The Concordia Stingers football squad, bolstered by stellar performances by the offensive and defensive units, crushed the Bishop’s Gaiters 46-4 in their home opener last Saturday afternoon at Concordia Stadium.
The Stingers showed a dominant form of play right from the opening kickoff, when Jean- Michel Paquette returned Matt Gagnon’s kick 76 yards to put the Maroon and Gold in an excellent field position. On the second play of their drive, Paquette took the ball into the end zone on a seven yard run to give Concordia an early 7-0 lead.
The stage was set for an all out blowout.
Midway through the first quarter, with the Stingers up 7-1, quarterback Jon Bond connected with receiver Darrel Wood on a 27-yard passing play that put the Stingers up 14-1. Before the quarter was done, Paquette demonstrated his backfield versatility, with a 37-yard touchdown reception that gave the Stingers a comfortable 20-1 lead.
However, the Stingers were far from done offensively. Before the first half was done, Bond connected with receiver Richard Martin on a 52-yard passing play and Alexis Charpentier on a short eight yard play. Ben Ouimet also contributed to the offensive blowout with a 57-yard rushing touchdown.
The special team unit was also solid as kicker Simon Rodgers booted a 43-yard field goal late in the half. The Stingers led 42-3 when the teams retreated to their locker rooms for halftime.
Bond was rock solid at the helm of Concordia’s offense, completing 11 of 17 passes totaling 213 yards, along with four touchdown passes. What is even more impressive, is that he put up these numbers in just one half of play. Coach Gerry McGrath gave him the rest of the day off and put in second stringer Hugo Fortier for the second half.
“Our offense was good today and the pass protection was solid,” said Bond, who hails from Plymouth, Massachusetts and played for Bridgton Academy last year under the tutelage of Coach Rick Marcella. Bond is am imposing figure on the field, standing tall at six feet and six inches and weighing 225 pounds. He emphasized that his team can achieve greater things as the season progresses. “There is always room for improvement,” he added.
Meanwhile, Paquette, who netted 78 yards with 11 carries on the ground and caught three passes for 57 yards, was happy with the outcome. “It has been tough to play three games in ten days, but we have pulled through.” Paquette also commented on the success that Bond has been having at quarterback. “This guy is good. All he needs to do now is become more accustomed with the playbook.”
Coach Gerry McGrath was also pleased with Bond’s performance. “Jon has a
professional caliber arm and makes intelligent decisions. McGrath was slightly disappointed by the fan turnout at the game and issued a challenge to Concordia students.
“Any student that contacts me and asks me for free tickets, I will be happy to grant their requests. If a thousand students call me, they will get a thousand free tickets.”
A large contingent of Bishop’s students were on hand to support their team but were silenced by the complete domination of the Stingers.
Concordia’s next game is this Saturday at Concordia Stadium, where they will play host to the Acadia Axemen.
It will be the first interconference game of the year for the Stingers. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
