Concordia’s Time to Shrine

The rain was coming down in torrents, the air was chilled, and the bagpipes were blaring; the ideal the environment for the 21st Annual Shrine Bowl was set and the 1,500 brave fans in attendance at Loyola Field were treated to a fierce defensive game as the Concordia Stingers battled cross-town rival the McGill University Redmen on Saturday.
The Stingers fought off the 0-6 McGill Redmen to a 13-8 victory to capture the 2007 Shrine Bowl. The win brought Concordia’s all-time Shrine Bowl record to 8-10. This was the second consecutive Shrine Bowl victory for the home team as the Stingers defeated the McGill Redmen 41-13 last year.
Stingers kicker Rene Paredes opened the scoring at the close of the first quarter, nailing a 20-yard field goal attempt to give the Stingers a narrow 3-0 lead going into the second.
The Redmen would respond in the latter stages of the first half when McGill’s quarterback Matt Connell connected with Erik Galas for a 5-yard touchdown strike. This was Galas’ sixth touchdown reception of the year.
Midway through the third quarter, with the score 8-3 in favour of the Redmen, Concordia’s rushing game finally paid off as Curtis Cates capped off a nine play, 75-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. At the end of the third, the Stingers held a narrow two-point lead.
Another Rene Paredes field goal, this time from the 16-yard line, increased the Stingers lead by five points with just under six minutes remaining in the game.
With time playing a factor for the Redmen, McGill had one last shot to take the victory with twenty-seconds remaining on the board. Quarterback Matt Connell completed a 15-yard pass which placed the Redmen on the Concordia 34-yard line.
On the very next play Connell again took to the air only to have his pass picked off by Sean Guevremont, an outside linebacker out of Vanier College, to seal the victory for the 4-2 Stingers.
“Our coach (Gerry McGrath) told us to push out.I read the play and made the pick,” said Guevremont, who was named defensive player of the game for the Concordia Stingers and received the Grant Peterson trophy for his efforts.
“We knew Mcgill’s offence was explosive. we had to play a good solid defensive game and leave it up to our offence to score some points,” said Guevremont.
The Stingers finished the game with 447 offensive yards with 365 rushing yards.
Concordia’s newly anointed starting quarterback Liam Mahoney received offensive player of the game honours as he led all rushers with 181 yards. Mahoney knew the offensive inconsistencies that have been plaguing the Stingers all year long were becoming a strain on the moral of the team.
“I really thought we planned well for this game, we just made a lot of stupid mistakes, I fumbled twice and that’s not good enough, we have to get better next week,” said Mahoney, who went 8-for-13 with 102-yards passing and one interception.
“I have to stay in the pocket, I have to be patient, sometimes I’m a little to quick to run.as I get more comfortable playing in CIS I’ll be able to progress properly,” said Mahoney.
The 4-2 Stingers will travel to McGill for part two of the double-header next Saturday, this time both teams will be battling for the annual Shaugnessy Cup at Percival Molson Stadium.
The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.