CFL.ca Staff

OTTAWA – The McMaster Marauders top the CIS rankings, voted by the Football Reporters of Canada, for the second straight week to open the season.

The reigning Vanier Cup champions received all 30 first-place nods and 300 points from FRC voters to remain in front of the No. 2 Laval Rouge et Or (256 points), No. 3 Calgary Dinos (249), No. 4 Montreal Carabins (220), No. 5 Western Mustangs (161) and No. 6 Queen’s Gaels (156) in the national rankings.

The No. 8 Saskatchewan Huskies (93) and No. 9 Acadia Axemen (51) also stay put in the new poll. The only changes from last Tuesday see the Windsor Lancers (95) move up three positions to No. 7, and the previously unranked Manitoba Bisons (44) crack the leaders list at No. 10.

A week ago, McMaster had earned 25 first-place votes, with the others going to Laval (4) and Calgary (1).

The Marauders opened the defence of their first-ever national title with a convincing 50-9 home win over Guelph on Monday. Senior quarterback Kyle Quinlan, last year’s Vanier Cup MVP, was solid in his official 2012 debut completing 17 of 26 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. McMaster hits the road on Saturday to face Waterloo, which looks for its first win of the season.

Second-ranked Laval kicked off conference play on Sunday with a 33-15 victory over visiting McGill, which extended its CIS-record home winning streak to 52 consecutive games overall, a sequence that dates back to 2004. The 2011 CIS finalists visit Bishop’s (0-1) on Saturday.

Other results by Top-10 teams on opening weekend were Calgary 37, Regina 21 (at Calgary); Montreal 38, Sherbrooke 14 (at Sherbrooke); Western 54, Waterloo 10 (at Waterloo); Queen’s 48, York 13 (at Queen’s); Windsor 63, Ottawa 18 (at Windsor); Saskatchewan 32, Alberta 0 (at Saskatchewan); Manitoba 31, UBC 24 (at UBC). Acadia lost 24-21 to StFX in pre-season action.

NOTES: In Windsor’s impressive win over Ottawa, pivot Austin Kennedy was simply stellar, breaking his own single-game team record with 482 passing yards and tying the Lancers’ mark of six touchdown tosses... Kennedy’s favourite target, 2011 all-Canadian Jordan Brescacin, caught 13 balls for 214 yards and three scores... No. 8 Saskatchewan visits No. 10 Manitoba on Saturday in the only Top 10 match-up of Week 2.

FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#2)

Pts (1st place) Last week
1. McMaster (1-0) 300 (30) 1
2. Laval (1-0) 256 2
3. Calgary (1-0) 249 3
4. Montreal (1-0) 220 4
5. Western (1-0) 161 5
6. Queen’s (1-0) 156 6
7. Windsor (1-0) 95 10
8. Saskatchewan (1-0) 93 8
9. Acadia (0-0) 51 9
10. Manitoba (1-0) 44 NR

Other teams receiving votes: UBC (12), Regina (8), Concordia (5), Guelph (2), Sherbrooke (1), Toronto (1).

- With files from CIS