The Concordia Stingers football team has had a… tough start to the season.
With a bye-week, now’s a good a time as any to take a look at where the team stands so far this season.
Three games, three losses.
In week one, the Stingers showed up big against the UDEM Carabins, losing a tight game 10-3.
In week two against McGill, the Stingers couldn’t get a vital win. What could have been a chance to pick up a invaluable points for the team’s playoff hopes instead turned into a 40-14 blowout loss.
In week three, the Stingers played defending U Sports national champions, perennial powerhouses and straight up bullies in the Laval Rouge et Or. That game ended with the Stingers on the wrong side of a 41-6 result.
In the RSEQ division, wins against the Laval and UDEM are almost impossible to come by. Concordia last beat Montreal in a regular season game in 2008. Concordia hasn’t beaten Laval since 2003. Beating McGill and Sherbrooke is the key to making it past the regular season.
After splitting the series with McGill into two tight games last season, getting blown out by them stings.
Those have been the results of the games so far, with five games left (including one game apiece against Laval and Montreal), the Stingers still have a chance to make playoffs. It’s also important to note that Concordia has had to face Laval and Montreal in their first three games, two of the toughest teams in the country, let alone the division. The stats don’t look great, but it might be fairer to chalk up some of the team stats to a tough early schedule. It’s not far off to predict a lot of those stats will even out by the end of the year and the team finishing middle-of-the-pack/high in a number of offensive and defensive categories.
It seems like a good place to look at the team stats. After the end of Week 4, every team in the division has played at least three games. So far, the team ranked last in the RSEQ in: scoring offense, scoring defense, turnover margin (-5), rushing offense and defense, total defense, 1st downs allowed (67), sacks (2), sacks allowed (13), red zone offense (4/6) and red zone defense (8/8). On a more positive note, they are currently first in the division in pass offense.
New defensive and offensive coordinators Ed Philion and Alex Suprenant were given a tough gig to plan for Laval and Montreal so early in the season. With their upcoming game against Sherbrooke, the team has a chance to build some momentum.
In terms of individual performances, this season’s been a bit all over the place. Quarterback Adam Vance has thrown for 666 yards so far, completing 55 of 94 pass attempts for a 58.5 completion percentage, slightly above his 56.4 per cent completion rate from last season. But so far, no touchdown passes yet. He’s also thrown four interceptions. Tough to blame him, he’s been sacked 13 times in just three games, most of any quarterbacks in the division. And when he’s not getting sacked, he’s taking hits as soon as the ball leaves his hand.
For the receivers, this year has been one of growth. The loss of last year’s leading receiver Jarryd Taylor, and Vince Alessandrini not dressing for games yet has opened up roster spots and more receptions for other players. Fifth-year veteran James Tyrrell has stepped up into the #1 receiver role seamlessly. Through the first three games of the season, he has 18 receptions for 252 yards. Rookie Jeremy Murphy has 14 receptions for 177 yards. Fifth-year Sam Nadon has 10 receptions for 115 yards. Again, no touchdowns yet.
The run game hasn’t caught its stride yet. Against Laval, in a game where the rain made it difficult to pass the ball and the run game became vital, the team only managed 36 yards on 20 attempts. Glody Musangu has been the team’s first-string running back for the start of the season, collecting 111 yards on 32 attempts.
Defense has also struggled so far, but again, they played Laval and Montreal. There aren’t a lot of teams in the country who have shown to be able to slow them down besides each other. Zamaad Gambari leads the team in tackles with 16.5. He’s followed by defensive stalwarts Jersey Henry (13.5) and Sam Brodrique (13). Wael Nasri and Khadeem Pierre have also stepped up, with Nasri recording 7.5 tackles in a gutsy performance against Laval. The rushing defense had a difficult time so far, allowing 585 yards and five touchdowns so far. That’s 195 allowed run yards a game.
On special teams, kicker Andrew Stevens has continued to be reliable and is 5/7 on field goal attempts so far this season. Kick and punt returner Kevin Foster has arguably been the most dangerous player on the team so far, and he has the team’s only touchdown. On 14 punt returns, he has 190 yards, including that massive 74-yard touchdown run that earned him U Sports special teams Player-of-the-Week honours.
As the team prepares for their upcoming game against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, the Stingers are left in a difficult situation. They’re 0-3, last in the division, and their playoff hopes depend on them being able to win at least three games. At least one of those wins has to come against McGill in order to make up for their Week 2 loss. That playoff spot is still within reach.
The Stingers have had a tough start to the year, but their bye-week probably came at the perfect time. It offers a chance to regroup and focus on finishing the year strong.
As the second season of Brad Collinson’s tenure as head coach of the Concordia Stingers begins, a quick look at the team’s roster makes something extremely clear.
There are a lot of new faces on this squad.
The Stingers currently have 22 first-year players on their roster, with 13 more red-shirting. Three of those rookies are receivers.
If you’ve tuned in to the team’s first couple games this season, one of those rookies you’ve probably seen the most is receiver Jeremy Murphy. In the season opener, Murphy caught five passes for 95 yards. In week two against McGill, he caught seven passes for 58 yards. In week three, he added another 24 yards on two receptions. Murphy was last year’s RSEQ Division 3 Offensive Player of the Year thanks to an impressive season at Champlain College Saint-Lambert.
Alongside the first-year receiver are only two fifth-year ones on the team, James Tyrrell and Sam Nadon – both of whom have been relied on to provide on and off field leadership. Collinson spoke about the importance of building a culture of competition between younger and older players.
“Everybody is learning this year because it’s a brand new offense,” said Collinson. “We want to create competition, we want those young guys to learn from the veterans, and to have some of those young guys beat out those veterans [for roster spots].”
Murphy is joined by other first-year receivers like Tristan Mancini and Jean-Simon L’Italien. For Murphy and Mancini, who played together at Cégep, the chance to lean on the veterans around them has been invaluable.
“It’s pretty cool because these guys have been here a while,” said Murphy. “I’m next to (Tyrrell) on the field all the time, he knows what he’s doing and everything he’s taught me has helped me a lot.”
“There’s a vet on my left, there’s a vet on my right,” added Mancini. “As soon as I have a question, I can ask them.”
Tyrrell and Nadon have embraced their roles this year as leaders on the team. When I caught up with Tyrrell, Nadon, Murphy, and Mancini after practice before their match against Laval, the two fifth years were quick to praise their rookie receivers for their eagerness to be a part of the team and learn, including showing up for summer workouts before the season even started.
“It’s pretty cool that we have rookies that come in with talent and willingness to learn and get better,” said Tyrrell. “There’s an immediate trust on the field once the ice is broken off the field.”
“These guys are open-minded,” said Nadon. “When we tell them something, they listen. They’re two guys who fit in real good, real nice guys.”
On the field, the Stingers look to establish themselves as a contender in the RSEQ division alongside the usual powerhouses of Laval and UDEM. Off the field, Tyrrell and Nadon both talked about wanting to teach the younger guys to continue to be as open as possible.
“Be a sponge,” said Tyrrell. “For your first couple of years, it’s just about absorbing as much information as possible.”
As Murphy and Mancini continue to establish themselves on the team, the biggest thing they’ve learned is how much more skilled university game is compared to CEGEP.
“You gotta play with speed,” said Mancini, who caught his first U Sports pass in week three on a long 27-yard reception. “You can’t be hesitant anymore because everyone’s good here.”
“Everyone’s bigger and faster so you really can’t think twice,” added Murphy. “If you’re doing something, just go. Even if you’re messing up, you just have to go.”
The Concordia Stingers football team falls to 0-3 on the season after losing 41-3 to the Laval Rouge et Or in the 33rd annual Shrine Bowl.
“We shot ourselves in the foot there,” said head coach Brad Collinson after the game. “We missed assignments, we threw a pick…it’s unfortunate but we gotta regroup and we’re going to get better.”
The defending U Sports champs were quick to put points on the board against the Stingers. On the first drive of the game, Laval running back Vincent Breton-Robert ran 42 yards for a touchdown. Five minutes later, they added a field goal. Another five minutes later a bad snap resulted in a safety against the Stingers. They added a 27-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of the second quarter.
It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter that Concordia managed to get some points of their own to make the score 19-3. That would be as close as the Stingers would get, only adding another Andrew Stevens field goal in the fourth quarter.
At that point, the game was mostly out of reach for the Stingers. Then the rain started coming down at the start of the third quarter.
A field goal, a touchdown and a mix of safeties and the Canadian football classic rouge, and Laval took the win with a comfortable 35 point spread.
Despite the blowout, the Stingers did show some positives. They limited Laval to 13 points in the second half. Even as Laval extended the lead, the Stingers defence continued to tackle hard and pressure Rouge et Or quarterback Samuel Chenard. Rookie receiver Tristan Mancini got his first U Sports catch on a massive 27-yard grab
“Felt great to get the first one of the way,” Mancini wrote in an interview post-game. “Hopefully I can get some more and help the team win!”
Stingers QB Adam Vance was hit hard a number of times, but still managed to go 15-28-1 for 206 yards.
“We had a better second half,” said receiver James Tyrrell who caught five passes for 97 yards. “The game showed our character, that we’re never going to stop fighting and that’s a good trait to have as a team.”
The rain only got stronger as the passing game ironically dried up. Both teams handed the ball off at almost every opportunity. Laval’s running backs had a ton of success on the ground. Vincent Breton-Robert led way with 134 yards on 14 carries, with his teammate Joanik Masses adding another 114 yards on 18 carries. On the Stingers, the run game was less successful. Glody Musangu was only able to pick up 34 yards on seven attempts.
“We want to get to fundamentals,” noted Collinson. We’re a bit banged up right now, we’re going to go into our bye week and we’re going to be okay.”
Vance looked frustrated at times, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. A late hit in the second quarter forced backup Olivier Roy into the game. Roy was then pressured heavily on his first play, threw a weak pass that was tipped and then picked off.
As the rain finally started to let up as the game ended, the two teams shook hands and lined up for the Shrine Bowl trophy ceremony. Tyrrell and linebacker Wael Nasri were named the team’s game MVPs.
The Stingers have a bye week coming up, but are back in action on Sept. 21 at home against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or.
NOTES:
Can I just say that on a deeply personal level, I hate the rain? Cool.
One of the major changes that the Concordia Stingers football team made after last season was hiring former St-Jean Géants head coach, Alex Surprenant, as offensive coordinator.
Fast-forward to the present, and Surprenant now has two games under his belt as the Stingers offensive coordinator. Those games may not have gone the way the team would have liked, starting out with two losses, but Surprenant knows that this is a young team trying to rebuild their program.
Head coach Brad Collinson and Surprenant put an emphasis on recruiting fast and local players on the offensive side of the ball during the off-season to play in Surprenant’s Run-Pass option, or RPO, system.
“If you want to win [long term] it really depends on your recruiting class,” said Surprenant. “Coach Brad also put together a great coaching staff. The football world is a little community where everyone knows everyone and he surrounded me with a great staff.”
The RPO system is something relatively new to the Canadian football world. It’s a tough system to implement, as there are only three downs as opposed to the American game, where there are four downs where it’s a lot easier to use it in.
“The biggest adjustment is that it’s three downs here instead of four like in CEGEP,” Surprenant said. “But at the end of the day, it’s still football so it’s not that difficult to adapt.”
Stingers offensive coordinator Alex Surprenant was hired back in February 2019. Photo by Laurence BD
Another major change to the offence is that they also use a no-huddle system. That means that quarterback Adam Vance gets the signal from the sideline and yells it to the rest of the team from the line of scrimmage without going into a huddle. This allows the offence to move at a faster pace.
“My inspiration comes from the [Kansas City] Chiefs, [New England] Patriots, and the Oregon Ducks from back in the day,” said Surprenant. “Those offences are the best at getting to the line quickly and using their speed.”
The players aren’t the only ones excited about the new offence. Collinson says he was also very excited to see the system that Surprenant put into place during training camp.
“Any time you put in something new, you get excited and want to learn it,” said Collinson. “There’s a lot of diversity in what we’re doing too, like RPO and zone-read options. Alex ran a really good offence at the CEGEP level and we’re seeing some of it here.”
The first two games of the season proved to be tough ones for the offence for many different reasons. But that is to be expected with a young team trying to find its identity. However, these are not excuses for the coaching staff.
Against Les Carabins de l’Université de Montréal, there were multiple missed opportunities by the Stingers to advance the ball down the field due to penalties and dropped passes that would have extended the Stingers offence’s time on the field.
“If we played our best game and lost 10-3, we would have been happy,” said Surprenant. “But after watching film, we’re not happy. We had a lot of missed opportunities at the end of the game that would have given our team a way better chance at winning.”
Whatever the reason may be for the dropped passes in that game, the Stingers could revisit what worked well for them. They moved quickly in their no-huddle offence and kept the Carabins, a top three team in the country, on their heels for a lot of the game whenever they got into an offensive rhythm.
However, this past week against McGill, their game plan got away from them. It started off with a four play offensive drive that ended in an Andrew Stevens punt. McGill caught the Stingers flat footed on defense and drove 82 yards in just three plays and never looked back.
A big part of any offence is the offensive line. Vance and his running backs can only do their jobs if the offensive line gives them the time to make plays. In the first quarter, starting left tackle Damien Constantin went down with an injury and did not return.
For right-handed quarterbacks, such as Vance, the left tackle is the most important position on the line as that position protects the quarterback’s blindside.
“It’s tough to overcome,” said Vance after Friday’s loss. “We don’t have a lot of depth [at the position]. It’s a really big blow.”
The Stingers found a bit of a rhythm in the second half but not enough to mount a comeback, as it was too little too late.
“We came [to McGill] and thought they’d roll over, but last time I checked we haven’t won a game in something like 300 days so we can’t be thinking like that,” Vance said.
The Stingers still have six more games this season to right their wrongs and get the offence on track. It is hard to temper expectations after such a strong effort in their first game against the Carabins, but they are still a very young team with a lot to learn, according to Surprenant.
“Coach Brad told the guys, ‘we need to learn how to win. You’re not born a winner and nothing is given.’ It’s a hard process but we know we will get to where we want to be,” said Surprenant.
The Concordia Stingers drop their second game in a row, losing to McGill in the 51st Shaughnessy Cup by a score of 40-14.
McGill was led to victory off the backs of receiver Pearce Dumay, who made six catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, and running-back Donavan Martel who gained 135 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.
Adam Vance and the rest of the Stingers offence had a tough start to the game, throwing two interceptions and fumbling the ball in the first half.
“We came here with the wrong mindset,” said Vance, the Stingers’ quarterback. “We were really happy with the way we played last week [against Les Carabins] and thought McGill would just roll over.”
Starting left-tackle Damien Constantin went down in the first quarter with an injury that saw him sidelined for the rest of the game. Constantin is a big part of the Stingers offensive line and his injury was certainly felt by Vance, who was sacked five times in the game.
Here are three things we learned from the loss against McGill:
If the Concordia Stingers want to have any type of offensive success, it starts with the offensive line giving Vance time to get the ball down field. The Stingers offence had a lot of trouble getting any sort of production on the run, or through the air, in the first half against a McGill side that came out ready and determined. If one were to just look at the box score of the game, you’d think the blame would lie on Vance, who turned over the ball four times; twice by interception and twice by fumble. However, a lot of that blame falls on the offensive line. Vance spent the majority of the game under pressure, forcing him to take a handful of sacks, which forced some poor decisions from the fifth-year quarterback. A reason why this happened was Constantin going down early in the first quarter. The offence started to see more production in the second half, when Vance had more time in the pocket to go through his reads and allow his receivers to get down field.
On the other side of the ball, the defensive line has to be able to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. McGill’s gunslinger, Dimitrios Sinidinos, had loads of time to go through all his reads and find someone to complete passes to. McGill’s offensive line also had a very easy time creating large gaps for their running back, Donavan Martel, to tear apart the Stingers from the ground. Run stopping was a big issue of the Stingers’ last season and unless something changes, their defense will be spending a lot of time on the field again.
One major bright spot for the Stingers in the game was rookie running back and kick returner, Kevin Foster. Foster hasn’t had many touches with the offence so far this season, but has made the most of his opportunities. In the third quarter, Foster had a 74-yard kick return touchdown, where he made a couple of McGill defenders miss before breaking up the sideline for the beautiful return. Foster has a lot of speed and skill, and will surely become a big part of the Stingers’ offence in the future. Right now, however, he still needs to adjust to the physicality of U Sports football.
Quarterback Adam Vance threw three interceptions against the Carabins. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Concordia Stingers lost to Université de Montréal Carabins in the first game of the 2019-20 Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) university football calendar.
Both teams were looking to find their rhythm, but only one touchdown was scored and missed plays cost points for both teams.
Despite the loss, the Stingers finished the match with 266 yards gained, compared to 215 for the Carabins. The team also saw a touchdown called back in the second quarter because of a penalty. Stingers head coach Brad Collinson said his team needs to learn how to win those types of games.
“It doesn’t come easy, especially against a great team like the Carabins,” Collinson said. “They have a great defence, on paper the best in the country. We had a couple of costly penalties in the second half, but it’s a process.”
Collinson said his team wanted to show people they were not to be taken lightly.
“We saw [votings] for this week and everyone picked Montreal,” Collinson said. “We wanted to send the message today that we were there. We’re going to work hard every day and won’t skip a step.”
The Stingers’s offence was led by rookie receiver Jeremy Murphy, who gained 95 field yards in five receptions, including the longest reception of the match with 43 yards.
Murphy said he felt good in his first game with the Stingers, although he would’ve preferred to start the campaign with a win.
“We all know they’re a big team, but we’re not scared,” Murphy said. “They’re physical and that’s how they impose their [game style]. They adapted well and we had to do better. We’re just trying to play football like we’re supposed to do. Whoever comes up against us, we just try the best we can.”
The Stingers will play McGill on Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. at the Percival Molson Stadium.
Last season didn’t turn out the way the Concordia Stingers football team hoped it would.
Head coach Brad Collinson was hired last June to replace Mickey Donovan who left the school to join the Montreal Alouettes. With the season starting only two months later, Collinson barely had time to recruit players or effectively implement his system. The 2018-19 season saw the team finish 2-6, losing their last five games and at one point only managing five points over a three game stretch.
Despite this, last season showed some bright spots. Quarterback Adam Vance made some nice progressions under centre despite an overall difficult season. Maurice Simba delivered on his potential and developed into a top prospect, garnered interest on both sides of the border and was eventually picked 29th overall in the CFL draft by the Toronto Argonauts. Michael Sanelli was one of the division’s premier pass rushers, and was selected 39th overall by the Montreal Alouettes.
Going into his second season as head coach, Collinson is finally ready to make his mark on the program. He’s recruited 40 players for this season, with a focus on re-establishing Concordia as an option for top CEGEP players. Collinson also brought in a whole new cast of coaches, including hiring Alex Suprenant as offensive coordinator and former CFL teammate Ed Philion as defensive coordinator, both of whom are coaches with NFL and CFL experience.
Some of the other changes Collinson has made going into this season include introducing strength and conditioning for players during the off-season.
“It’s going to be different. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, but we are going to do things a little different,” said Collinson. “We met with some high performance people at Concordia to see what we can do differently in the way we practice, and we think we’ve come to a formula that could be beneficial and make us healthier come game day, and also be ready to perform at a high level.”
There are holes to fill, especially on both sides of the line, but Collinson will have a number of core players returning this year.
“It was fun to be able to pick my people and bring them in, and we’re fortunate to have this opportunity to start over,” Collinson told The Concordian. “It wasn’t easy, but it’s what needed to be done.”
This year, with new coaches, a full year to prepare and a number of talented veterans and young talent, Collinson is hoping to field a team that can challenge the usual order of power in the RSEQ division.
Players to watch
Vince Alessandrini
The Stingers’ receiving corp is going to look a little different this season. Jarryd Taylor, the team’s most targeted receiver last season, has left the Stingers to join the Langley Rams of the Canadian Junior Football League. This means that Vance will have to look elsewhere as his top receiver from last season leaves the program. Lucky for Vance, he’ll have plenty of high end options as receiver, including fourth year Vince Alessandrini. Last season, Alessandrini missed seven games with an injury. The absence of the 6’2 receiver allowed defenses to focus on covering the rest of the receiving corps that includes guys like James Tyrell, Taylor and Yanic Lessard. Now, fully healthy and ready to play, Alessandrini is ready to step back up and show why he was considered one of the division’s top receivers before his injury.
Alessandrini collected 36 catches for 474 yards and a touchdown in his last full season with the Stingers back in 2017. The way he’s able to change directions after a catch is a tool in his arsenal that can often turn shortcut back routes into long gains (in most of the clips you watch, Alessandrini actually does this on almost all of the short catches he makes).
Watch this catch here from a 2017 game. Alessandrini quickly cuts towards the middle back and causes two defenders to miss him completely. Without even having a chance to look upfield, Alessandrini gains control of the ball and shakes the linebacker covering him, as well as forces a missed tackle from the second defender by planting himself and taking off in the opposite direction. He then turns what could have just been a short six-yard gain into a first down right outside the red zone.
Adding to the impact he can have, Alessandrini also put in time as a blocker, often coming in from the slot to help the line with the pass protection. Alongside Nadon, Tyrrell, Salvail and the rest of the receiving corps, Alessandrini is likely to be given the chance to step up as the top target on this team.
“He’s a top receiver in this division,” said Collinson. “We have to make sure that we use him to his full potential.”
Adam Vance, QB
Vance didn’t have the best season among RSEQ QB’s, but he showed that he’s got the talent to make game-changing plays in clutch situations (see his game-winning corner touchdown pass to James Tyrell against Sherbrooke.)
For the positives, Vance was pretty accurate on a team that had difficulties scoring all of last year. Over eight games, he averaged 204 yards a game, completed 56 per cent of his passes (114/202) and rushed for 116 yards. Those all rank above-average in terms of RSEQ quarterbacks.
While Vance is probably better known for his arm and his ability to push the ball downfield, he was also given the chance to show off his vision last season.
In this play, Vance makes a solid adjustment after his first read is covered. He is looking to hit his running back in the flat but that pass got covered by the defending corner who is playing shallow. So instead, Vance shifts his read towards receiver Sam Nadon who is running a pick corner. Nadon breaks away from his defender and finds space going towards the corner of the endzone. Vance strings a perfectly placed pass to the corner past the double coverage, into the hands of Nadon for a touchdown that won the Stingers last year’s Shaughnessy Cup.
Vance finished second in the RSEQ in passing yards with 1635, trailing only Laval’s Hugo Richard. On the flip side, Vance only connected with his receivers for five touchdowns, second to last among RSEQ starters, while throwing a RSEQ-worst 10 interceptions. Are those stats indications of Vance’s vision, or were they systematic of an offense that couldn’t seem to finish off drives last year? Either way, he’ll be looking to improve his decision making and accuracy as he becomes one of the more experienced players on the team.
It’s a safe bet that the team’s new offensive coordinator will continue to focus on the pass, which means that Vance will have more opportunities than ever to showcase his arm – especially with a deep threat like Taylor as a target.
“He’s a fifth year guy, this could be it. It could be his last year playing football. He wants to prove to everyone that last year was just a hiccup in his career.” said Collinson. “He can throw the football, with a new offense. Starting fresh is only going to be helpful for him.”
Samuel Brodrique, LB
Brodrique has started every game since debuting with the Stingers in 2016, and he’s averaged 28 tackles a year over that span. In his fourth year, the Stingers will look to Brodrique to continue his consistent play down the middle, now as a veteran player looking to prove himself in his draft year. Recently selected to the U Sports East-West Bowl, the annual week-long event that’s a who’s-who of CFL draft eligible players, Brodrique has the chance to impress CFL scouts with another strong year.
“He’s an extremely bright football player,” said Collinson. “He’s maybe not the most athletic guy, but he makes up for it with his football IQ.”
Brodrique is a solid linebacker, with a nose for getting the right spots. Take this play from last season against McGill. The beginning of the play is a mess of players diving into the line on a full blitz. Brodrique jumps up and over the line to try to make the initial tackle on the quarterback (gets pretty close too). He then quickly gets up, snatches the fumble, and explodes down the field for a 70-yard touchdown.
Brodrique has the ability to maintain that steady presence down the middle, but is always on the edge waiting for the offence to make a mistake so that he can take advantage.
Jersey Henry, LB
Henry is coming off a solid individual season where he collected 41.5 tackles, finishing third in the RSEQ in that category. He joined fellow linebacker Brodrique at U Sports’ East-West Bowl earlier this summer as one of the country’s top prospects.
“He’s a quiet leader on the team,” said Collinson. “He lets his play do the talking, it’s almost kind of old-school. He’s a guy you build a program around, and he bought into what we’re doing here. He turned a lot of heads at the East-West Bowl.”
In his draft year, Henry seems poised to continue to pile on tackles and cause trouble for offenses. His best moments last year came when he used his decision-making and speed to split the line and rush the backfield, resulting in all kinds of chaos for opposing offenses. Look at this play where he breaks through the line without even being touched and reaches the running back immediately after the handoff.
Henry’s got a great eye, is an explosive tackler and rarely loses his man while looking through the line, often ending plays before they start. Add that to his ability to effectively shutdown receivers in man coverage when needed, and Henry is one of the most important players on the Stingers’ defense.
“When you’re in your fifth year, you’ve seen it all. The game slows down out there, and I’m hoping [Henry and Brodrique] can be the generals out there for us,” said Collinson.
5 Questions:
What’s next for Adam Vance?
Despite the results, Vance put up numbers that show the American QB could be about to take a big step forward in terms of production this year. Vance loves the deep pass, and he’s got the arm to sail the ball past defensive backs and safeties.
His completion rate was good at 56 per cent, and he racked up enough passing yards to finish second in the division in the category. That being said, Vance has a tendency to wait too long for his receivers to get open, and will too often try to force passes into tight coverage.
The receiving corps struggled to stay healthy last season, with key players like Vince Alessandrini (1 GP) and Yannick Lessard (5 GP) missing significant time. If Vance has healthy receivers and some more time in the pocket, it’s not far fetched to see him filling the QB void in the RSEQ left by Hugo Richard who’s now with the Alouettes.
Who will step up in the trenches?
After developing talented linemen over the past couple of seasons, the Stingers now find themselves missing key players on both sides of the line.
Offensive lineman Maurice Simba is gone, drafted by the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. Defensive linemen Michael Sanelli joins him in the CFL after being chosen by the Alouettes. Fellow defensive linemen Lukas Redguard was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the BC Lions before being released by the team in early June.
Those three were some of the most influential players on both sides of the line for the Stingers last season. With them moving on to the next level, Concordia will have to find new leaders in the trenches. New defensive coordinator Ed Philion played in the CFL and NFL as a defensive tackle, is a Grey Cup winner and was the defensive line coach with the Argonauts, Eskimos and Roughriders for the past six years. Count on lots of players getting reps on both sides of the ball as the team tries to find the right chemistry with a mix of veterans and young players. From a coaching standpoint, Philion has got the experience to help plug those holes.
For Collinson, the only way to see who will replace Simba, Sanelli and Redguard will be to see who steps up during training camp and in the early parts of the season. “It’s hard to fill those holes. We’re going to have to compete, make more substitutions, we’re gonna have to be fresh. I’m excited to see what these young guys can do.”
Who are the rookies to look for?
Around 40 recruits have been brought in by Collinson for this season. The class of highly touted CEGEP recruits is led by allstar running back Kevin Foster Verdier from Vanier College, who led Division 1 with 971 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 159 carries. Collinson described him as “electric, extremely fast, a good competitor.”
When Verdier’s commitment to Concordia was announced in November 2018, he said that he wanted to “shock the world” with the Stingers. For a coach who’s worked to establish his culture with the team through style of play, coaching changes, and heavy recruiting, those words from Verdier probably sound like music to Collinson’s ears.
Some of the other recruits for this year include quarterback Olivier Roy from Division 3 Cégep La Pocatière who threw for 1763 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions on 57 per cent passing. Collinson also recruited defensive backs Edwin Tawiah from Collège Valleyfield (“Smaller guy, but has a hard-nose for the football,” said Collinson.) and Louis-Philippe Leclerc from Cégep du Vieux Montréal. He also recruited the receiver duo of Jeremy Murphy and Tristan Mancini from Division 3 Champlain College Saint-Lambert, where they both racked up 527 and 524 receiving yards respectively. Murphy won the 2018 RSEQ Division 3 Offensive Player of the Year.
“We’re going to be young at certain positions,” said Collinson. “It’s exciting.”
How does the team reduce turnovers?
Concordia just couldn’t seem to hold on to the ball last season. They led the league in terms of turnover margin, with a -15. Vance fumbled four times, but he was also sacked 24 times, more times than any other QB in the division, so you can probably chalk those fumbles up to a lack of time in the pocket. That being said, no other team in the division held a negative turnover margin. If the Stingers want to reduce their turnovers, they’re going to have to give Vance as much time as possible. Unlucky bounces, dropped passes, and tipped balls were a part of the problem, but limited the number of times Vance has to rush a throw is sure to make an impact. Unless things really go wrong, don’t expect Concordia to turn the ball over nearly as often as they did last season.
Can they beat Laval?
The question on every RSEQ team’s mind, although predicting the answer isn’t easy. Laval goes into this season without previous star players quarterback Hugo Richard (Alouettes) and lineman Mathieu Betts (Chicago Bears, NFL). Regardless of who’s under centre or rushing the quarterback, there’s a reason head coach Glen Constantine’s squad just won another Vanier Cup, and that’s their unrelenting play and power to collect an obscene amount of high-end talent.
“There’s some big pieces that have left. That being said, there’s other pieces still around, some other pieces still coming up,” said Collinson. “Yeah, on paper we look at it as an opportunity to compete each and every week and I hope that we do, but we’re going to take it day-by-day. Whoever we’re playing that week, we’re going to compete at the highest level and see what happens. At the end of the year, our goal is to be in the playoffs.”
For Concordia to stand a chance, a lot of things need to go right. Vance needs to continue his development as a quarterback, the receiving corps headlined by Taylor, Tyrrell and Lessard will need to be stellar and the defense will have to make important stops after the departure of a couple key players. Wouldn’t hurt to have a bit of luck and a couple of favourable bounces either.
Final Thoughts
The 2019 season will be one of the most important in recent Stingers memory. Do they manage to bounce back and challenge for a spot at the top of the standings? To do so, there’s no doubt the team will have to improve, especially in the red zone, where they only converted on 52.9 per cent of their chances and allowed opponents to score on 86 per cent of their red zone opportunities.
If Collinson’s team can continue to develop, there are pieces in place that could at least start to shift the balance of power in the RSEQ. He’s done just about everything needed to complete a rebuild; Good recruiting and a new set of coaches with impressive pedigrees to accompany a strong class of veterans. If it comes together, the Stingers could emerge as a force in the RSEQ. If it doesn’t, another season caught behind the usual division powerhouses could be in store.
After the standard drills, scouts had made Simba perform drills made for offensive linemen. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.
Offensive lineman held pro day for scouts in Lachine
Maurice Simba has taken another step towards his dream of playing professional football. The Stingers’s offensive lineman held a pro day for NFL scouts at the Catalogna Soccerplexe in Lachine on March 12.
“Personally, I think I’m very satisfied the way the day went,” Simba said. “I can say I gave all I could, and I hope the scouts saw that and liked it. I’m looking forward to what will happen.”
Simba’s 6’8” frame is taller than the average NFL lineman. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.
Scouts from the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and New York Jets tested Simba through various drills. He bench pressed 25 reps of 225 pounds, had a 19-inch vertical jump, a broad jump of six feet, 11 inches, and ran his 40-yard dash in 5.99 seconds.
“For sure I would have liked to run a 4.4 [in the 40-yard dash] but it’s hard to do when you weigh 343 pounds; it’s just not realistic,” the six-foot-eight lineman jokingly told reporters. “As an athlete, you have to be great everyday, so that’s why I train. What I did today won’t change anything, and I’m just going to continue working hard.”
The lineman just finished his fourth season with the Stingers, and has been attracting scouts throughout the year. The CFL ranked Simba as the 18th-best Canadian prospect, and fifth-best offensive lineman in their September 2018 list. They ranked him 11th on their prospects list in December 2018 for the draft in May.
Scouts from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs attended several Stingers games this past season. In January, Simba played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in California alongside some of the best American prospects.
“I always keep my head down and I don’t take anything for granted,” Simba said. “The NFL is not granted for me, nothing is set that I’m going to play in the NFL […]. Any opportunity I have, whether it be in the CFL or NFL, I’m just grateful to be here.”
Simba’s journey to become a football player is quite impressive. Born in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Simba moved to Quebec at 18 years old to rejoin his mother, who left home when he was three. The 24-year-old barely knew what American football was when he came here, but has been playing for six years.
“I’m very lucky for what’s happened in my life the past couple of years,” Simba said. “This [pro day] is a way for me to say thank you to Concordia University and to the city of Montreal for giving me these opportunities. For an immigrant like me who arrived [six] years ago, to get these chances, it really means a lot.”
Simba normally played left tackle this season, but admits he would be able to play anywhere along the offensive line if asked. The scouts had him do drills for both the left and right tackle positions.
“Right now, I want to play everywhere. If you pay me, I can play centre,” Simba added. “I’m too broke right now; I just want to help my mom. But honestly, I just want to show scouts [that] if they give me a chance, I’ll show them I can play, whether at guard or tackle.”
Simba will attend the CFL national combine in Toronto from March 22 to 24. The NFL draft is on April 25, while the CFL has theirs on May 2. “If I get drafted [in the NFL], thank God,” Simba said. “But in my head right now, to not be disappointed, if I don’t get drafted, I just want to an invitation to a rookie mini-camp to prove what I can do. If the coach tells me no, I’m still a Canadian citizen and I can play in the CFL.”
Simba ran the shuttle run drill in 5.76 seconds. Photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.
Simba trying to follow Canadian lineman
A scout from the Kansas City Chiefs visited Montreal in the fall, and that team isn’t shy about drafting Canadian linemen. They drafted Laurent Duvernay-Tardif in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, where he’s been their starting guard since the 2015 season. Duvernay-Tardif is one of 12 Canadians who played in the NFL last season.
“He’s one of the most impressive guys I’ve ever seen,” said Simba about Duvernay-Tardif. “He really taught me humility. I met with him last year and the first thing he told me was thanks to my size, I have a shot.”
Simba said Duvernay-Tardif taught him what it takes to play in the NFL. “Even when scouts came to watch me last season, he told me, ‘Play your game as if they weren’t there,’” Simba said. “He’s a good mentor for me, and I have a lot of respect for him.”
Simba also said he would like to see more Canadians and U Sports players get a shot in the NFL, but they need more visibility first. “My goal is to give chances to other guys that the scouts could see,” Simba said. “Yeah, this year it was [me], but hopefully next year they will be back.”
Jérome Bédard Guillemette wants to continue funding research for breast cancer
Before the haircut.
When Jérome Bédard Guillemette first joined the Concordia Stingers football team in 2015, he knew he wanted to raise money for some sort of cause. When his best friend’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, he finally knew what that cause would be.
“That shook me to the point where I started thinking about my mother, my sister, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend’s mother,” Bédard Guillemette said. “I said, ‘I don’t want anybody to lose a woman they love to breast cancer.’”
His friend’s mother beat the cancer and is currently in remission. On Feb. 9, the fourth-year defensive lineman donated his hair to Locks of Love in hopes of raising at least $1,500 for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. The Stingers women’s hockey team were hosting their first-ever Pink in the Rink event, and Bédard Guillemette cut his hair after the team beat the Montréal Carabins 3-1 at the Ed Meagher Arena.
“I’m really proud of our girls and what they did for Pink in the Rink,” said head coach Julie Chu. The players had a bake sale the day before during a men’s game. “Every one of us has someone [affected by cancer]; unfortunately that’s how it is. But we want to find the cure and hopefully little things like this help us.”
After the haircut.
Bédard Guillemette grew his hair and beard throughout his four years at Concordia, only trimming to keep it maintained. He doesn’t know if he will grow his hair out as long as it was again.
“It takes a lot of time and dedication to grow [hair] and keep it clean to donate,” Bédard Guillemette said. “For sure I’m going to donate money again, but it’s something we have to keep on doing because we’re never going to stop research.”
Having seen what his friend’s mother went through with breast cancer, Bédard Guillemette wants to let others know they’re not alone.
“People are trying to do their best to raise money for research,” he said. “You have to keep on fighting because it’s a hard and long fight.”
Joel Slavik just finished his second season playing for the Stingers football team. Photo by Kyran Thicke / Concordia Stingers.
Receiver wants to continue the conversation about mental illnesses
The Concordia Stingers hosted their annual Bell Let’s Talk game when the men’s hockey team played the Queen’s Gaels on Jan. 18.
In past seasons, Stingers men’s hockey team captain Philippe Hudon has made his struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder public. He’s been the Stingers’s ambassador for the Bell Let’s Talk campaign in the past, and has seen his teammates open up.
Though an arena might not be the most common place to have a conversation about mental health, Hudon has seen people opening up. “Not in my locker room,” said Hudon when asked if there’s still a stigma. “I think we’re pretty open about it. No matter the sport, I think it’s becoming more normal in a sense.”
This year, Joel Slavik, a slotback on the football team, opened up on social media with his own personal story. He lost a friend to suicide last March, and wanted to share his friend’s story.
“It’s the first Bell Let’s Talk day since he passed, and I just wanted to bring a little bit more awareness to the issue itself,” Slavik said. “I found the best way with dealing with it is just to talk about it, and bring it to light.”
After Slavik lost his friend, he started asking a lot of questions about mental illness to better understand what his friend went through. “How I dealt with it was talking to his family, and his brother reached out too,” Slavik added.
“When someone is dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts, it’s really easy [for them] to think that their problems [are] the end of the world, and will never get better,” Slavik said. “But I would just let them know it’s just a rough patch and won’t be something they will be going through for the rest of their life. It’s something I wish I could have told [my friend] at the time, but not many people knew about it.”
Bell Let’s Talk aims to end the stigma around mental illness and encourage conversations surrounding it. Clara Hughes, a former Summer and Winter Olympian, battled depression and helped start Bell Let’s Talk in 2010. Since then, more athletes have become involved in the campaign, including former Montreal Alouettes safety Étienne Boulay and Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock.
“With sports, there’s the whole, ‘Get over it, next-play’ mentality, which is great in sports,” Slavik said. “Overall, when something that significant happens, it’s really important to see how it affects you and how it affects others, instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.”
Slavik wants to see people be more open to sharing, but he wants to see it throughout the whole year, not just on Bell Let’s Talk day. “If you’re feeling this kind of way, there are resources and there are people who want you to talk about it and be vocal,” Slavik said.
After Slavik’s video was published on social media, he received support from friends in his hometown of Calgary, and from other Stingers athletes. “I just wanted to do it for [my friend] and just to prevent it from happening in the future,” Slavik said.
Bell Let’s Talk day is Jan. 30, and Concordia students struggling with their own mental health and wellness can visit the counselling services offered by the school, or call Concordia Students’ Nightline.
The men’s rugby team led all fall teams with the most all-star players. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Men’s rugby highlights individual accolades by Concordia athletes
The 2018 fall varsity season is coming to an end, and Concordia saw its athletes in football, soccer, and rugby represent the Stingers with pride. Some teams did better than others, while some athletes were recognized for their stellar performances. Here’s a breakdown of all the Stingers all-stars winners and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) award-winners for the fall season.
Men’s rugby
Being the only Stingers team to win their championship this fall season, it’s no surprise the men’s rugby team have the most all-stars. Out of the 14 first-team all-stars, seven are Stingers: Stephen Martinez, Julian Alexander, Charles Debove, Thomas Goetz, Jackson Marquardt, Eliott Goussanou, and Lucas Hotton. Surprisingly, none of these players won any of the individual awards.
On the second all-star team, Dylan MacDonald, Michael Laplaine-Pereira, Jérome Lévesque, and Jonathan Banks represent the Stingers.
After winning their second-straight RSEQ championship, the Stingers finished fourth at nationals in Victoria, B.C.
Women’s rugby
Under new head coach Jocelyn Barrieau, the Stingers just missed the playoffs with a 2-5 record. The women’s rugby team was young—out of 28 players on the team, 21 were in their first or second year, with only two fifth-years.
Despite the amount of younger players, fourth-year veteran back Lia Hoyte was the Stingers’s sole representative on the first all-star team. Two of the other team’s backs, second-year Shawna Brayton and first-year Jasmine Baxter, were on the second all-star team.
Football
Like the women’s rugby team, the Stingers football team had a new head coach this season. Brad Collinson faced plenty of challenges, as the team went 2-6, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The football team had two stars shining bright this season. Offensive lineman Maurice Simba and wide receiver Jarryd Taylor both made the first all-star team. Simba is draft-eligible for both the NFL and CFL, and will be one of the first players from a Canadian university to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in January. Taylor led the league in receiving with 527 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns.
Assistant coach Peter Regimbald, who was in his 50th and final season with the Stingers, also won the RSEQ’s assistant coach of the year award. He has been with the team since they were still known as the Loyola Warriors.
Women’s soccer midfielder Chama Sedki made the RSEQ second all-star team. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Women’s soccer
Following the theme of new coaches, the women’s soccer team, in their first season under Greg Sutton, finished with a 4-9-1 record, 13 points out of a playoff spot. Regardless, it’s tied for the most wins they’ve had in a season since 2013.
Even though forward Sarah Humes and defender Claudia Asselin finished tied ninth in league scoring with five goals each, only midfielder Chama Sedki made the second all-star team. Sedki played in 12 games, scoring three goals and adding three assists.
Men’s soccer
On the men’s side, the Stingers had their worst season since 2014, finishing with a 1-10-1 record. It’s at least one win better than their winless season four years ago. Forward Yazid Dawiss led the team with two goals, while eight other players had one goal each. No players made the RSEQ all-star teams.
The Stingers’s most successful football season was in 1998 when they played in the Vanier Cup. Archive photo by Pascale Dion.
Twenty years later, players recall the journey to the Vanier Cup
The 1998 Concordia Stingers football team made history, being the only team from Concordia to play in the Vanier Cup, the national championship game for Canadian university football. They ended up losing that game 24-17 against the Saskatchewan Huskies, at the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
Pat Sheahan, who is the current head coach of the Queen’s Gaels, became head coach of the Stingers in 1989, winning the Dunsmore Cup with them in 1993. After that title, he had a whole new recruiting class by 1998.
Players from the 1998 squad remember how they came together as a team throughout the season. Archive photo courtesy of Concordia Athletics.
Out of 66 total players on the team, 33 were from Ontario, 32 from Quebec, and one from British Columbia. But for Montrealer cornerback Sean Gordon, who was playing his second season with the team in 1998, this many cross-national players created a divide in the locker room.
“The years before, there were a lot of factions in the locker room, basically we had two locker rooms: offence and defence,” Gordon said. “But the 1998 team broke down the locker room. There weren’t any factions, no little groups and everyone was together.”
Sheahan said most of those players came together in 1995, and suffered through a 2-6 season in 1996, but developed well as a unit. “A terrific group [of players]; they really came together, bonded together and became a team,” Sheahan said. “It was so gratifying to see.”
By 1997, the Stingers improved to a 5-3 record, losing the semi-final in the dying moments against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. But Sheahan said he really started to notice how good the team became by the end of that year. “I think what the guys learned in 1997 is that they were pretty good,” said Sheahan. “In 1998, it just all came together; they were a year older and a year wiser, and they really played well.”
Rocky start
The 1998 Concordia Stingers didn’t start the season how they would have liked. Before their first game against Queen’s, and on the way from their motel to the Richardson Memorial Stadium in Kingston, Ont., their bus broke down.
“As people were driving by, our guys were sitting on the side of the highway on their equipment bags waiting for another bus to pick us up,” Sheahan said.
The Stingers had a rushed warm-up and started the game nearly an hour late, eventually losing 32-11, but Gordon said it was a season-defining moment, bringing the players together.
Concordia beat the Carleton Ravens 19-7 in the home-opener a week later, but lost 9-4 to cross-town rivals the McGill Redmen after that.
“I gathered the team after the McGill game and I hauled them in and said: ‘Look guys, there are going to be some good things happening to us this year,’” Sheahan said. “The reason why is because we were getting great defence and great special teams. It was only a matter of time before the offence started clicking.”
Wide receiver Sylvain Girard, who was in his fourth and final year, doesn’t remember the exact turning point for the team. “At one point, we just decided that’s it. [If we] keep going the way we’re going, obviously something isn’t working,” Girard said. “At one point we just started playing together, and the offence started clicking.”
Setting records
The Stingers had a bye week after their game against Laval, although they did play the State University of New York Canton Kangaroos in a non-conference game, and lost 23-6. But on Oct. 3, 1998, in a home game against the Université de Laval Rouge et Or, the Stingers’s offence exploded for a 45-32 win. Girard caught six passes that day, five of them touchdowns, which remains tied as a U Sports record for most touchdown catches in a game. It also happened to be his 23rd birthday.
The Concordian’s sports section after Sylvain Girard caught five touchdown passes on his 23rd birthday.
Defensive coordinator Paul Chesser said that win gave them confidence moving forward, as they won their next four games to finish the regular season. “A little success goes a long way and people start to believe,” Chesser said. “The leadership of the team really dictated the camaraderie in the locker room.”
Girard went on to set many Concordia records that season. In 1998, he set the school record for most touchdowns in a season, with nine. His 22 career TDs in maroon-and-gold is the second-most in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) history.
The Montreal Alouettes drafted Girard fifth overall in the 1999 CFL draft, and he played with them until 2006, winning a Grey Cup in 2002.
“The defences we were playing against were so worried about our running game, they had to put extra attention to it,” said Girard, crediting his Stingers teammates for his success. The team’s running backs, Evan Davis Jr., Scott Ashworth, and Richard Gaboton, along with quarterback Sean Hoas, all had over 250 yards of rushing that season. “They had to put extra attention to [the running game] so whenever we decided to pass, it made so much more room for me and the other receivers,” he added.
Ring of Fire
After every win in 1998, Girard remembers the whole team singing along to “The Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash in the locker room. “Every time I hear that song, it brings me back to the 1998 season,” Girard said. “With experience now, I’ve come to realize every good team has something to bond over, and for us part of it was that stupid song.”
“It was a really diverse group coming from all sorts of backgrounds,” Chesser said. “[Ring of Fire] was the one song that could take this whole diverse group and unite them.”
For Girard, this tradition added to his fun experience at Concordia. “They’re the reason why I played football for so long, because they made it fun,” Girard said. “They’re the reason why I’m still coaching today.”
“I came here in 1995. I didn’t speak a word of English, didn’t know anybody, and didn’t know what I was doing,” Girard added. “But then they made me appreciate everything here, and the coaches made a football player out of me.”
Gordon said that, because of the team’s camaraderie, they wanted to play for each other.
“We had good communication, so if somebody got out of place, you backed him up,” Gordon said. “We were all on the same page.”
The Dark Bowl
The Stingers ended up finishing first in the division and beat the Bishop’s Gaiters 27-17 in the semi-final. On Nov. 14, 1998, they hosted the Dunsmore Cup against the Laval Rouge et Or. The game kicked off at 2 p.m. at the Concordia Stadium, where lights had not yet been installed.
Ashworth scored a one-yard rushing touchdown less than three minutes into the game to give the Stingers a 7-0 lead. On the other side, Rouge et Or quarterback Dominik Goulet had left Concordia to go to Laval, so Chesser knew how to play defence against him.
“We knew he wasn’t particularly mobile but he was a precision passer, so we played the whole game with six defensive backs [as opposed to five],” Chesser said. “They weren’t going to beat us running; they had to beat us throwing the ball, so we put an extra person in coverage and it made a huge difference.”
Gordon said this meant, as a defensive back, he had to play man-to-man coverage, and couldn’t let his wide receiver get away from him. “They had confidence in our defence, so we just blitzed all game,” he said.
Coverage of the two-day Dunsmore Cup in The Concordian on Nov. 18, 1998.
The Rouge et Or slowly climbed back into the game with three-straight field goals and a punt single, to hold a 10-7 advantage in the third quarter.
“They gave us all we could handle that day, there was no question about that,” Sheahan said.
Girard said his memory of the game isn’t the best, and didn’t realize how close the game actually was. He made a catch late in the fourth quarter to set Dave Miller-Johnston up for a field goal, which tied the game and sent it into a scoreless overtime. According to historical data, civil twilight ended just before 5 p.m., but the game continued in the darkness.
“At the end of the overtime period, it was dangerously dark,” Chesser said. “We had turned on the practice-field lights, so we got a little bit of light, but I was standing on the sideline and could not see the other side of the field.”
That’s when Sheahan met with Laval head coach Jacques Chapdelaine, late Stingers athletic director Harry Zarins, and officials to discuss what to do next. The officials didn’t want to play on the practice field, because it didn’t have football lines, and they had to decide quickly, because the winning team had to play in Halifax the following Saturday.
“We just came to the agreement that we would have to play [the next day],” Sheahan said. “We played two 10-minute halves and determined the winner that way.”
The players had to recover in time to play 20 minutes of football, and Concordia had the advantage of being at home and using their facilities. “The game finished and it was a numb feeling,” Gordon said. “When I got home, my mom said, ‘They didn’t beat you that day, they’re not going to beat you tomorrow.’”
That night, Chesser invited the defensive coaches over for pizza to discuss strategy for day two. They weren’t allowed to review game film, but watched the highlights on TV, as the game was nationally-televised. During the game, Chesser sent a defensive back blitzing on the quarterback’s weak side, but by the end of the game, the Rouge et Or adjusted and gave more protection.
“So a light bulb went on in my head and I thought if they were going to slide protection to the weak side the following day, we’ll blitz on the strong side,” Chesser said. On the game-winning play, defensive tackle Jeff Anderson sacked Goulet, forcing a fumble, which linebacker Jason Casey scooped up to score a touchdown. “Those adjustments that we made over pizza at my house were pivotal,” Chesser said.
Just short
The Stingers beat the Acadia Axemen 25-24 a week later in the Atlantic Bowl. They went to Toronto for the Vanier Cup, carrying the school’s colours with pride.
Defensive coordinator Paul Chesser believes if they played the Vanier Cup again, they would win it.
“To see the Concordia flag waved at the Skydome, to see all the Concordia fans there and how the city was behind us, it was a golden moment in my footballing scrapbook,” Sheahan said.
“I don’t have any regrets from that year, none, zero,” Girard said. “Except, of course, we should have won that last game.”
With the current edition of the Stingers football team not doing well, Gordon would like to see a team eventually do better than that 1998 team. “It’s nice be up there, and we’re the bar, but I would like to see a team jump over the bar and bring a championship to Concordia.”
Chesser jokingly said that, when the team got together for the Hall of Fame induction, they still weren’t over the Vanier Cup loss.
“Georges Vanier was the valedictorian for the class in 1906 at Loyola College, and the Vanier Cup is named after him,” Chesser said. “Sometime, we have to bring his trophy home.”
