Laval – Laval Rouge et Or the Laval have secured their place in the RSEQ final for the 11th time on Saturday afternoon after defeating the Sherbrooke Vert et Or 32-11 at Laval’s TELUS Stadium.
Laval’s offensive unit had a slow start but managed to rally in the second half, allowing Rouge et Or’s Head Coach Glen Constantin a 63rd consecutive win on home soil, a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) record.
Constantine was confused of how poorly the offense played in the first half but then exploded as it did after halftime.
“It is deplorable,” he wondered. “Defensively, we did very well.”
“For special teams, it was a bit laborious. But I do not understand why we don’t do the same in the first half offensively like we did in the second half because we would have a lot of success.”
The Rouge et Or’s Head Coach said he delivered a clear message to the team during halftime.
“We appealed to their pride,” said Constantin. “We asked them to play at their level.”
Costly Penalties
Few points were scored in the first half. Boris Bede got the Rouge et Or on the scoreboard in the first seconds of the game with a single point on the opening kickoff, as his kick went directly into the Vert et Or end zone.
On their first offensive sequence, the Rouge et Or stuck again as Bede, was successful on a 19 yard field goal for three additional points. The Rouge et Or increased their lead 4-0.
Besides the low score, the number of penalties awarded to Laval received attention in the first half. Laval completed the first 30 minutes with 116 penalty yards.
These yards allowed the Rouge et Or to go deep into their territory a few times, which resulted in two safeties. At halftime, the score was tied, 4-4.
The Rouge et Or attack began to move early in the second half. Some good races between quarterback Alex Skinner and tailback Pascal Lochard placed the Rouge et Or in a good position to the Gaiters 32 yard line 32. Skinner then lobbed a pass to Felix Faubert-Lussier for a 32 yard major. After the conversion, Laval had an 11-4 lead.
A few minutes later, Alex Hovington intercepted quarterback Jeremi Roch for the third time that day and sped 35 yards to the Vert et Or’s 16 yard line. Two plays later, Skinner connected again with Faubert-Lussier in the end zone and after the Bede’s conversion, it was 18-4.
Bede added a 32 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and a little over two minutes later, Pascal Lochard completed an extensive 40-yard drive with a 5 yard touchdown run. The Rouge et Or enjoyed a 28-4 lead and never looked back.
Bede added a single on the punt return, catapulted deep into the Vert et Or end zone. Then, he added another 11 yard field goal with less than four minutes to play. Sherbrooke scored their only major of the game moments later, but it was too little, too late.
Laval quarterback Alex Skinner completed the game with 18 completions in 30 attempts for 214 passing yards and two touchdowns. Pascal Lochard was the leader on the ground with 117 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, while Guillaume Rioux was the favorite target of Skinner with five catches for 39 yards. Faubert-Lussier managed three receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Alex Hovington had very good game with three interceptions and a fumble recovery, in addition to compiling four solo tackles and one assisted. Vincent Desloges for his part made five solo tackles, two assisted tackles, a quarterback sack and two forced fumbles.
The Rouge et Or will host the Montreal Carabins at Laval TELUS Stadium next Saturday in the Dunsmore Cup final. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00pm.
Photo credits: Yan Doublet
With files from Stephane Jobin
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