Karim Brissault, Eric Maximuik, Loïk Gagné, Nicolas Roy and Franck Tchembe stood out across the league this season.
The Concordia Stingers shocked the university football world this past season, finishing with a winning record of 5-3. U-Sports ranked them as a non-contender, below Université de Sherbrooke at the beginning of the season, as they finished below the Vert et Or last season with a record of 2-6.
“It was our motivation all season,” linebacker Loïk Gagné said. “We were in ‘the rest.’ We took that as a lack of respect, and we said, ‘Okay, we’re bringing it this season.’”
The feelings among the selected players were mixed when it came to making the RSEQ All-Star team. For the offensive guard Karim Brissault and kicker-punter Eric Maximuik, it was a personal goal to earn this acclamation, but focusing on their semi-final game against Université Laval was more important.
“For me, personally, it’s definitely an honour, but it wasn’t something I kept in my mind too long. I was more worried about focusing on the playoff game after [it was] announced,” kicker-punter Maximuik expressed. He also announced that with an average 44.3 yards per punt this season, it is the most in the league.
The defensive players would trade it all away any day for a Vanier Cup.
The Stingers football team had a near-complete coaching change over the offseason—the defensive coaching staff was cleared and rebuilt from the ground up. Stingers head coach Brad Collinson added the role of head coach for the offensive line to his responsibilities, as his new assistant Fraser Baikie brought in a hands-on technical approach to that part of the lineup, according to Brissault.
Brissault’s offensive line was involved in the number one rushing offense in the RSEQ with over 1,200 yards in just 188 attempts, averaging 151 yards per game. The o-line placed number two in the league for least sacks allowed, with only nine in total.
Third-year running back Franck Tchembe, the nucleus of this offense, was the number one in RSEQ rushing with 529 total yards, number six overall in total offensive players, as he was ranked fourth overall in all-purpose offensive players with 57 receiving yards to the season.
This drastic staff change allowed for a new culture to thrive within the team. Leadership, team bonding, healthy competition between players and self-analysis was emphasized during the campaign.
“Last summer, going into my second year, there were 10-12 guys regularly showing up and most guys were training by themselves. This year, we were thirty training together,” Brissault said.
According to the elected defensive All-Stars Nicolas Roy and Loïk Gagné, the new defensive coordinator Paul Eddy Saint-Vilien had a specific and effective vision for his group.
“This year, the coaches adapted to us,” said Roy, who originally started as a linebacker and played the season as a defensive end with 11.5 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. “We had the smallest D-line in the league, and we still managed to be one of the best in the entire league because of our speed, and having had a game plan for our strengths and weaknesses.”
For example, Gagné is about 25 lbs heavier than the average linebacker, which means keeping up with speedier players and guarding man-to-man isn’t his strong suit. Saint-Vilien was aware of this and made the appropriate changes to reduce his role in man-to-man plays. He finished the season in the top two tackle leaders with 36.5 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two recovered fumbles.
There were three important games in the regular season for the Stingers, the first being a tied favorite amongst the players: the away game played against the Vert et Or of Université de Sherbrooke. It was the second game of the season and the team’s hopes weren’t high, as they had been crushed at home by Université de Montréal’s Carabins.
The team was down by 21 points going into the second half. In the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, Maximuik converted his last extra point, sending the team to overtime at 24-24. He then outscored the opposing kicker on field goals, winning it 30-27 for the team in double-overtime. “That resilience that our team had to come back when we were losing […] for me was definitely a highlight,” he observed.
A switch was flipped that day. According to Gagné, the bench from that point had a less apprehensive approach to players making mistakes and more of a calming, level-headed, stoic approach. Roy also said the team discovered a new-found ability to ignite a second wind in the later stages of games, which their opponents didn’t counter across most matchups.
The final game of the season was the second team-favourite to remember, as the Stingers beat the ranked top-two Canadian overall Carabins in their home turf. Yet again, Maximuik displayed his abilities to perform under high-pressure circumstances. He scored 10 of Concordia’s 16 points, avenging their season-opening performance in the last second of the game with the winning field goal.
“I kind of got screenshots in my mind of seeing my target lining up, hearing the noise. I remember specifically being able to hear the crowd and how loud it was,” the kicker recalled. “Right before the snap, I smirked a little bit. I used that energy that I got from the crowd to just focus in a little bit more and from then it was kind of just a routine kick.”
The semi-final game against the Laval Rouge et Or was just as important, as the Stingers showed that the win was possible against the other dominant RSEQ team. Although their opponents laid the hurt in the first couple of quarters, the Stingers exploded in the last few minutes of the game. Gagné threw down 9.5 tackles and a sack throughout, Roy’s defense line held the opposition’s rushing success down to about a third of what the Stingers put up.
“Even the bench was on fire,” Brissault said, as he was sidelined due to an ankle injury. “At halftime, the coach said to not focus on what was on the board, more on what was on the field […] They’re not the Laval team I played in the first year.”
Unfortunately, Maximuik’s 41-yard field goal conversion was not enough to win the game. However, the progress made over the season was enough to satisfy the fans.
The loss of important players like Dawson Pierre, Ezechiel Tiede and Zachary Philion, all graduating this coming May, might affect the team to a certain point. However, almost all of the current players will be staying for next season and the stars all agree that the team’s display of grit and a winning record will attract major prospects entering the RSEQ. The team’s aim for the offseason is to stay as tightly-knit as they were on the field and to stay in shape.
All-in-all, the Stingers really wanted it this season and they showed real qualities of what a winning team looked like. With changes of that size, it’s clear that all the team needed was time to adapt. These All-Stars demonstrated that they will be the leaders of next year’s championship team.
