CIS football Saturday roundup: Carabins hand No. 1 Rouge et Or first loss of the season

SACKVILLE - The Acadia Axemen defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 29-14 on a sunny afternoon at MacAulay Field in Sackville.  The Axemen had built a 29-0 lead by the end of the third quarter before the Mounties, on the strength of some of their most spirited play of the season, stormed back with 14 points in the fourth quarter. 

Acadia struck first, forcing Mount Allison to concede a two-point safety at 5:59 of the first quarter. Acadia stretched their lead when Ryan Begin connected on a 12-yard field goal with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter.  Acadia scored their first major of the day when Brett Haenni capped off a four-play, 31-yard drive at 1:55 of the second quarter.  The score remained at 12-0 until quarterback Kyle Graves found Michael Squires in the end zone from seven yards out to make the score 19-0.

Acadia added to their lead on a 16-yard field goal by Begin at 4:11 of the third quarter.  The longest play of the game came late in the third quarter when Kyle Graves connected on an 86-yard scoring play to Taylor Renaud to make the score 29-0.

Mount Allison found some life early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jake Hotchkiss drove the team 61 yards down field, capping a seven-play drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to second-year Mountie Josh Blanchard.  With Acadia unable to move the ball on their next possession, Mount Allison went back to work, this time moving the ball 52 yards on three plays, finishing with Nathan Zavarella’s five-yard run for a major.  Zavarella, the third-year running back, saw his first action of the season after returning from a broken foot sustained in training camp.  Zavarella finished with 44 yards on 10 carries.

Acadia was led offensively by Haenni who had 114 yards rushing on 19 carries with one touchdown.  Quarterback Kyle Graves was 17 of 27 for 244 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.  For Mount Allison, quarterback Jake Hotchkiss was 15 of 30 for 248 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.  Nick Kukkonen led the Mounties with 78 yards on the ground on 11 carries.  Defensively, Justin Richard led the Mounties with seven tackles. Rookie defensive lineman Jacob LeBlanc finished the day with 6.5 tackles.

With the win, Acadia moves to 4-1 on the season and sits tied with Saint Mary’s in first place.  The Mounties fall to 0-5.  Both teams continue the back end of a home-and-home series when Acadia hosts Mount Allison next Saturday, October 15th at 2PM.  The following week Mount Allison returns home to host their first night game in the history of the program on Friday, October 21st when St.FX comes to town.

Source: Mount Allison Sports Info

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs faced the Guelph Gryphons this afternoon in their last regular season home game of 2011 in front of 4,784 excited fans at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont. The Gryphons put up a valiant fight, driving the ball deep into Mustangs territory in the final minute of play, but Western’s Mike Spence (Burlington, Ont.) intercepted Gryphons’ QB Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) in the end zone to end the scoring threat and seal the victory 33-29.

The Gryphons, winless in their last three games, held the Mustangs to only two field goals in the first quarter, both kicked by Lirim Hajrullahu (St. Catharines, Ont.).

Guelph receiver Saxon Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) scored the first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter on a 25-yard pass from brother Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.), putting Guelph ahead 7-6.

A Ben Rossong (Halifax, NS) fumble led to a 36-yard Guelph field goal by Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont.) giving Guelph a four-point advantage over Western.

On Western’s sixth and final drive of the second quarter, they were finally able to march the ball down the length of the field when Rossong connected with Zach Bull (Port Colborne, Ont.) on a spectacular 35-yard catch to cap the 82-yard scoring drive.

Western led 13-10 at halftime.

An early Hajrullahu 40-yard field goal in the third quarter put the Mustangs up by six and on the ensuing drive Gryphons running back Rob Farquharson fumbled the ball in Guelph territory and the ball was recovered by Western’s Rob Hennessey (Lindsay, Ont.).

Seven plays and 36 yards later, Tyler Varga (Kitchener, Ont.) punched in his 14th touchdown of the season, putting the Mustangs up 23-10 and things were looking good for Western.

The Gryphons responded with a scoring drive of their own when rookie quarterback Jazz Lindsey connected with Jedd Gardner (Niagara Falls, Ont.) on a 52-yard pass for the Gryphons second touchdown of the day to bring them within six, as the Western lead was cut to 23-17.

The fourth quarter started with the Mustangs leading by six points and a rouge on a missed field goal stretched the lead to seven points early in the quarter.

A Guelph 42 yard field goal less than three minutes later made the score 24-20 and a poorly executed Mustangs punt led to a safety and the lead was down to 2, Western 24 – Guelph 22.

On the very next drive the Gryphons drove the ball 70 yards down the length of the field and capped the drive off with a Farquharson touchdown to put the Gryphons in the lead 29-24.

The momentum was clearly in the Gryphons’ favour, but the Mustangs were not about to give up and responded immediately when Rossong connected on a 73-yard bomb to a wide open Brian Marshall (London, Ont.) with 7:06 left in the game to put the Mustangs up for good, 30-29.

A Hajrullahu 25-yard field goal with two minutes left put the Mustangs up by four, meaning the Gryphons would have to put the ball in the end zone if they wanted to avoid the loss.

Guelph was able to move the ball from their own 35 all the way to the Mustangs 16 yard line and in the final minute of play the game was on the line on a 3rd and 10 when Lindsey’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Spence, sealing the win for the Mustangs. 

The final stats were not pretty but at the end of the day it was all about the “W”. Rossong was 15-29 for 258 yards and two touchdowns, Varga picked up 109 rushing yards and his CIS and OUA leading 14th touchdown of the season. The big plays offensively were easily the Bull touchdown at the end of the first half and the Brian Marshall 73-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs (6-0) are now on the road for the next two weeks as they visit Toronto (2-4) next weekend and travel to Kingston the following weekend to take on Queen’s (3-2).

Buy Tickets:

Playoff dates and tickets will be announced on www.westernmustangs.ca when details become available.

Source: Western Sports Info

MONTREAL – La jeune équipe de football des Carabins de l’Université de Montréal a arraché une spectaculaire victoire de 17-12 au Rouge et Or de L’Université Laval grâce à un touché de Rotrand Sené avec moins d’une minute à faire au cadran, faisant exploser de joie la salle comble de 5100 partisans réunis au CEPSUM samedi après-midi.

Il s’agit de la première défaite infligée au Rouge et Or depuis le 4 octobre 2009, lui qui avait alors perdu 28-7 dans ce même stade face aux Carabins. Depuis 2004, l’UdeM est la seule formation de la conférence du Québec à avoir vaincu le Rouge et Or, à quatre reprises, dont lors de trois des cinq derniers matchs disputés au CEPSUM.

Avec 18 recrues au sein de son alignement et plusieurs blessés absents de la rencontre, la troupe de l’entraîneur-chef Danny Maciocia n’a démontré aucun complexe face à l’équipe classée numéro un au Canada. Les Bleus ont accumulé 422 verges offensives face à la puissante défensive lavalloise tout en n’en allouant que 274.

Des joueurs unis dans l’adversité

« L’équipe est toujours restée soudée ensemble et nos joueurs n’ont jamais arrêté de travailler, a affirmé Maciocia en faisant allusion aux différentes distractions survenues au cours des dernières semaines. Il n’y a jamais eu de craque dans la fondation et je suis tellement content pour nos joueurs. Ils viennent de réaliser un très grand accomplissement. »

Alors que les Carabins tiraient de l’arrière 12-11, Sené a trouvé une ouverture et a franchi la ligne des buts après une course de 13 verges. Après une tentative de converti de deux points ratés, la défensive des Bleus a complètement fermé la porte, réussissant entre autres deux sacs dans la dernière minute de jeu.

« Sur le jeu qui a mené au touché de la victoire, on pensait seulement à s’approcher pour réussir le placement », a poursuivi Maciocia.

C’est un feeling exceptionnel, indescriptible, a tenté de résumer Sené au sujet de son touché vainqueur. Au cours de la semaine, j’avais demandé à Danny de me donner un peu plus le ballon et je suis content qu’il l’ait fait. La ligne offensive a fait tout un travail et j’hésitais parfois à savoir quel trou prendre », a ajouté celui qui a cumulé des gains au sol de 111 verges en 22 portées.

Match phénoménal de Jonathan Pierre-Étienne

L’ailier défensif des Carabins Jonathan Pierre-Étienne a été particulièrement dominant sur le terrain, réalisant un total de 14 plaqués et 4,5 sacs du quart pour des pertes de 30 verges en plus de forcer une échappée. Ces 4,5 sacs constituent une nouvelle marque d’équipe.

« Nous nous étions bien préparés cette semaine et j’avais beaucoup d’espace pour me déplacer sur la ligne de mêlée, a-t-il dit. On n’avait pas le choix de gagner ce match. On voulait commencer la deuxième moitié de saison en lion et montrer ce que c’est que de faire partie des Carabins. »

La défensive des Carabins a donné beaucoup de fil à retordre au quart-arrière du Rouge et Or Bruno Prud’homme qui a subi un impressionnant total de huit sacs. Ce dernier a complété 17 de ses 24 passes pour des gains de 265 verges. Du côté de l’UdeM, Alexandre Nadeau-Piuze a réussi 13 de ses 28 passes pour des gains de 190 verges en plus d’en ajouter 73 par la course.

Laval menait 9-3 à la demie

Les Bleus ont été les premiers à s’inscrire au pointage. D’abord, Mike Dubuisson a réussi une interception aux dépends de Prud’homme. La séquence suivante a mené au premier placement de Pierre-Paul Gélinas, sur une distance de 37 verges.

Dans les premières minutes du deuxième quart, Julian Feoli-Gudino a capté de façon spectaculaire une passe de 39 verges de Prud’homme. Deux jeux plus tard, le quart de Laval a lancé une passe de touché de 29 verges à Seydou Junior Haidara. Boris Bédé a ajouté deux simples pour le Rouge et Or qui menait 9-3 en retraitant au vestiaire.

Les Carabins ont lentement mais sûrement remonté la pente, en débutant avec un placement de 21 verges de Gélinas au troisième quart. À la toute fin de cet engagement, l’offensive des Bleus a surpris le Rouge et Or. Nadeau-Piuze a fait une courte passe à Philip Enchill et celui-ci a ensuite relancé le ballon à François Leclerc qui s’est arrêté à dix verges de la zone des buts après un jeu de 52 verges. Gélinas a suivi avec son troisième placement du match, cette fois sur 20 verges.

Bédé a répliqué avec un placement de 27 verges. Avec un peu plus de deux minutes à faire, Laval a accordé un touché de sûreté aux Montréalais pour porter la marque à 12-11. Dès le jeu suivant, Nadeau-Piuze a rejoint Leclerc à la ligne de 41 verges en territoire adverse pour donner aux siens une chance de reprendre les devants. Sené a traversé la zone des buts quelques jeux plus tard.

La prochaine sortie des Carabins (3-3) aura lieu samedi prochain à 13h au Stade Percival-Molson pour y affronter les Redmen de McGill (0-6). Cette rencontre sera retransmise en direct à la télévision de Radio-Canada et sur les ondes du 98,5 FM Sports.

Laval (5-1) se mesurera pour sa part à Bishop’s dimanche à 13h à Québec.

Source : Mathieu Dauphinais, Montreal agent d’information sportive

MONTREAL - Michael Harrington caught seven passes for 154 yards and a touchdown to lead the Concordia Stingers to a 39-16 victory over the McGill Redmen in the 25th annual Shrine Bowl at Concordia Stadium in Montreal on Saturday afternoon.
 
The second-year slotback from LaSalle, Que. enjoyed a career day with his best performance in two seasons with Concordia. He was awarded the John Gilday Memorial Trophy by the Shriners as the outstanding offensive player on the Stingers.
 
In addition to Harrington, Concordia had touchdowns from receiver Kris Bastien on a 25-yard pass from Reid Quest, returner Kris Robertson who took a punt back 69 yards and linebacker Max Caron who ran an interception back 56 yards in the dying seconds of the first half. The Caron major gave the Stingers a 19-11 halftime lead.
 
Kicker Keegan Treloar rounded out the Concordia scoring with three field goals (14, 34 and 39 yards) and four converts
 
Offensively, the Stingers rolled up 20 first downs and 326 yards of offence. While the Redmen were equal to the task with 19 first downs and 326 yards offence.
 
Concordia quarterbacks split time with Quest completing 13 of 21 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Terrance Morsink connected on seven of 10 passes for 114 yards. Neither pivot turned over the ball.
 
McGill’s quarterbacks also shared duties. Ryne Bondy completed 17 of 33 passes for 262 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Dallon Kuprowski was good on four of 11 passes for 36 yards.
 
Their favorite target was Tristan Baldini who caught three passes for 151 yards. He was the McGill recipient of the Gilday award.
 
The Grant H. Peterson trophies for the outstanding defensive players went to Caron for the Stingers. He had 10 tackles, including a sack, and the interception. He led all tacklers in the game. McGill’s Ryan Trudeau with 7.5 tackles was also a Peterson recipient.
 
The Montreal Alouettes Alumni Association honors the outstanding defensive linemen at every Shrine Bowl game. A presentation is made in honor of Ted Elsby, a perennial all-star for 13 seasons with the Alouettes and a dedicated Shriner. This year, the awards went to Concordia tackle Quinn Smith and McGill tackle Ben Thompson.
 
The Stingers up their win-loss record to 3-3, while McGill falls to 0-6.
 
Concordia travels to Sherbrooke to play the Vert & Or next Saturday at 7 p.m. The teams met on Sept. 23 with Sherbrooke eking out a last minute 33-26 victory.

Source: Concordia Sports Info

OTTAWA - After a disappointing 51-16 loss to the Laurier Golden Hawks on October 1, the Gee-Gees were looking to rebound against the lowly York Lions on Thanksgiving weekend at Frank Clair Stadium. The motivated Gee-Gees made easy work of the Lions, as uOttawa defeated York by a score of 65-12. Ottawa now moves to 4-2, and are tied for third place in the OUA.
 
“Offensively, we connected when we needed to, and made big plays,” said Gee-Gees head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin. “Making sure we capitalized on those opportunities was huge for us. We didn’t let them have a chance to get back in the game.”
 
The Gee-Gees passing offence got off to a fast start as uOttawa’s fourth-year quarterback Aaron Colbon, Orleans, Ont., found fourth-year receiver Bogdan Raic, Ottawa, Ont., for a 51-yard pass, midway through the first quarter. The play set up an easy two-yard touchdown run by third-year running back Brendan Gillanders, Orleans, Ont., giving the Gee-Gees an early 7-0 lead.
 
Gillanders soon scored another touchdown from one-yard out. The scoring play was set up thanks to a fumble recovery by third-year safety Matthew Bond-Lapointe, Montreal, Que. Ottawa led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Gee-Gees scored twice early in the second quarter as third-year receiver Simon Le Marquand, Gatineau, Que., caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Colbon on the first play of the quarter. Colbon then threw a touchdown pass to second-year running back Franck Ngandui, Laval, Que. Ngandui finished with three total touchdowns on the day.
 
Ottawa had many big plays against the Lions, including an 82-yard return by third-year defensive back Soonbum Cha, Burlington, Ont., off a missed York field goal. Ottawa led 42-3 at the half.
 
“I wish I didn’t run out of gas at the end,” said Cha with a laugh. “The guys up front were blocking for me and I saw the seam. I want to give credit to all of my blockers.”
 
After halftime, the Gee-Gees increased their lead when Ngandui exploded for an 80-yard touchdown run. York closed the gap to 49-12 by the end of the third quarter.
 
Gee-Gees first-year backup quarterback Derek Wendel, Belleville, Ont., came in relief of Colbon, late in the third quarter. He threw his first CIS touchdown pass, after scrambling out of the pocket to avoid the pressure. Eventually, uOttawa would claim the victory by a 65-12 score.
 
“It felt pretty good, to get it out of the way,” said Wendel of his touchdown pass. “I was really excited when I broke out of the offensive line, and got the pass off.”
 
The Gee-Gees will now host Windsor next weekend (4-1 OUA). The game is set for Saturday, October 15 at 1:00 p.m., at Frank Clair Stadium. This is uOttawa’s last home game of the season.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

SHERBROOKE, Que. – Jérémi Doyon-Roch threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the No. 4-ranked Sherbrooke Vert & Or defeated the Bishop's Gaiters, 38-11, in CIS football action on Saturday night in Sherbrooke. The rookie completed 15 of 28 passes for 224 yards, and connected with Alex Corriveau and Ismael Bamba on scoring throws, as Sherbrooke won the Mayor's Cup for the fourth straight year.

Sherbrooke took a 10-0 first-quarter lead on Corriveau's touchdown and a field goal by William Dion. The major came three plays after the Gaiters fumbled the ball deep in Sherbrooke territory. The hosts extended their lead early in the second on Doyon-Roch's scoring run at 0:27 and a pair of safety touches gave the hosts a 21-1 halftime lead. The only first-half score for Bishop's came on a 66-yard punt single by Mathieu Paquette (Magog, Que.).

The Gaiters mounted a comeback late in the third quarter, as Jordan Heather (Oromocto, N.B.) found Luca Urbani (Montreal, Que.) on a 14-yard screen pass. The touchdown, the first of Urbani's career, cut the gap to 21-8. On the next series, an interception by Harrison Maloney (Thurso, Que.) gave the Gaiters the ball on the Sherbrooke 18. But the Gaiters could only convert that into a 22-yard Paquette field goal at 1:04 of the fourth, cutting the margin to ten points.

Sherbrooke settled matters on the next series, as Doyon-Roch connected with Bamba on a 30-yard pass.

The Vert & Or added a touchdown from Beni Djock, a single point and another safety touch to round out their scoring.

The Vert & Or outgained Bishop's 510-122, and made 25 first downs to the Gaiters' 13. The Gaiters committed two turnovers, but those turned into Sherbrooke's first ten points. The Vert & Or committed two miscues of their own, resulting in three points for the Gaiters.

For the Gaiters, Heather went 19-for-25 for 141 yards with an interception. His brother Nathan was the Gaiters' leading receiver with four catches for 50 yards. Ryon McCalla (Brampton, Ont.) had a career-high 44 yards on seven carries.

For Sherbrooke, Bamba caught six passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. Djock had ten carries for 107 yards, while Gabriel Bernard-Perron had 13 carries for 74 yards.

Defensively, Jermaine Lewis-Parris (Brampton, Ont.) led the Gaiters with 6.5 tackles, while O'Shane Daley (Scarborough, Ont.) had six. Maloney and Marcus Lam-Peters (Toronto, Ont.) had interceptions. Patrick Chenard led Sherbrooke with five tackles.

Sherbrooke's (5-1) next game is Saturday, October 15, as they host the Concordia Stingers (3-2). The Gaiters are back in action on Sunday, October 16, as they visit the No. 1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (5-1). Kickoff at the newly-renamed Stade Telus in Quebec City is set for 1 p.m.

Source: Bishop's Sports Info