MONTREAL — The last time that McGill won their league opener in football, Charlie Baillie was in his final year as head coach of the Redmen, Jean Chrétien was the Prime Minister of Canada and Bill Clinton was president of the United States of America.
Well that all changed at Percival Molson Stadium on Friday when Louis Brouillette, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering senior from Sherbrooke, Que., collected a game-high 172 all-purpose yards, including a spectacular game-breaking, 33-yard TD pass-and-run play with 4:26 remaining as McGill defeated visiting Bishop’s 10-3 in their RSEQ conference opener.
It was McGill’s first season-opening victory in 15 years, dating back to a 20-15 home-court decision over Concordia on Sept. 9, 2000. The No.1 hit single listed atop the Billboard charts that week wasJanet Jackson‘s “Doesn’t Really Matter”.
However, what really matters was that McGill’s victory over the Gaiters also snapped an 11-game losing streak in regular season play for the Redmen, since a 53-52 overtime conquest at Concordia on Sept. 28, 2013. Bishop’s, which had claimed the last three head-to-head meetings with McGill, leads the all-time series between the two rivals at 45-40-1 dating all the way back to their first rendez-vous in 1885.
BU opened the scoring on a 32-yard field goal by Vincent Dubé at 6:27 of the opening quarter. McGill countered with a field-goal of their own when Justin Lavallee nailed a 14-yarder at 9:46 of the second quarter, setting the stage for Brouillette’s late heroics. He hauled in seven catches for 100 yards, to go along with 72 yards on nine punt returns. His game-breaking play was a leaping catch up the middle in triple coverage.
“It was a switch release against man-coverage and (quarterback) Joel Houle threw a good ball, right on target,” explained Brouillette, who led the team in receptions last year. “I caught it but honestly, I don’t know what happened, it went very fast. I went up for the ball, a defender hit me but I managed to land on my feet and when I looked up, I saw the endzone about 10 yards away so I just sprinted as fast as I could.”
The Redmen, who had an 18-12 edge in first downs, registered 332 yards of net offence, including 127 rushing and 212 in the air. Bishop’s collected 237 net yards, including 93 on the ground and 160 in the air.
“It feels real nice to finally win after going a whole year without a victory,” said Houle, a sophomore from Chateauguay, Que., who went the distance to post his first career conquest, completing 18 of 38 attempts for 212 yards, one TD and an interception. He also rushed nine times for 58 yards.
“Louis is a guy with a big heart and makes big plays for this team. We saw that tonight. He made a great catch, in traffic, broke a tackle and scored the winning touchdown. It was a designed play with a tight window (of opportunity). I just threw it but he did all the work on that play.”
It marked the first official CIS victory for McGill head coach and defensive coordinator Ronald Hilaire, whose opening-day 48-man dress roster featured 19 freshmen, 13 sophomores, 10 juniors and only six seniors. The milestone was not lost on the players, who baptised Hilaire with a traditional ice water shower after the final whistle.
“Well I wasn’t expecting that (shower) because when I put down my headset in the last few seconds, I thought that they forgot about me, so I was playing it cool,” revealed Hilaire, a 30-year-old native of Laval, Que., who was appointed co-head coach on an interim basis late last September and was officially named to the post on Feb. 17, 2015. “They got me good but it was a pretty good feeling. We’ll get to enjoy that for another few hours before going to bed. Then we wake up and go back to work. I think we did a good job but we’ve still got a lot of things to fix.
“One of the things that I liked about the way we played was that we were real competitive. That’s one of the points we’ve stressed. We wrote that as a slogan on our T-shirts and talked about competing for 60 minutes, from start to finish… and that’s exactly what we did. We never gave up and believed in ourselves. As long as you believe, then anything is possible.”
Travis Eaman started at quarterback for the Gaiters and was 14-for-29 passing, for 160 yards, no TDs and no interceptions. The sophomore from Brampton, Ont., was sacked five times by a voracious McGill defence, including two by linebacker Karl Forgues, who had a monster day at the office. The 5-foot-9, 188-pound sophomore served notice that his RSEQ defensive rookie-of-the-year award last year was no fluke. The physical education major was in on 15 tackles, including eight solos and seven assisted. He was also credited with a forced fumble and a knockdown.
Trevor Millings led the Gaiters with 138 all-purpose yards, including 103 on seven punt returns, 31 on three receptions and four rushing yards. Vincent Davignon led the Gaiters in rushing with nine carries for 65 yards. Robby Burke was their leading receiver with 51 yards on three receptions.Jonathan Fortin topped the BU defence with six solos, one assisted tackle and a knockdown.
In the other RSEQ match-up on Friday, visiting Sherbrooke shocked Concordia 37-0 before a capacity crowd. The defending national champion Montreal Carabins, ranked No.1 in the CIS, will open their campaign on Saturday when they travel to Quebec City for a 7 p.m. kickoff against No.2 Laval in a game that will be televised on the TVA Sports network.
McGill (1-0) will have their hands full next week when they make a short 20-minute jaunt around Mt. Royal to take on the Carabins on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. Bishop’s (0-1) plays at Concordia (0-1) on Sept. 12 at 1 p.m.
REDMEN RAP: Other McGill sacks in the game went to junior RE Devon Stewart (2) and freshman MLB Dane Wagner (1)… RB Luis Guimont-Mota led all rushers with 72 yards on 14 carries… LBAnthony Couturier-Lagace was credited with one fumble recovery to go along with a pair of solo tackles and five assisted tackles… McGill’s team captains for this year are OL Pierre-Olivier Dalozeand WR Louis Brouillette on offence, along with DL Devon Stewart and SFTY Alexandre Lefebvre-Tardif on defence.
Source: Earl Zukerman, McGill Redmen Sports Information
Redmen Ruin Gaiters in defensive battle to open 2015 RSEQ season
MONTREAL – McGill’s Louis Brouillette scored the game’s lone touchdown with 4:26 remaining in the fourth quarter to break a deadlock and give the Redmen a 10-3 advantage over the visiting Bishop’s Gaiters. A lead they held onto resulting in their first victory since 2013.
Strong defense and struggling offense was the name of the game that opened the 2015 RSEQ University football campaign in Montreal on Friday night. The two teams that missed the playoffs in the conference a year ago and managed just one win between them, opened the year against one another at Percival Molson Stadium.
Following a 61-yard opening kickoff return by the Redmen’s Sebastien Asselin (Joliette, Que.) the Gaiters’ defense held strong and forced McGill to a 44-yard field goal attempt that was unsuccessful. Bishop’s took possession and marched 11 plays, 59 yards cumulating in a Vincent Dube (Montmagny, Que.) 32-yard field goal and an early Bishop’s 3-0 lead.
Benjamin Pouliot (Quebec City) was one of the lone bright spots of the Gaiters who lost to the Redmen for the first time since 2012. The Cegep Limoilou product tallied the first interception of his CIS career in his third season. His stat line finished with two tackles, one for a loss, the interception and a pair of pass breakups. He also was credited with a punt return for six yards.
McGill eventually answered and knotted the game at 3-3 midway through the second frame thanks to a 14-yard field goal after the Gaiters defense stood strong in the red zone.
The score remained tied as both offenses stalled until 4:26 remained in the game when McGill pivot Joel Houle (Chateauguay, Que.) connected with Brouillette (Sherbrooke, Que.) across the middle for a 33-yard major, the only one of the game.
Bishop’s tried to answer on the ensuing drive. Starting quarterback Travis Eman (Brampton, Ont.) found Michael Cleghorn (Newmarket, Ont.) for 26 yards and Robbie Burke (Quebec City) for 33 yards on the Gaiters most productive drive of the night. Looking to tie on third down Eman’s pass into the end zone fell to the ground and the Gaiters turned the ball over on downs. It was the best chance the purple and silver had to draw even.
“It was very frustrating,” said Gaiters head coach Kevin Mackey. “We made a lot of mistakes but give McGill credit they played a good game. We have some things to fix up to be ready for Concordia; hopefully we will take our frustrations out on them.”
On the other sideline McGill’s Ronald Hilaire got his first win as the Redmen’s bench boss.
The opening day loss leaves Bishop’s at 0-1. They are next in action on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Coulter Field against the Concordia Stingers (0-1). Concordia will look to exert some of their own frustrations after falling 37-0 to Sherbrooke on Friday night at home. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. as the Gaiters will open the home portion of their schedule. Tickets will be available online at www.gaiters.ca/tickets.
Quick Stats: Eman finished the game 14-29 for 160 yards…Vincent Davignon (Roxton Pond, Que.) was Bishop’s leading rusher with 65 yards on nine carries before leaving the game with an apparent injury…Burke was the top receiver. He caught three passes for 51 yards…On the defensive side of the ball Jo Fortin (Sherbrooke) had 6.5 tackles, the most of any Gaiter.
Source: Marty Rourke, Bishop’s Gaiters Sports Information
Vert et Or open season with shutout victory over Stingers
Sherbrooke Vert et Or spoiled the party on Friday night for the Stingers, who were inaugurating their new image at Loyola in the season opener. The Vert & Or inflicted a stinging backhand 37-0 to the host team.
The first team to score points in the game was the Vert et Or, on a three yard run from sophomore rusher Felix Marquis-Chevrier, which was first major scored on the CIS stage . In the first quarter, defensive back Gael Bernard-Perron returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown score. Tight end Oumar Touré connected with pivot Jeremi Roch for a 43 yard touchdown pass, late in the second quarter. Three conversions from Sherbrooke kicker Mathieu Hébert and a safety touch added five points in total for the Vert & Or.
The Vert et or defense resumed their excellent work from 2014 and added sparks while ontributing to the score. The three units of this brigade, led by Guillaume Boucher, forced the Stingers to have negative ground gains in the first half, despite first 9 first downs. Sherbrooke amassed 172 yards in the first two quarters compared to 142 for the hosts.
In the second half, the Vert & Or continued on by adding a safety touch and a field goal to further aggravate the Stingers and ensure the victory.
“This is exactly the start we hoped,” said a jubilant Vert et Or Head Coach David Lessard, after the game. “Our three units delivered.”
“This is one of the best games I’ve seen our quarterback Jeremi Roch play. It was quiet yet dominant. And what about our defense which only allowed 200 yards.”
Roch completed 23 passes in 30 attempts for two touchdowns, no interceptions and 291 [assing yards. The Vert & Or offense accumulated 463 yards.
“I felt really good and I was very comfortable tonight,” analyzed veteran quarterback Roch. “It is our preparation from the past few weeks, the work of our coaches and lessons learned from our preseason game that led us to victory,”
“It was well executed, but we mostly read them and we chose the right plays we knew would hurt them, even if the points were slow to build up early on.”
The game will be the only regular season meeting for these two squads. The end result could therefore be used as a tiebreaker in the event of a tie in the standings at the end of the regular season.
The Vert & Or’s next game is Saturday September 12th at 2:00pm, when the team hosts Laval Rouge et Or.
With files from Rene Roy
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