Football season cut short by McGill

The Concordia Stingers football season is over, after the team suffered an 11-8 loss at the hands of the McGill Redmen in the QIFC semi-final last Saturday afternoon on a muddy playing surface at Concordia Stadium.
The Stingers were in trouble almost immediately in this one.
Quarterback Jon Kronemeyer saw his days at the helm of the Maroon and Gold’s offence come to an end early, as he aggravated a rib injury on the third play of the Stingers first offensive series of the afternoon, forcing him out the game.
The injury to Kronemeyer brought backup pivot Hugo Fortier into the game to carry the already vulnerable Stingers offence, who were also deprived of running-back Jean-Michel Paquette, who suffered a concussion the previous week against Bishop’s.
The Stingers did manage to put the first point on the scoreboard with 9:14 remaining in the first quarter when kicker Rob McCallum missed a 29-yard field goal attempt, settling for a single. McCallum added a 28-yard field goal late in the quarter to put his team up 4-0 at the end of the first.
McGill came storming back early in the second quarter when running-back Nick Hoffman gave the Redmen a 7-4 advantage with a rushing TD. They added a single before the end of the half to take an 8-4 lead into the locker room.
Concordia narrowed the gap in the third quarter when McCallum nailed a 14-yard chip shot to reduce McGill’s lead to one.
A key play in the game came early in the fourth quarter when McCallum kicked a 22-yard field goal that would have given the Stingers a 10-8 lead.
The play was negated, however, when the Stingers were called for illegal procedure. McCallum tried again from 28 yards, but missed. Once again, the Stingers were forced to settle for a single point, tying the game at eight apiece.
The winning play came halfway through the fourth quarter when McGill kicker Anand Pillai split the uprights with a 34-yard field goal, giving McGill a 11-8 lead. They never looked back.
“We played hard, but we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities today. This loss really hurts, a real heartbreaker,” Concordia receiver Richard Martin said.
Paquette watched his team’s demise from the sidelines and questioned some of the calls the officials made in the game. “It’s very frustrating when there is nothing you can do about it. The refereeing was pretty bad but you don’t want to start making excuses,” he said.
The Stingers were penalized fourteen times, for a total of 102 yards, compared to McGill who lost 50 yards on six penalties.
The Redmen will now head to Quebec City to challenge the Laval Rouge et Or for the Dunsmore Cup in the QIFC conference final.

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