U Sports Playoffs: Everything you need to know
TORONTO — It’s playoff time.
The weather is cooling down but things are just heating up in the world of U Sports football, as the semi-finals got under way last week.
Here are recaps from each of the games:
Mounties advance to the 2016 Subway Loney Bowl with win over Acadia
The Mount Allison Mounties make their way onto the field (MountiePride.ca)
With the win, the Mounties now advance to the 2016 Subway Loney Bowl for the AUS championship to be played Saturday, November 12th (2PM) against StFX in Antigonish, NS. The Mounties were Loney Bowl champions in 2013 and 2014 before losing 14-12 to StFX at last year’s championship game.
Acadia was the first to strike on Saturday when Brandon Jennings hit his first of four field goals on the day from 45 yards out with 5 minutes remaining in the 1st quarter. The Mounties took the lead with 7 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter when freshman quarterback Jakob Loucks sprinted untouched to the end zone from 4 yards out for the touchdown. This capped a 6 play, 48 yard drive to give the Mounties a 7-3 lead.
Acadia retook the lead late in the 2nd quarter with a pair of field goals from Jennings, first from 36 yards out with 3 minutes remaining and then again from 36 yards out with 51 seconds remaining. The 9-7 Acadia lead was short-lived however as the Mounties used a 41 yard pass from Loucks to Hicks to put them in field goal range. Louck’s longest completion of the day set Ryan Lambert up for a 37 yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining to send the Mounties to the locker room with a 10-9 lead at halftime.
Acadia grabbed their final lead of the day when Jennings connected for his fourth field goal, this time from 26 yards, with six minutes gone in the 3rd quarter.
The Mounties would answer back with a 75 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard touchdown run from Chris Reid to give the Mounties a 17-12 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.
Shortly after that punt returner Idahosa Yorke electrified the home crowd with a 54-yard punt return touchdown only to have it called back because of an offside call on the Mounties. Acadia punted again, this time with Yorke returning the ball to the Acadia 25 yard line. Acadia also picked up unnecessary roughness on the play, giving the Mounties the ball on the 10 yard line. Two plays later Loucks punched it in from 1 yard out to extend the Mounties lead to 24-12.
The Mounties added a 28 yard field goal from Lambert with 10 minutes remaining to give them a 27-12 lead. Acadia would cut the deficit to 27-18 with a touchdown of their own with only 6 seconds remaining. The Mounties recovered the ensuing kickoff and all that was left was to run the final seconds off the clock.
Chris Reid, the Subway Player of the game for the Mounties ran for 209 yards and 1 touchdown on 34 carries for the Mounties. Jakob Loucks was 13 of 22 for 117 yards on the day. Loucks also added 55 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns for the Mounties offense. All-Canadian defensive back Devante Sampson led the Mounties defense with 8.5 tackles.
Acadia quarterback Cody Cluett was 29 of 52 for 290 yards for the Axemen. Dillan Fortune had 34 yards on 7 carries for Acadia, who only had 88 yards rushing on the day. William Wojcik led the Axemen defensively with 8 tackles.
The 2016 Subway AUS Loney Bowl can be seen on Bell Aliant’s TV1 or by webcast at www.austv.ca. This year’s Loney Bowl winner will travel to play the winner of the Canada West conference for the 2016 Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, November 19th.
Source: Acadia
No. 5 Golden Hawks hold off No. 7 Marauders to advance to 109th Yates Cup
Golden Hawks quarterback Michael Knevel tosses a pass (Kha Vo/LaurierAthletics.com)
McMaster’s football season came to a sudden halt as the No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks topped the Marauders 21-19 in the OUA semifinal on Saturday in Waterloo, Ont.
After trailing 21-6 midway through the third quarter, the Marauders tried to mount a season saving late comeback to bring the score within two points (21-19). McMaster had two more opportunities in the closing minutes to earn the win, but the Laurier defence held strong to end the Marauders 2016 season.
Quarterback Asher Hastings of Regina tossed 336-yards with two touchdowns in the loss. Hastings’ 336 passing yards were his second highest total this year.
McMaster’s Dan Petermann of Stoney Creek, Ont., was the game’s top receiver hauling in 131 yards on 15 receptions while Dan Vandervoort of Barrie, Ont., posted 116 yards receiving on 11 catches. Petermann and Max Cameron of St. Catharines, Ont., had the two receiving touchdowns in the game
Rookie kicker Adam Preocanin from Burlington, Ont. continued his stellar season notching field goals from 27 and 31-yards while hitting several long punts and kickoffs.
Laurier built a 20-6 lead in the opening half with touchdowns from Kurleigh Gittens Jr. of Ottawa and Osayi Iginuan of Hamilton. Gittens touchdown came on a loud 63-yard pass from Michael Knevel (Brantford, Ont.), just before the first quarter ended while Iginuan punched in the ball on a one-yard run with 43 seconds remaining in the half.
For Laurier Knevel was 11 for 18 throwing for 159-yards in the air including the 63-yard touchdown bomb in the first quarter. Gittens tallied 72-yards receiving while Levondre Gordon of Mississauga, Ont., rushed for 92 yards in the win.
The Golden Hawks advance to the 109th Yates Cup battling the No. 3 Western Mustangs who knocked off the No. 8 Carleton Ravens 51-24 in the other OUA semifinal game on Saturday. The Yates Cup goes next Saturdayand will be hosted by Western in London, Ont. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm and will be broadcast on CHCH.
McMaster finishes the year with an overall record of 7-3 (6-2 regular season) with their only regular season losses coming against Ottawa and Western. Season highlights include a 40-10 win over Carleton in the season opener and then a 32-5 win against Toronto on Football Day in Hamilton which was played at Tim Horton’s Field. McMaster was also a perfect 5-0 at home including a 4-0 record at Ron Joyce Stadium.
The Marauders had the best defence in Ontario and third best in the country trailing only Montreal and Laval. McMaster’s defence surrendered just 87 points over eight regular season games for an average of 10.9 per game.
Although the Marauders season is over, university football in Hamilton isn’t quite over with the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup scheduled for November 26, 2016 at Tim Horton’s Field. The best two teams in the country will battle for university football’s top prize – the Vanier Cup in the national championship game. Tickets are still available visit: www.vaniercup.com to purchase.
Source: OUA
Mustangs to host 109th Yates Cup after win over Carleton
Mustangs running back Alex Taylor carries the ball during game action (WesternMustangs.ca)
The Western Mustangs are headed back to the Yates Cup for the second consecutive year after a 51-24 win over the Carleton Ravens in an OUA Semifinal on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.
Western will take on the Laurier Golden Hawks for the OUA Championship on Saturday, November 12, with game time set for 1 p.m. at TD Stadium. Laurier advanced to the title game with a 21-19 victory over McMaster.
Despite the win, Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall was quick to point out the fact that the Mustangs have room to improve in order for next week’s championship.
“Too many penalties, but, I am happy that we won,” said Marshall. “[Carleton] are a very good team and I am happy with the way we controlled the line of scrimmage. Just sloppy, but when you play good teams sometimes that happens. The number of holding penalties is an issue, but the number of undisciplined penalties is something that will be addressed.”
The Mustangs were flagged 23 times for 287 yards in the win.
Despite the penalty trouble on both sides of the ball, the Mustangs offence had a strong day overall, racking up 598 yards of offence and 32 first downs. Cedric Joseph led the way on the scoresheet, running for 107 yards on 16 carries, with four touchdowns.
Chris Merchant guided the Mustangs attack, throwing for 234 yards and two touchdowns on 11-for-19 passing. He also added another 97 yards on the ground on 13 carries.
“First half especially I felt really good. I thought we executed really well and everything kind of fell into place for our game plan,” said Merchant. “Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been learning the offence more vividly and thourghly. I felt way more confident and my teammates helped me out today. Things opened up and it showed on the scoreboard.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Mustangs were led again by Jean-Gabriel Poulin who made 7.5 tackles and recorded an interception. Mackenzie Ferguson also recorded an interception early in the game that led directly into a touchdown for the purple and white on the ensuing drive.
Although Carleton received the opening kickoff their first drive didn’t last long as on their first play from scrimmage Ravens quarterback Jesse Mills underthrew a ball that was picked off by Ferguson. His interception gave the Mustangs terrific field position, and they did not let it go to waste, as four plays later, Merchant found Tom Marshall for a five-yard touchdown to put Western up 7-0 less than 90 seconds into the game.
Western extended their lead late in the first quarter, capping off a nine play, 90-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run from Joseph.
Carleton, however, refused to go away quietly. They responded with a touchdown of their own to open the second quarter. Mills engineered a 70-yard drive that was capped off by a 13-yard pass to receiver Nate Behar. Behar did a nice job to keep his toes in bounds on the scoring play and closed Western’s lead to only seven points. A Michael Domoglala field goal only a minute later drew the Ravens to within four less than five minutes into the second quarter.
However, that is as close as the Ravens would get, as following that Carleton touchdown drive the Mustangs put their foot on the gas and did not let up. Western scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, with Joseph adding another rushing major, while Harry McMaster and Marshall caught TD passes from Merchant and Stevenson Bone respectively to giver the Mustangs a 35-17 lead at the half.
Joseph would add two more touchdowns in the second half to help the Mustangs secure the win by a final score of 51-24.
“When a running back has a great day at the office you got to give it up to the o-line,” said Joseph. “I really thought the o-line stepped up today and took on the challenge head on. All my credit to the five guys up front and the full backs doing the extra blocking.”
The Mustangs will host the Laurier Golden Hawk’s in the 109th Yates Cup on Saturday November 12th at TD Stadium. The Hawks have already made a trip to London this season in a game which the Mustangs won 45-26.
When asked about the chance to win the Yates, Merchant asserted that this was their goal from the very start of the season.
“It feels awesome. It’s what I came here to do. We are going to take that next step and focus on next week. We are going to come into practice with really focused minds.”
Source: OUA
Carabins carry clout, skunk Redmen in first playoff tilt since 2012
The Montreal Carabins get set to hit the field (Carabins.UMontreal.ca)
Quarterback Samuel Caron threw for a pair of touchdowns and rushed for two more as the No.2-ranked Montreal Carabins routed McGill 42-0 in an RSEQ conference semifinal before 2, 779 at Stade CEPSUM, Saturday.
It was Montreal’s 19th consecutive victory over McGill dating back to a 58-0 Redmen whitewash on Oct. 7, 2002. The Carabins advance to next week’s league championship game for the Dunsmore Cup on Nov. 12. they will host Laval, which disposed of visiting Concordia 39-14 in Saturday’s other RSEQ semifinal.
The Carabins, which finished first in the Quebec conference with a 7-1 record, led 10-0 after the opening quarter, 32-0 at the half and 39-0 after three.
Caron, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior from Levis, Que., completed 17 of 24 passes for 311 yards. He also rushed four times for 24 yards, including a pair of one-yard plunges in the second quarter that made the score 18-0 and 32-0.
He directed an offence that generated 24 first downs and 533 net yards, compared to McGill, which had 15 and 246, respectively. The Redmen, who finished fourth with a 4-4 record and qualified for post-season play for the first time since 2012, committed seven turnovers, including three on interceptions and one on a fumble.
Caron hooked up with Regis Cibasu for a 49-yard touchdown pass to give the Carabins a 7-0 lead at 5:11 of the first quarter. He also connected with Guillaume Paquet for a 55-yard TD to make the score 25-0 at 12:27 of the second stanza.
Place-kicker Felix Menard added a dozen points, including field-goals from 14 and 11 yards.
For the Redmen, freshman pivot Frederic Paquette-Perrault was 18 for 37 passing for 160 yards and three picks.
Among the few bright lights for McGill was rookie Pier-Olivier Grenier-Gachet, a 5-foot-7, 158-pound defensive back and return specialist who collected a game-high 142 all-purpose yards, including 79 on four kickoff returns and 63 on five punt returns. The 21-year-old native of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., also had an assisted tackle.
The other offensive light was all-purpose receiver Remi Bertellin, a 22-year-old economics junior from France who caught six passes for 64 yards, rushed three times for 24 yards, was 0-for-1 passing and averaged 41.7 yards on nine punts.
REDMEN RAP: McGill, which finished at 5-5 overall, is expected to lose seven seniors to graduation. That group includes co-captains Louis Brouillette, a receiver from Sherbrooke, Que., and Pierre-Olivier Daloze, an offensive lineman from Laval, Que., both fifth-year veterans. Others include OL Qadr Spooner of Brossard, Que., who is projected to be a high-draft pick in the CFL, OL Nicolas Bertrand of St. Jean, Que., and WR Jonathan Mack of St. Lambert, Que., plus defensive backs Charles-William Tremblay and Jean-Christophe Bouchard, both natives of Quebec City.
Source: McGill
Dinos down Huskies, head to ninth straight Hardy Cup
Linebacker Boston Rowe carries the ball during game action (GoDinos.com)
The University of Calgary Dinos are headed to the Hardy Cup for the ninth consecutive year following a 47-17 semifinal win over the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.
The Dinos will face the winner of the other Canada West semifinal between Regina and UBC in the 80th Hardy Cup game next Saturday at 1 p.m. local, live on Shaw TV. Should Regina win, the game will be at Mosaic Stadium, while a UBC victory would result in a rematch of last year’s conference championship at McMahon Stadium.
Calgary ended the Huskies’ season for the second year in row thanks to a full team effort that got contributions from all three facets as the Dinos rattled off 40 unanswered points after going down 8-0 to start the game.
“We have a lot of work still to do – there were some mistakes in this game we still have to fix – but the effort, energy, and the enthusiasm our guys played with was sure exciting to watch,” said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris. “They gave us everything they had today. All three phases of the game produced points, and you usually get a favourable outcome when that’s the case. Again, it just comes back to effort, and the energy those big plays provided lifted the rest of the team.”
The two teams got things going offensively in the second quarter after both suffered from miscues in the first 15 minutes. Tyler Chow’s two-yard TD run early in the second quarter put the Huskies up 8-0.
Calgary’s next drive set the tone for the 40-point outburst. The Dinos drove 100 yards downfield, finding pay dirt when Dallas Boath hauled in a spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone. The Dinos’ next drive also ended with a major as Sinagra lofted a perfect ball to Austen Hartley for a 46-yard touchdown, and Calgary took a 16-8 lead into the half.
Adam Laurensse put the Dinos in great position to start the third quarter with a 70-yard kickoff return, and the Dinos were right back in the end zone two plays later when Sinagra found a wide-open defensive lineman Connor McGough to make it 23-8.
As the Huskies continued to struggle, the Dinos put the game away with a sequence where they scored 10 points in just 14 seconds. Backed up on offence, Saskatchewan conceded a safety. On the ensuing kickoff, Denzel Radford took it 94 yards to the house, and Niko DiFonte added a kickoff single as the Dinos extended the lead to 33-8.
Robert Stewart and Josiah Joseph added fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Dinos, while the Huskies did show some life with Drew Burko on the field in relief of Kyle Siemens. Burko found Mitch Hillis behind coverage for an 82-yard touchdown in the first minute of the quarter.
Burko and Siemens put up nearly identical numbers, with Siemens completing 13 of 21 passes for 150 yards, while Burko went 12-for-21 for 146 yards – although he did throw a pair of interceptions. Hillis was their top target, with 129 yards on six catches.
Sinagra continued to look more comfortable in the pocket in his third start, completing 17 of 27 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Hartley was the leading target with 145 yards on seven receptions to lead the way for the Calgary offence – which seems to be finding its stride at the right time.
“Every game gets a little better – we’re healthier, Adam is getting more snaps under his belt…he was able to make some fantastic throws today and the receivers were able to get open. Our running game was very strong as well, which keeps the defence off-balance.”
Micah Teitz led the Dinos defensively with 6.5 tackles, with Nick Statz adding five. McGough added four tackles, adding two sacks on the day to go with his offensive touchdown.
Source: Ben Matchett, Dinos Asst. AD (Communications)
Rams fall to Thunderbirds in Hardy Cup semi-final
Rams’ Jeremy Zver (ReginaRams.com)
The No. 4-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds outlasted the Regina Rams 40-34 on Saturday in a Hardy Cup semifinal game and what was the last football game ever played at Mosaic Stadium, née Taylor Field.
UBC will now prepare to face Calgary as the two teams will square off for the Canada West title at McMahon Stadium for the second consecutive season.
For the Rams, Saturday’s game was simply a case of too little, too late. UBC scored 17 points in a span of just under seven minutes midway through the second half to give the Thunderbirds a 26-point lead, and that was just too much for the Rams to overcome. The U of R scored three touchdowns in the second half of the fourth quarter, but weren’t able to recover any of their three onside kick attempts and UBC was able to kneel out for the win after the final Rams touchdown with just nine seconds left.
UBC quarterback Michael O’Connor was 29-for-40, finishing with 397 passing yards and touchdown passes to Marshall Cook and David Mann. Will Watson was UBC’s leading receiver with nine catches for 116 yards, while Trivel Pinto added five catches for 86 yards and Mann finished with five receptions for 72 yards. Ben Cummings rushed 21 times for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Ryley Butler and Kevin Wiens both had sacks for the UBC defence, while Treymont Levy’s forced fumble late in the third quarter was a big part of the second-half push that swung all the momentum in UBC’s favour.
Noah Picton completed 25 of his 35 pass attempts for 364 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Schienbein with seconds remaining in the game. Atlee Simon rushed 16 times for 78 yards and tied Cory Olynick’s school record of three touchdown rushes for the fourth time in his career. Playing in his final game as a Ram, fifth-year slotback Riley Wilson caught nine passes for a career-high 184 yards – most of which came in the fourth quarter alone.
Zack McEachern led the Rams with 10½ tackles, while McEachern, Nicholas Dheilly, Joey Dwyer, and Bryce McKinnon all had a tackle for loss. Cord Delinte picked off O’Connor deep in Rams territory for the second time in three weeks, intercepting a ball on the three-yard line and running it back 47 yards for the team’s longest interception since the 2013 season.
The two teams traded a field goal apiece in the first quarter, but the second saw UBC score 17 points in even quicker succession than what would follow in the second half. After Greg Hutchins’ second field goal of the game and a two-and-out on the ensuing Rams possession, UBC blocked a punt and – for the second time against Regina this season – Colton Zayshley followed that up with a touchdown, this time running it in from 27 yards out. And on UBC’s next possession O’Connor engineered a six-play, 69-yard drive with passes to four different receivers, with the last one going to Cook for a 15-yard touchdown.
But the Rams got one back before the end of the half, as two passes from Picton to Wilson helped set up Simon for his first touchdown of the game and cut UBC’s lead to 20-10 at halftime.
In the third quarter, it looked as though the big interception and return by Delinte might give the Rams a spark, especially after a 15-yard personal foul was tacked on to the end of the return. But the Rams settled for a 30-yard field goal from William McGee to get to within nine at 22-13, and UBC followed that up with a backbreaking drive. The Thunderbirds twice converted on third down during the nine-play, 75-yard drive – first on a fake punt, then on a play where Hutchins appeared to be lining up for a 44-yard field goal before UBC switched formations and had Trivel Pinto rush out of the wildcat for a six-yard gain. Cummings finished off that drive with a one-yard plunge, and UBC followed that up with a field goal after Levy jarred the ball loose from Simon on the first play of the next possession. And after another two-and-out for the Rams, UBC put together long drive. This one went eight plays, covered 80 yards, and took 3:53 off the clock with Mann finishing it off with an 11-yard touchdown catch.
That put UBC up 39-13 and while they only scored one more point the rest of the way, that’s all they needed. A pair of two-yard touchdown runs by Simon brought the Rams to within 13 and Schienbein’s late touchdown catch made it a one-possession game with nine seconds to go, but UBC recovered the U of R’s third onside kick attempt of the quarter to seal the win.
Calgary and UBC will meet next Saturday afternoon (1:00) at McMahon Stadium.
Source: Braden Konschuh, Regina Rams
Rouge et Or take down the Concordia Stingers
The Rouge et Or celebrate their victory over the Concordia Stingers (rougeetor.ulaval.ca)
The Rouge et Or football team has secured a place in the final of the Dunsmore Cup for a fourth straight year Saturday, taking down the Concordia Stingers by a score of 39-14 at Stade TELUS -Laval University.
Laval will face the Montreal Carabins on Saturday, November 12. The Carabins won 42-0 over the McGill Redmen in the other semifinal RSEQ. This will be the fourth final duel between the Reds and the Blues, and a fifth in the last six years. The only difference is that it will be played at CEPSUM rather than on the campus of Laval University.
This is also the first time since 2004 that the Rouge et Or will not fight for the Dunsmore Cup at home.
Despite a match where the Rouge et Or had accumulated 554 yards, the Reds’ coach was not entirely happy with the output of his troop.
“I’m not completely satisfied,” said Glen Constantin. “There have been many failures on all three phases of the game. It will review it next week. We had no right to concentration effort we would have liked.”
Although they had the advantage on the scoreboard, he spoke once more of how to win.”The way is still important, because it’s all on video,” he said. “You leave traces, you must polish your game. I’m happy with the win, but no more.”
