10 play, 93 yard drive early in the final quarter.

Saint Mary's put together 327 yards of offense that included 162 yards on the ground and 165 yards of passing, while the Axemen pieced together 157 yards rushing that included 126 yards from both Healey and Graves; and a meager 72 yards passing.

Saint Mary's quarterback Micah Brown was nine for 15 for 159 yards passing, while teammate Craig Leger had the Huskies' highest rushing result with 47 yards on 12 carries. Linebacker Brian Ridgeway had eight solo and two assisted tackles and led the Huskies with three sacks.

The Huskies will take the week off before hosting the AUS Football Championship game for the fourth year in a row. The last time the championship game was not in Halifax was 2006 when the Huskies and Axemen met on Acadia's Raymond Field.

Source: Acadia Sports Info

Against the visiting X-Men, the Mounties opened the scoring when John Szilagyi kicked a 34-yard field goal on their first possession. Before the end of the first quarter the X-men took their first lead of the game when Corey Wensley connected with Andrew Hickey for an 11-yard touchdown.

Mount Allison answered back immediately on their next possession. Mount Allison started on its own 31-yard line and consecutive completions to Gary Ross, one for two yards, and the second for 33 yards, brought Mount A into STFX territory. The drive culminated with quarterback Jake Hotchkiss scampering nine yards for the touchdown to put the score at 10-7 Mount Allison. The only scoring of the second quarter came off a missed field goal by STFX's Anthony Alix. A rouge was recorded on the play bringing the score to 10-8 at half time.

STFX added another single point early in the third quarter and then took the lead 12-10 when Anthony Alix benefitted from strong winds at his back to nail a 44-yard field goal. The Mounties again answered back immediately, this time starting from their own 35-yard line. On the first play of the drive Gary Ross took a reverse handoff and made it 51 yards before being brought down at the STFX 24-yard line. Six plays later Mount A's Alonzo Howell ran it in from four yards out to give the Mounties a 17-12 lead.

With the wind at their back for the fourth quarter, the Mounties used key defensive plays to put the game out of reach, first with an interception by Ben Halpern giving the Mounties the ball back on the STFX 29-yard line. On the very next play Hotchkiss hooked up with Adam Molnar for a 30-yard touchdown to bring the score to 24-12 Mount Allison.

Three minutes later it was Callan Exeter's turn as he picked off Corey Wensley and returned the ball 43 yards all the way down to the STFX 9-yard line. From there Matt Pickett punched in the Mounties fourth touchdown of the day giving them a 31-12 lead. The Mounties added a safety before the end of the game, making the final score 33-12. Akwasi Antwi led the Mounties defensively with 10 solo tackles as Bradley Daye, Luke Ekoh, and Ben Halpern each contributed five solo tackles.

The win leaves the Mounties at 4-4 for the season and it gives Mount Allison their first four-win season since 1998. It also leaves the Mounties tied with Acadia for second place after the Axemen lost 21-0 to Saint Mary's in Wolfville. The Mounties, however, own the tie breaker over Acadia by virtue of their victory over Acadia on October 16th. The Mounties actually split the season series 1-1 with Acadia but had a better point differential.

Finishing in second place means that Mount Allison will host Acadia in the AUS semi-final on Saturday, November 6th at 1:00 p.m. at the MacAulay Field. It will be the first playoff game for the Mounties since 2008 and it will be their first home playoff game since 1998. The winner of the AUS semi-final will travel to Halifax to play Saint Mary's in the Loney Bowl on November 13th.

Source: Mount Allison Sports Info

Laval went out in front quickly on receiving touchdowns from quarterback Bruno Prud'homme to Mathieu Picard (seven yards) and Patrick Lavoie (six yards). Add in a safety, and the team had a 16-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Concordia's only scoring highlight came at the start of the second quarter when veteran safety Nicholas Arsenault-Hum took an interception back 30 yards to give the Stingers good field position on the Laval 44-yard line. The offence drove the field, finishing with a two-yard touchdown run from Dan Rodrigues.

The rest of the way it was all Rouge et Or. With another receiving touchdown and a Christopher Milo field goal, they had a 26-7 lead at halftime. In the second half Laval scored on two punt returns, Pascal Lochard had two rushing majors and Milo had two field goals.

Overall Laval had 26 first downs and 494 yards of offence – 316 rushing and 185 passing. Prud'homme completed 15 of 20 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. He threw one interception.

Concordia collected 12 first downs and 131 yards of offence. Starting pivot Terrance Morsink completed 12 of 23 passes for 113 yards. He threw two interceptions.

Defensively, Concordia's Arsenault-Hum led all tacklers in the game with seven solo tackles, two assists and the interception.

The Rouge et Or finish the Quebec University Football League season with a perfect 9-0 win-loss record, while the Stingers finish the 2010 campaign with a 4-5 win-loss record and miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2000 season.

Source: Concordia Sports Info

The Carabins had taken their 20-7 halftime lead on a 5-yard reception by Maxime Fournier-Rioux and a seven-yard run by Olivier Renière, a field goal and a single by Pierre-Paul Gélinas and a safety touch. The Gaiters responded with a field goal by Josh Maveety (Kingston, Ont.) and a pair of safety touches. After another Gélinas single, Menard put the Carabins up 28-7 at 11:35 as he picked up a fumble on the Gaiters' 25-yard-line and rumbled in for the score. With two seconds left in the period, Alexandre put the game away as he stripped the Gaiters' Alex Rivet (Le Moyne, Que.) of the football. It popped into the air and into Alexandre's hands at the Bishop's 28-yard line.

A fourth-quarter safety touch rounded out the scoring for Montreal.

The game was a tense defensive struggle, but exploded with 10.7 seconds left in the first half as a fracas broke out near the Montreal bench. After a kick out of bounds, an altercation involving several players from both teams, along with at least one Montreal coach, broke out. In total, three people were ejected: the Gaiters' Elie Ngoyi, along with Garlins Duclervil and Frank Bruno from the Carabins. Bruno was not dressed for the Carabins, but was in the bench area at the time of the incident.

In total, the teams combined for 284 yards in penalties, with Bishop's taking 11 for 104, while Montreal was flagged 16 times for 200 yards. Montreal outgained the Gaiters 315 to 96, and made 16 first downs to the Gaiters' 10.

For the Gaiters, Jesse Andrews was 0-for-5 before leaving the game in the first quarter. Alex Rivet finished 8-for-15 for 97 yards. Defensively, the Gaiters were led by Jermaine Gabriel (Toronto, Ont.), who made six tackles, while Harrison Maloney made five.

For Montreal, Alex Nadeau-Piuze went 11-for-20 for 186 yards with a touchdown. His favourite receiver was Djems Kouamé, who caught 4 passes for 84 yards. Star running back Rotrand Sené was held to 63 yards on 18 carries.

The Gaiters (5-4) will be the No. 4 seed for the QUFL playoffs, their third playoff berth in the past four seasons. They will visit the top-ranked Laval Rouge et Or on Saturday in one QUFL semifinal. The game is set to kickoff at 1 p.m at the PEPS in Quebec City.

NOTES: The Gaiters lead the all-time series 18-7 ... This is the Gaiters' second straight loss at CEPSUM ... Gaiters' kicker Josh Maveety scored three points, to finish with a team record 89 on the season ... Jesse Andrews finishes his career in 24th on the CIS all-time completions (490) and attempts (869) lists ... Harrison Maloney went over 100 career tackles today.

Source: Bishop's Sports Info

Le grand numéro 12 du Vert & Or a peut-être dépassé Benoît Groulx au chapitre des quarts ayant complété le plus de passes dans l'histoire de la LFUQ, mais ses coéquipiers William Dion et Dave Boucher ont eux aussi réussi à faire parler d'eux durant l'après-midi. Le premier a en effet réussi six placements en sept tentatives et le deuxième a marqué deux touchés sur des retours d'interceptions, un nouveau record dans la LFUQ.

C'est d'ailleurs la défensive sherbrookoise qui a donné le ton au match en stoppant rapidement les Redmen à leur première possession. William Dion en a profité sur la séquence suivante pour inscrire le premier de ces six placements de la journée, sur une distance de 27 verges.

Après avoir accordé cinq autre points, soit trois sur un placement de 41 verges de Dion et deux sur un touché de sureté, les visiteurs se sont finalement inscrits à la marque au tout début du 2e quart par l'entremise du botteur Tomas Silva.

Les hommes d'André Bolduc ont ensuite explosé avec une production de 20 points avant de retraiter au vestiaire. Vincent Carrière-Garwood a capté une passe de Jean-Philippe Shoiry avant de filer dans la zone des buts, William Dion a ajouté deux placements, alors que le demi défensif Dave Boucher a marqué sur un retour d'interception de 50 verges.

À la mi-temps, c'était 28-6 en faveur du Vert & Or.

«Nous sommes la même équipe qu'en début de saison»

Les visiteurs n'ont pas réussi à arrêter l'hémorragie en deuxième demie. Au contraire. Dès la 17e seconde de jeu, Dave Boucher a intercepté une deuxième passe du quart Connor Ogilvie, filant sur 30 verges pour son deuxième majeur de la journée.

Le botteur William Dion a ensuite effectué ses cinquième et sixième placements, permettant à son équipe de mettre le match hors de portée des Redmen.

«Toutes les unités ont fourni des points et poussé dans la même direction, a souligné l'entraîneur André Bolduc après le match, sourire aux lèvres. Nous sommes la même équipe qu'en début de saison sauf que notre début de calendrier difficile nous a permis de nous préparer. Nous voulions nous créer un momentum pour entrer en séries et c'est exactement ce que nous avons fait.»

Dans la victoire, Jean-Philippe Shoiry a amassé 313 verges par la passe, portant son total en carrière à 9288, ce qui le place au deuxième rang à ce chapitre dans l'histoire de la LFUQ, derrière l'ancien des Redmen Matt Connell. Défensivement, Jonathan Lespérance a encore connu un fort match avec sept plaqués, dont deux sacs du quart.

Le Vert & Or affrontera maintenant les Carabins de l'Université de Montréal en demi-finale provinciale le 6 novembre prochain à 13 h à Montréal.

Source: Sherbrooke Sports Info

At the completion of the 2010 conference season for both teams, Manitoba finished officially in fifth with a 2-6 record while UBC dropped to sixth spot with a 2-6 mark with the loss. Manitoba won the season series with both victories over the Thunderbirds and both teams had already not qualified for the playoffs this season.

In a crazy and entertaining contest, both teams combined for exactly 900 yards of offence, 60 points on offence, five turnovers and back-to-back touchdowns on kick return plays. Bison rookie WR Quincy Hurst had a 100 yard punt return (tied for fifth longest in team history) for the first score of the second half and on the ensuing kickoff, UBC fourth year DB Sam Carino matched Hurst with a 96 yard kickoff TD.

In the fourth, UBC was stopped on a promising eight play drive and kicked a 15 yarder from second year Billy Pavlopoulos at the halfway point and closed the Bison led to 28-25. After two-and-out for both teams, Manitoba then drove 72 yards on six plays (with five being rushing) for the final score and extend their lead that they would not relinquish. The big play of the last TD drive was on second and 13 from UBC's 53 yard line with the T-Birds blitzing and Bison first year QB starter Khaleal Williams hit a streaking fifth year RB James Gerardy who rumbled for 48 yards. The next play, fifth year RB Matt Henry hit pay dirt for his second touchdown of the game and salted away the ten point victory with 2:30 left.

"'I was proud of the players to battle back after the first quarter," stated Bison football head coach Brian Dobie, in his 15th season. "We showed composure and determination as we did not crack during the second half when they applied pressure."

For the visitors, they were led by third year QB Billy Greene who went 22-41 for 311 yards and one TD and one pick plus also was top team rusher with 50 yards on eight carries. Third year WR Spencer Betts had a game-high 96 yards on five catches while third year WR Jordan Grieve grabbed five catches for 86 yards and 1 TD. On defence, fifth year LB Mark Bailey had seven tackles, one forced fumble and one sack while third year DL Serge Kaminsky had 6.5 tackles. Scoring for UBC was second year WR Perry Harder ten yard TD run, Grieve with a 34 yard TD reception, Carino's 96 yard TD kickoff return, 15 yard FG and 57 yard punt single.

Williams led the Bisons with his best passing statistics of the year with 327 yards on 16-30 and one TD. Gerardy churned up 88 yards on 11 carries and Henry added 63 yards on 16 rushes with two TDs. Fourth year SB Stu Schollaardt had three catches for 38 yards and fourth year SB Jared Ralko added three receptions for 23 yards and one TD. There were ten different Bisons with at least one catch in the game. On defence, third year DB Teague Sherman had 7.5 tackles, two break-ups and one interception while fourth year LB John Tietzmann added six tackles and one forced fumble. Manitoba scoring included Henry with a five and two yard TD run, Ralko eight yard TD reception, Hurst 100 yard TD punt return, rookie kicker Nick Naylor with his longest FG of the season at 44 yards and 27 yards plus adding a single off a missed field goal.

Manitoba has now officially in the standings missed the playoffs the last three seasons while UBC has not be in the post-season for the last four consecutive seasons. Manitoba avoided their first 0-4 home record since the 1998 season and matched their win total from last season (official record: 2-5).

Bison Football Notes: Henry finished with 27 overall touchdowns and 23 rushing TDs in his career, both totals second best in team history. Henry also completed his five year career with 3171 yards and 615 carries during the conference regular season...Teague Sherman now has 15 break-ups over his three year career and moves to first in team history since that stat has been recorded in 2002...After down 14-3 after one quarter, Manitoba outscored UBC 17-0 in the second to lead 20-14 at half...Manitoba finished with 479 total offence and UBC had 421 yards...Seven Bisons completed their fifth year of eligibility – Henry, Gerardy, OL Sam Nemis, DB Andre James, LB/DB Justin Clayton, FB Chad Young and FB Jason Loosemore.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info