Montreal, November 14, 2015 – Like the late winner that decided the Vanier Cup last year, a blocked field goal allowed the Montreal Carabins to raise the Dunsmore Cup again. The Carabins earned a 18-16 victory over the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City on Saturday in the RSEQ final.
On the last play of the game, the Rouge et Or attempted a 19 yard field goal to win. The Carabins called the same play that gave them the Vanier Cup title in 2014 and defensive lineman Junior Luke managed to touch the ball with his hand to give the team the victory.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said after the game. Â “This is a play we practiced and I only raised my hand.”
“Since the beginning of the offseason, we worked very hard to repeat our success. It is a matter of heart and work.”
While the game was tied at 16-16 with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Carabins added the first point on a failed failed 31 yard field goal attempt by Louis Philippe Simoneau. The defence then continued its work and stopped the Rouge et Or on a third attempt to bring back the offence on the field. The Carabins then registered another single on a missed field goal from 37 yards.
The Rouge et Or then adavnced to the Carabins’11 yard line. On the sidelines, all the Carabins’ players were up and the quarterback Gabriel Cousineau patrolled to ensure that everyone kept a positive attitude. On the field, teammates finally blocked the last chance of the Rouge et Or take the lead in the game.
“It is almost impossible to repeat that feat again,” confessed Gabriel Cousineau. “It seems that the fairy tale is not over.”
“We still have one good week of football.”
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” said Carabins Head Coach Danny Maciocia. “It’s never easy to pick up the win here and we’ve played some games here.”
“The guys knew they had to play 60 minutes.”
Thomas Erlington voted Player of the Game
Carabins star running back Sean Thomas Erlington won the player of the game. The Montrealer earned 199 yards on 19 carries. The Carabins offence exploded with gains of 325 yards in the second half, including 152 came from Thomas Erlington.
The Carabins enjoyed a 9-1 lead at halftime. On the play that led to the first touchdown of the game, Thomas Erlington managed a 38-yard run. Then on the next play, Gabriel Parent dashed 35 yards for a touchdown, a first of his Carabins career.
“The offensive line did a great job,” acknowledged Thomas Erlington. “With the absence of Alexander Laganière, it was necessary to make adjustments and the guys gave everything.”
“Even when we saw the Rouge et Or come from behind, we remained focused and positive.”
The Rouge et Or responded promptly. After a 55 yard kickoff return by the Rouge et Or’s Maxime Boutin, the team scored a touchdown on a 20 yard pass from Hugo Richard to  Felix Faubert-Lussier.
When they took over the ball again, the Rouge et Or had another good offensive drive. Crossing 72 yards on the ground, Hugo Richard completed the drive with a three yard touchdown run. The Rouge et Or managed a two point conversion to tie the game 16-16.
Carabins limited the Rouge et Or in the first half
The Carabins offence was effective in the first half, approaching a few times within 20 yards of the Rouge et Or’s end zone. Â However, the Carabins failed to score a touchdown. The door opened for the Carabins’ scoring in the first quarter on a 15-yard field goal by Louis Philippe Simoneau. He succeeded again on distances of 22 and 12 yards in the second quarter.
The defence also limited the Rouge et Or’s offence and caused two turnovers. First, Jean-Christophe Touchette recovered a fumble by Hugo Richard early in the first quarter of the game. In the second quarter, Zacary Alexis managed an interception and returned the ball 40 yards out. However, the Carabins did not manage to put points on the board on the drives that followed.
The only score for Laval came on a single scored on a punt in the second quarter.
“We mixed our blankets and our defensive fronts to try to instill doubt,” explained Maciocia. “We found a way to get to their quarterback.”
“They found solutions in the second half, but we could go back to what made us successful in the fourth quarter. ”
A second consecutive title
The Carabins won the Dunsmore Cup for the second time in their history, a second consecutive year in Quebec City. It was the seventh contest between the two teams in the RSEQ final since 2004, the sixth at Laval’s home.
Now, the Carabins will try to engrave their name for the first time on the Mitchell Bowl when they compete in the CIS national semi-finals. To do this, the Carabins will now take on Guelph. They face the Gryphons to obtain a berth for the Vanier Cup final next Saturday at 12:30PM. The game will be broadcast on TVA Sports.
With files from Mathieu Dauphinais
| MONTREAL vs. LAVAL at QUEBEC, QC 11/14/2015 at 14:12 |
|
| Montreal 18 |
Laval 16 |
| SCORING | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal (8-2) | 3 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 18 |
| Laval (8-2) | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 |
| QUEBEC, QC | STADE TELUS, U.LAVAL | |||||
| PRD | TIME | SCORING SUMMARY | MONTREAL – LAVAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:42 | Montreal – L-P. Simoneau 15 yd field goal. Drive: 5 plays, 44 yards in 2:11. |
3 – 0 |
| 2 | 13:01 | Laval – Dom. Levesque rouge point. | 3 – 1 |
| 2 | 08:55 | Montreal – L-P. Simoneau 22 yd field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 60 yards in 4:06. |
6 – 1 |
| 2 | 00:57 | Montreal – L-P. Simoneau 12 yd field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 64 yards in 1:53. |
9 – 1 |
| 3 | 06:42 | Montreal – Gabriel Parent 35 yd run. (L-P. Simoneau kick is good). Drive: 2 plays, 73 yards in 0:50. |
16 – 1 |
| 3 | 05:43 | Laval – Felix Faubert-L 20 yd pass from Hugo Richard. (Dom. Levesque kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 36 yards in 0:49. |
16 – 8 |
| 4 | 14:48 | Laval – Hugo Richard 3 yd run. (2pt conversion pass by Antony Auclair is good). Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards in 2:46. |
16 – 16 |
| 4 | 05:07 | Montreal – L-P. Simoneau rouge point. | 17 – 16 |
| 4 | 01:22 | Montreal – L-P. Simoneau rouge point. | 18 – 16 |
| MONTREAL | STATISTICS | LAVAL |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | FIRST DOWNS | 27 |
| 10 9 1 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
17 9 1 |
| 523 | TOTAL OFFENSE | 399 |
| 57 9.2 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
67 6.0 |
| 196 | NET YARDS PASSING | 325 |
| 13-21 9.3 5-34 0 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked: Number-Yards Had intercepted |
26-41 7.9 3-11 2 |
| 265 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 85 |
| 31 8.5 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
23 3.7 |
| 8-243 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 7-245 |
| 30.4 | Average | 35.0 |
| 119 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 116 |
| 5-20 3-54 2-45 |
Punt Returns: Number-Yards Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards Interception Returns: Number-Yards |
3-49 2-67 0 0 |
| 12-85 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 8-50 |
| 0-0 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 4-3 |
| 3-11 | SACKS: Number-Yards | 5-34 |
| 2-45 | INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards | 0 0 |
| 31:44 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 28:16 |
Montreal |
Laval |
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| DEFENSIVE STATISTICS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | MONTREAL | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
| 20 | Maiko Zepeda | 5 | 3 | 6.5 | 0.5 – 2 | 0.5 – 2 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 36 | Zacary Alexis | 4 | 4 | 6 | – | – | – | 2-45 | ||||
| 23 | Jordan Perrin | 5 | 1 | 5.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 9 | Jean-S. Belisle | 2 | 4 | 4 | – | – | 1-0 | – | ||||
| 24 | J-C. Touchette | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | – | 1-0 | – | ||||
| 25 | Dj. Buissereth | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 49 | Freder. Chagnon | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | 2 | |||
| 94 | Emile Charron-L | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 0.5 – 1 | 0.5 – 1 | – | – | ||||
| 91 | Junior Luke | 1 | 3 | 2.5 | 2 – 8 | 2 – 8 | – | – | ||||
| 8 | Jon. B-Glaou | 0 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 | |||
| 7 | L-P. Bourassa | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 15 | Francois Hamel | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 41 | Xavier Prevost | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 43 | Mathieu Dupuis | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 48 | Guill. Girard | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Guill. Doucet | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 33 | Nic. Narbonne-B | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TM | Team | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |||||
| 1 | Sean Thomas-Er. | – | – | 1-0 | – | |||||||
| TOTALS | 31 | 32 | 47 | 3 – 11 | 3 – 11 | 2 | 3-0 | 2-45 | 4 | 1 | ||
| # | LAVAL | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
| 44 | Shayne Gauthier | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 – 7 | 2 – 8 | – | – | ||||
| 7 | Jean-Ph. Bolduc | 3 | 5 | 5.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 19 | Gabriel Marcoux | 5 | 1 | 5.5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 9 | Mathieu Betts | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 – 9 | 1.5 – 10 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 30 | G. Tremblay-L. | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 – 7 | 1 – 7 | – | – | ||||
| 45 | Edward Godin | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 55 | Mathieu Masseau | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 1 – 6 | 1 – 6 | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Alex. Hovington | 2 | 1 | 2.5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 94 | Ugo Cavalancia | 0 | 5 | 2.5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 5 | V Alarie-Tardif | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 12 | Vincent Chabot | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 51 | Marc-Oliv. East | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 – 5 | 1.5 – 6 | – | – | ||||
| 13 | Jean-Ph. Begin | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Thomas Girard | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 26 | Rap. Robidoux-B | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 31 | Luka Ricard | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 35 | Pierre-L Caron | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 36 | Gabriel Ouellet | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 42 | Gab. Tremblay | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 21 | Felix Faubert-L | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 34 | Marc-A. Ouellet | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 62 | Philippe Gagnon | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 88 | Marco Dubois | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 92 | V. Desjardins | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 33 | 46 | 56 | 5 – 34 | 7 – 37 | – | – | 5 | ||||
| OTHER INFORMATION | |
|---|---|
| Location: QUEBEC, QC Stadium: STADE TELUS, U.LAVAL Attendance: 12199 Weather: CLOUDY Temperature: 3 C Wind: 23 KPH W |
Referee: Brent Young Umpire: Martin Dion Head Linesman: Danny Roy Line Judge: Kevin Riopel Back Judge: Walter Berry Field Judge: Yvan Gatien Side Judge: Rene Daigneault Scorekeeper: Esther Turgeon |
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