Tag: football

Concordia’s injury-plagued squad was outplayed from start to finish against Montréal

On Saturday, Oct. 11, the Concordia Stingers hosted the Montréal Carabins in the battle for second place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division. The Stingers were hoping to rebound after they lost to the Laval Rouge et Or last weekend, but unfortunately the Stingers were outplayed by the Carabins, losing 36-3.

The team was missing nine starters who were out due to injuries they suffered in last week’s loss. The list included Stingers starting quarterback Francois Dessureault and wide receiver Jamal Henry.

The first quarter started slow for both teams as neither team could capitalize on their early drives. The Carabins would score first on a 75-yard punt return by Montréal wide receiver Mikhail Davidson. Davidson would extend their lead and score another touchdown shortly after, this time on a 42-yard reception from quarterback Gabriel Cousineau. Cousineau picked apart the Stingers’ defense all afternoon, as he went 23 for 27 on passing attempts that included two touchdowns and 300 yards through the air.

While Concordia continued to sputter early and often, the Carabins would extend their lead 20-0 thanks to a two-yard touchdown rush by Montréal running back Sean Thomas-Erlington. Down 20-0 by the end of the first quarter, the home crowd was stunned.

Concordia would finish their first drive of the second quarter with a 46-yard field goal by kicker Keegan Treloar. Unfortunately, the three points would be Concordia’s only points of the game.

The Carabins would quickly add another touchdown to their total, as Cousineau would connect with wide receiver Regis Cibasu for 46-yard touchdown. Montréal entered halftime with a commanding 27-3 lead over the home team.

The Carabins got the first points of the second half and continued their onslaught with a 41-yard field goal by kicker, Louis-Philippe Simoneau. On the offense, the Stingers made a switch at quarterback as Colin Sequeira was benched in favor of backup quarterback Mario Porreca. Sequeira ended his day with seven completions out 14 attempts, 68 passing yards and two interceptions. Porreca went two out of five and had 32 passing yards.

The Carabins continued to control the game in the fourth quarter recording a safety, capping off the Stingers’ offensive struggles. The next series, the Carabins added three more points to scoreboard when Simoneau made an 18-yard chip shot. The Stingers defense limited the Carabins to nine points in the second half.

The injuries on offence proved to be too much to overcome for the home team, as they could not get any momentum or consistency on offence.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes and you can’t have that against a tough opponent like Montréal,” said Concordia’s head coach Mickey Donovan. “We faced the best of the best in the conference in back-to-back weeks.”

At the end of the day, Stingers defensive back Kris Robertson appropriately summed up the disappointing day.

“They outplayed us. I have to admit that and they just won,” said Robertson.

Concordia travelled to Quebec City but came up short against Laval

With 13,334 fans on hand at a packed PEPS sports complex on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City, the undefeated Concordia Stingers took on the top-ranked team in Canada, the Laval Rouge et Or. In a battle for national recognition and first place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division, Concordia’s magical winning streak came to an end, losing 32-16.

The Rouge et Or opened the game trying to establish a dominant running game.

“We know Laval has a big offensive line, so they like to run a lot. They’ve run all over other teams, so our main goal going in was to stop the run,” said Mikael Charland, Concordia’s defensive leader and free safety.

The Rouge et Or running game was shut down in the early stages thanks to a masterful performance by the Stingers’ defensive unit. Concordia kept Laval to a pedestrian 35 yards on the ground in the first quarter. The Rouge et Or have averaged well over 300 yards rushing per game this season.

On the offensive side, the Stingers failed to get anything going in the first quarter. It did not help that the Stingers lost key playmakers like receiver Jamal Henry to an apparent upper body injury, and starting quarterback François Dessureault early in the game. Already without freshman sensation running back Gunner Tatum heading into the game, the Stingers quickly found themselves down 7-0 on a goal line touchdown from Rouge et Or quarterback Hugo Richard.

The Stingers’ makeshift offence, featuring rookie quarterback Colin Sequeira and backup running back Olivier Dupont, struggled to muster up positive yardage against the menacing Rouge et Or defensive front. However, despite being thrown into the fire, the freshman quarterback managed to move the chains as best as he could.

“At first I was flustered [with] all these emotions going against Laval, but all the guys were behind me,” said Sequeira.

Against such a strong opposing defence, Concordia was unable to sustain long drives down the field. As a result, the Stingers’ defence was on the field for the majority of the play. The Rouge et Or took advantage of Concordia’s fatigued defence and moved the ball down the field from their own 25-yard line, capping off the 85-yard drive on a rush by Richard, his second of the game. After conceding a safety, the Stingers went into halftime down 16-0.

Despite being down entering the second half, Sequeira and the Stingers tried to battle their way back into the game. Unfortunately, after an interception by Laval defensive back Alex Hovington deep in Concordia’s territory that led to a touchdown, the game was quickly slipping out of reach for Concordia.

Although the Stingers found themselves facing a 25-0 deficit early in the third quarter, Concordia’s defence continued to play hard. The Stingers forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Dane Steele. The turnover led to Concordia’s first points of the game, a 30-yard field goal by Keegan Treloar. However, on Laval’s ensuing possession, a costly pass interference call on the Stingers set up another easy goal line touchdown. Maxime Boutin would punch it in from a couple yards out, extending Laval’s lead by 32-3.

The Stingers’ tenacity led to a one-yard touchdown run by Sequeira with three minutes left in the game, putting the Stingers on the board with their first touchdown of the afternoon and making the score 32-10.

After a perfectly executed onside kick that was recovered by Charland, the Stingers were set up at Laval’s five-yard line. Sequeira hooked up with receiver Shayne Stinson for a touchdown pass in the dying moments of the game, making the score 32-16.

It was simply too little, too late for the Stingers. The Rouge et Or sent the crowd home happy as they remain undefeated and handed Concordia their first loss of the season.

“For us it’s just executing, there’s a lot of things we can fix,” said Stingers head coach Mickey Donovan. “We have to be able to score, and we will.”

Despite the loss, the Stingers remain positive and look to bounce back next week at home against the Université de Montréal on Saturday Oct. 11.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the McGill Redmen and Concordia Stingers battled until the bitter end for the 27th annual Shrine Bowl. After a back-and-forth afternoon, the Redmen won 53-52 in overtime, handing the Stingers a heartbreaking loss.

The opening quarter was all about field position and special teams as neither Concordia nor McGill found their way into the endzone. McGill’s kicker Samy Rassy made two out of his four field goal attempts in the first quarter to give the Redmen a 6-3 lead. Concordia’s kicker Keegan Treloar put the Stingers on the board with an impressive 50-yard field goal. Treloar had a good game going three for three, making two more long field goals from 44 and 48 yards.

Concordia scored the first touchdown of the game when Stingers’ quarterback Francois Dessureault punched in a one-yard run. Dessureault replaced starting quarterback Reid Quest midway through the first quarter after Quest threw an interception. Dessureault would end the game with 309 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Concordia would score another touchdown in the second quarter thanks to a seven-yard run by running back Kevin Wade. Going into halftime, the Stingers defense held the Redmen without a touchdown and helped the Stingers secure a 20-12 lead. Although it seemed like a defensive battle, the game was about to be blown wide open.

After McGill surrendered a safety to start the second half, Concordia scored 12 unanswered points and led 32-12. Halfway through the third quarter, it seemed as if the Stingers were going to cruise to their first win of the season but the Redmen had other plans.

McGill scored 24 unanswered points of their own and with 10 minutes left in the game, the Redmen were up 36-32. For the rest of the game, both McGill and Concordia’s offenses exchanged blows. With just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Dessureault marched the Concordia offense down the field. The late drive was capped off by a third down completion to wide receiver Shayne Stinson for an eight-yard touchdown. With 1:14 left in the game, Concordia was up 46-43. However, McGill stormed back with an 11-play, 60-yard drive and Rassy hit a game-tying field goal with no time left on the clock.

In overtime, McGill received the ball first on Concordia’s 35-yard line. They marched the ball into the Stingers end zone and ended their drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Luis Guimont-Mota. Needing a touchdown and an extra point to tie, Dessureault once again drove the Stingers offense into the end zone.

That’s when tragedy struck. On the extra-point attempt, the snap was fumbled and Concordia could not get the kick off. The game ended 53-52.

“Both teams played hard obviously and it’s always a great rivalry, I’d rather see the game won on a big play than have it end that way,” said Stingers’ head coach Gerry McGrath, “That was unfortunate but that’s why we play the game.”

After the game, awards were handed out to players from each team. Concordia’s MVP was defensive tackle Quinn Smith and Mikael Charland won the outstanding defensive player award, Dessureault won the outstanding offensive player award.

The Concordia Stingers started their 2013-2014 season in a losing fashion with a lopsided 48-3 defeat to the Montreal Carabins in their home opener on Saturday.

The Carabins opened up the scoring after the Stingers allowed a safety around the sixth minute mark in the first quarter, shortly after Concordia quarterback Reid Quest fumbled the ball.

The Carabins took a 9-0 lead when Antoine Pruneau scored a touchdown on an 89-yard kickoff return at 5:29 of the first.

The Stingers couldn’t muster many points in the first quarter. Slotback Alexandre Hébert’s didn’t complete a pass, keeping Concordia off the board with 2:30 left.

Pruneau almost gave his team a 16-0 lead about 12 minutes into the second quarter, but a penalty cancelled the touchdown.

Soon after, running back Rotrand Sené was sent on a 58-yard run, but what seemed to be a leg injury to offensive lineman, Simon Légaré, caused a lengthy delay. After trainers examined him for a couple of minutes, he was taken off on a stretcher.

Quickly after play resumed, Sené scored a touchdown on the Stingers’ eight-yard line, giving the Carabins a 16-0 lead.

Things heated up after Stingers slotback Jamal Henry got pushed on a kick return play and a mini-brawl ensued between the 20 and 30 yard line, causing several penalties for both sides.

The Stingers gave up another safety with 8:40 left in the second, and went down 18-0. The Carabins widened their lead less than two minutes later with another touchdown, making it 25-0 for Montreal.

Concordia once again failed to score a point in the second quarter, and ended the half with a horse collar penalty, costing them 15 yards.

After sending receiver Mikhail Davidson on a 40-yard run two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, quarterback Pierre-Luc Varhegyi carried the ball over the touchdown line from the one-yard line, giving the Carabins a commanding 32-0 lead.

The Stingers finally got on the board with a field goal by Keegan Treloar at around the 30-yard line with 6:18 left.

By the start of the fourth quarter, the game was out of reach for the Stingers. Just over six minutes into the final frame, receiver Sean Thomas-Erlington sealed the deal for the Carabins with his touchdown, which put his team up 40-3.

After missing a 29-yard field goal attempt with 4:58 minutes left in the fourth quarter, running back Manuel Crisi-Lauzon scored the Carabins final touchdown with 2:36 left in the game.

Despite the loss, Stingers’ linebacker Max Caron and head coach Gerry McGrath said they liked what they saw from the rookies in their first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) game.

“I’m happy with the way the kids played,” McGrath said, on the Stingers’ website. “They played hard until the end and never quit.”

“Obviously, when you lose a game like that, it’s tough, and there’s a lot that didn’t go our way today, but with a lot of guys starting in their first CIS game, [and] there were definitely a lot of good things to take away from this one,” Caron said. “There was a lot of guys who went out, it was their first CIS experience, they missed a couple of plays, but those are the things we’re going to correct. We just got to work them out and become a better team each week. It’s the first game of the season, and you’re going to have a lot of mistakes, you just got to shore up those mental mistakes and play better next week.”

Three of the Concordia Stingers top players were showing off their athletic abilities to potential employers last week as the Canadian

Football League held their national and regional combines across the country. The combine represents an opportunity for scouts and executives to get a better feel for the person behind the player through face-to-face interaction and interviews, while also assessing the player’s overall athletic ability.

Defensive back and return-man Kris Robertson made his mark at the CFL National Combine, clocking the fastest 40-yard dash (which measures for speed, acceleration and agility), vertical jump and broad jump (which measures primarily for lower-body explosiveness).

“The experience was a great one, I’ve envisioned this since the day I walked into Concordia University,” said Robertson. “I personally think I could have done better in my physical testing performances, I wanted the records in those events, I just fell short. I was exceptionally happy with my one-on-one and positional drills, not one ball was caught against me.”

“It’s go time now; this is where the fun training begins. I don’t have to worry about running 40s or anything, just train strictly for football. I just pray my name gets called on draft day.”

Robertson topped the charts with a blistering 40 speed of 4.42, eight-tenths of a second faster than the second place time. He showed up his lower-body strength and overall length with a 43 inch vertical jump, two inches higher than the next best score. His broad jump came in at 10’ 5.50 feet.

Robertson, Nathan Taylor and Corey Newman all participated in the Quebec City Regional Combine, where some of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec’s best players convened for their shot to impress the scouts in attendance.

All three turned in solid performances, as Robertson and Taylor put up good numbers in all categories amongst the defensive backs. Taylor showed impressive upper-body strength, putting up 19 reps in the bench press, the most of anyone at his position. Newman, one of five offensive linemen invited to the Quebec combine, showed off his explosiveness and quickness in tight spaces (which is key for offensive linemen battling in the trenches on the line of scrimmage) by posting the second best vertical jump and the longest broad jump amongst his peers.

“Overall it was a great experience, being around professional scouts no matter where you are is always a good thing,” said Newman. “Personally I felt well prepared. I improved my speed and footwork and, as some of the scouts told me, they noticed how hard I’ve trained to transformed myself [into] better shape.

“As of now I am waiting to hear from teams. I will most likely go to the free agency camp in London, Ont. to be seen again, but for now I’ll keep training, running and eating well and see what happens.”