When the Sherbrooke Vert & Or learned that the McGill Redmen lost earlier in the day and they controlled their destiny when they took to the field against the Concordia Stingers late Saturday afternoon. The team was motivated as they defeated the Stingers 28-21.
The Stingers who were in search of a first victory this fall, took advantage of two consecutive turnovers by the Vert & Or in the beginning of the game to lead 7-0 on a seven-yard pass from quarterback Reid Quest to Jamal Henry.
Sherbrooke responded early in the second quarter, as veteran wide receiver Sébastien Blanchard was the prime target for the Vert et Or quarterback Jeremi Roch. Roch connected with Blanchard for a 15 yard touchdown pass. A few minutes later, Francis Lapointe caught a pass from Roch in the end zone to increase the Vert et Or’s lead 15-7 going into halftime.
A spectacular 60-yard run from fullback Alexander Aubé into the end zone and two safeties conceded by the Stingers put the game out of reach as the team led 26-7. The Stingers have not won in seven visits to Sherbrooke.
In the fourth quarter, Quest connected with Kristopher Bastien for a 20 yard touchdown run and then Olivier Dupont added a 2 yard touchdown run to narrow the gap 28-21. But the Vert et Or defense which only gave up less than 100 yards to their opponents in the first 53 minutes of the game, was back to work to secure the victory.
Jeremi Roch had a good day on the field as he had 21 completions in 42 attempts for 228 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two interceptions. Reid Quest experienced many difficulties in his attempts to advance the offensive attack of the Stingers, in addition to being a victim of three knockdowns, including two by William Langlais.
The match was highlighted by the remarkable return of Vert et Or kicker Vert & Or Mathieu Hebert after five games due to mononucleosis. He did well with 12 punts totaling 402 yards, four kickoffs for 253 yards, along with two successful conversion attempts. Of note is that the Vert et Or did not have any field goal attempts in the game.
This game was a last one at home for eleven Vert et Or players Vert & Or including Paul Braisaz-Latille, Gabriel Goulet and Alexandre Corriveau-Gagnon, quarterback James Goulet, offensive linemen Marc-Antoine Racicot and Kevin Croft, defensive linemen Jean-Christophe Gagnon and Frederick Verville, linebacker Jean-Philippe Dupuis and defensive backs Dave Boucher and Stephane Rivard.
With the results of this past weekend’s three RSEQ games, the football playoff picture is now known. Both semifinals will be Saturday afternoon – the Vert & Or David visits Laval Rouge et Or and the Bishop’s Gaiters host the Montreal Carabins at Coulter Field .
With files from Rene Roy
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