Tag: James Tyrrell

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Stingers humbled by Carabins with 74-3 loss

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Quarterback Adam Vance threw three interceptions against the Carabins. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia hasn’t given up this many points since 2014

The Concordia Stingers football team lost 74-3 to the Université de Montréal Carabins Saturday at the Concordian Stadium. The Stingers haven’t allowed this many points in a game since they lost to the Université de Laval Rouge et Or during the 2014 playoffs.

“We got beat,” head coach Brad Collinson said after the game.

The Stingers played well at the start of the game, holding the Carabins to a field goal in the first 20 minutes. Even though their defence was playing well, Concordia’s offence didn’t generate much, despite scoring a field goal early on. The game was tied 3-3 after the first quarter.

The Stingers offence scored their only points in the first quarter. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Carabins pulled away with the game in the second quarter. Asnnel Robo scored a 77-yard rushing touchdown six minutes into the second quarter, which put the travelling Carabins fans on their feet. The Stingers conceded a safety on the next drive, and from there, the Carabins were in full control of the game.

“It gets to a point where you understand you lost and the game is done,” said slot back James Tyrrell. “The score becomes irrelevant at one point, and you move onto next week before the game is done.”

The Carabins scored their second touchdown of the game with less than two minutes left in the second quarter on a one-yard pass to Robo. The Stingers had a two-and-out on the following drive, which allowed the Carabins to score a field goal and head into the halftime with a 22-3 lead.

The second half didn’t start much better for the Stingers, as Derek Trinh fumbled the kick-off. Robo scored his second rushing touchdown after the turnover. The Stingers were able to get some offensive chemistry going in the third quarter, but quarterback Adam Vance threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns, and fumbled once in the second half.

Vance was replaced by Maxime Bouffard in the fourth quarter after going 16/26 for 149 yards and three interceptions. Bouffard didn’t do much better, going 3/12 with two interceptions and 25 yards.

“Obviously when you lose, no one is going to be happy and laughing,” offensive lineman Maurice Simba said. “But this is our job to keep our heads held high. It happens: it’s a football game, you win some and lose some.”

The Carabins had a 40-3 lead after three quarters, but didn’t hold back in the fourth. They scored 31 points in the final 15 minutes, with three rushing touchdowns and an interception return for a touchdown.

“Obviously it was a bit of a down mood [on the bench],” Tyrrell said. “It’s tough to stay up in games like that when you’re losing like that […] and just battle with mind and saying, ‘You know what, I’m going to keep going until the end.”

With a 2-2 record, the Stingers are now third in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). They host the first-place Rouge et Or next Saturday at 2 p.m.

“We have to be better,” Collinson said.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad. 

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Stingers home-opener gets crowd off their feet

The Concordia Stingers trailed for 56 minutes against the Vert et Or, but still won. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia scored 17 points in final six minutes to complete comeback win

The Concordia Stingers football team were trailing for 56 minutes of their home-opener against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or on Sept. 8 at the Concordia Stadium. A touchdown catch by wide receiver James Tyrrell gave the Stingers a 22-20 win as time expired, and helped improve their record to 1-1.

Heading into the second half down 9-0, the Stingers’s chances of beating the Vert et Or didn’t look good. They had been held to mostly ineffective plays, and any time they gained some momentum, it was quickly negated by penalties and turnovers.

Stingers quarterback Adam Vance said that the team just kept shooting themselves in the foot during the first half. Head coach Brad Collinson was not impressed with how his team came out in the first part of the game.

“I told them they had to look themselves in the mirror,” said Collinson about his halftime locker room talk with the team. “They had to make a decision coming out to that second half if they wanted to play or not.”

The Stingers needed a last-second field goal to beat the Vert et Or last season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers air attack key in second half

The Stingers came out strong to start the second half. Vance was finally able to get his rhythm going and found chemistry with his receivers. Despite a slow first half, the air attack was deadly for the Stingers. Vance finished the game 20/34 for 441 yards and one touchdown pass. Wide receiver Jarryd Taylor had eight receptions for 258 yards, averaging over 35 yards per catch.

“Our whole offence [was clicking],” Taylor said. “We have the best receiving corps in all of Canada and we showed it today. I went into the locker at half with [one] catch. I’m the type of player who wants the ball in my hands every play.”

Sherbrooke made sure to vary their coverages to throw off the Stingers offence, but Vance was able to adjust and connect with his receivers.  

“Second half, we definitely came out with some anger behind us,” Tyrrell said, who finished the game with 78 yards and that game-winning touchdown catch.

Sherbrooke didn’t rack up as many yards in the game, but they made sure to take advantage of any opportunity. Quarterback Joé Hudon finished with 108 passing yards and a touchdown, and running back Gabriel Polan had 55 rushing yards. Sherbrooke’s play-action wreaked havoc for most of the game, and often left the Stingers’s defenders losing sight of the ball.

Despite playing better in the second half, the Stingers still found themselves in trouble. They were only able to score a single touchdown and get one field goal in the red zone all game. The Stingers were frustrated when they were in prime scoring position on the two-yard line late in the fourth quarter, down eight points. Stingers running back Widler Exilus took the handoff from Vance, but contact at the line of scrimmage made him drop the ball. That fumble was recovered by Vert et Or defensive back, Anthony Chagnon, who took it 108 yards to extend the Vert et Or lead to 20-5.

The Stingers seemed out of touch, especially after such a potentially demoralizing play. But a touchdown run and two safeties later, and the score was suddenly 20-16 with less than two minutes left in the game.

This was Brad Collinson’s first win as head coach of the Stingers. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Comeback

With 15 seconds left in the game and the Stingers in their own half, Vance used his arm to find Taylor. It was a 50-yard catch-and-run play that placed the Stingers on Sherbrooke’s 25-yard line.

With six seconds left on the clock, Vance snapped the ball, and Sherbrooke had four defenders deep in the endzone. The quarterback was forced out of the pocket, took a couple of steps forward, and tossed a high ball to the back corner of the endzone towards Tyrrell.

“I knew from the snap that I was going to him,” Vance said. “His vertical is crazy.”

Tyrrell leaped up, showcasing his vertical against two Sherbrooke defenders, and managed to bring the catch down for a touchdown as time expired.

The packed crowd exploded, as both fans and the entire Stingers team rushed onto the field to celebrate.

“I used to jump up and play ‘Jackpot’ when I was little, so it just came down to that,” Tyrrell said. “This is the stuff you dream of. It’s just you and the ball, you don’t hear anything else, you just have to catch it.”

Games notes

For Stingers offensive guard Kenny Johnson, this was about as good of a return to the home field as he could have hoped. Johnson missed the last three seasons recovering from a serious knee injury which he suffered in 2015, during his rookie season. After three surgeries, he is finally back on the field as a fifth-year player. This was his first game back at the Concordia Stadium, where he suffered his injury. For him, the win meant a lot. “It’s amazing,” Johnson said. “I came back to a team filled with my brothers. I had my friends come out [to the game], my girlfriend come out. The crowd was with us the whole time.”

The Stingers will take on the McGill Redmen at McGill on Sept. 15.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers pull off a massive comeback with 22-20 win over Sherbrooke

The Stingers came back from a 20-5 deficit with six minutes left to win in their home-opener. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

James Tyrrell hauls down game-winning touchdown as time expires

The Concordia Stingers football team managed to pull off a massive comeback as they beat the Sherbrooke Vert et Or 22-20, thanks to a game-winning touchdown catch by wide receiver James Tyrrell.

Heading into the second half down 9-0, the Stingers’s chances of beating the Vert et Or didn’t look good. They had been held to mostly ineffective plays, and any time momentum got moving their way, it was quickly negated by penalties and turnovers.

Stingers quarterback Adam Vance said that the team just kept shooting themselves in the foot during the first half. Head coach Brad Collinson was not impressed with how his team came out in the first half.

“I told them they had to look themselves in the mirror,” said Collinson about his halftime locker room talk with the team. “They had to make a decision coming out to that second half if they wanted to play or not.”

The Stingers came out strong in the beginning of the second half. Vance was finally able to get his rhythm going, and found chemistry with his receivers. Despite a slow first half, the air attack was deadly for the Stingers in the second half. Vance finished the game 20/34 passing for 441 yards and one touchdown. Wide receiver Jarryd Taylor had eight receptions for 258 yards.

“Our whole offence [was clicking],” Taylor said. “We have the best receiving corps in all of Canada and we showed it today. I went into the locker at half with [one] catch. I’m the type of player who wants the ball in my hands every play.”

Concordia needed a rushing TD to kick-start their comeback in the fourth quarter. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Sherbrooke made sure to vary their coverages in order to throw off the Stingers offence, but Vance was able to adjust and connect with his receivers. “Second half, we definitely came out with some anger behind us,” Tyrell said, who finished the game with 78 yards and the game-winning touchdown catch.

Sherbrooke didn’t rack up as many yards in the game, but they made sure to take advantage of their chances. Quarterback Joé Hudon finished with 108 passing yards and a touchdown, and running back Gabriel Polan had 55 rushing yards. Sherbrooke’s play-action wreaked havoc for most of the game, and often left Stingers defenders losing sight of the ball.

The red zone was not a friendly place for the Stingers, as they were able to convert only a field goal and touchdown throughout the whole game. This frustration came to a point when the Stingers found themselves on the one-yard line in the fourth quarter, but fumbled the ball. That fumble was recovered by Vert et Or defensive back Anthony Chagnon, who took it the length of the field to score, extending their lead to 20-5 with six minutes left.

The Stingers seemed out of touch, especially after such a potentially demoralizing play. But a touchdown run, and two safeties later, the score was suddenly 20-16 with about 1:30 left in the game.

With six seconds left on the clock, Vance snapped the ball, and Sherbrooke had four defenders deep in the endzone. The quarterback was forced out of the pocket, took a couple of steps forward, and tossed a high ball to the back corner of the endzone towards Tyrrell.

“I knew from the snap that I was going to him. His vertical is crazy,” Vance said. Tyrrell leaped up with two Sherbrooke defenders, and somehow managed to bring the ball down as time expired.

 

The packed crowd exploded, as both fans and the entire Stingers team rushed onto the field to celebrate.

“I used to jump up and play ‘Jackpot’ when I was little, so it just came down to that,” Tyrrell. “This is the stuff you dream of. It’s just you and the ball, you don’t hear anything else, you just have to catch it.”

The Stingers will take on the McGill Redmen at McGill on Sept. 15 in their next game.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad. 

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No suspension for Laval player for hit on Trenton Miller

Trenton Miller meets with the media at Concordia University’s Loyola Campus on Sept. 29. Photo by Matthew Ohayon.

RSEQ suspends Laval Rouge et Or’s Kevin McGee for “unnecessary roughness” on James Tyrrell

The Concordia Stingers football team lost to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, with a score of 30-13, on Sept. 30 in the 31st annual Shrine Bowl. The Stingers, who now have a 2-3 record, had to play without quarterback Trenton Miller.

Miller was injured in a game against the Laval Rouge et Or on Sept. 24, which the Stingers lost 12-8. During that game, Miller was pressured out of the pocket and rushed the ball upfield. As he was carrying the ball, Laval’s Gabriel Ouellet, who came from Miller’s blind side, levelled Miller with a hard hit. The video replay shows Miller’s head snaps back, making it look like there was a hit to the head.

In any other league, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, any hit to the head, or at least a hit that causes the head to snap back like that, is an automatic penalty. But in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the official will penalize a hit to the head only if there is clear intent to injure.

Later in the game, Stingers receiver James Tyrrell was forced to leave the game after taking a vicious hit from Kevin McGee. Tyrrell was in a vulnerable position during the hit, with his two hands on the ball and his feet unstable, when McGee jumped to hit him. Tyrrell also missed the next game against the Vert et Or.

Miller made headlines after posting a video to Facebook on Sept. 26, before the RSEQ’s decision not to suspend Ouellet. He pleaded that the RSEQ review the hit he received, as well as the one Tyrrell was involved in. The video has been viewed over 66,000 times.

“What really pains me is that my parents shouldn’t have to watch my game and worry about me dying on the football field as a result of these head-to-head collisions,” Miller said in the video.

On Sept. 29, the RSEQ issued a response, stating they reviewed both hits. They suspended McGee, who hit Tyrrell, for one game for unnecessary roughness. The hit on Miller, however, was deemed by the league to have not made contact with Miller’s head and, therefore, no action would be taken against Ouellet.

The league stated that, when Miller rushed the ball, he was no longer in a “vulnerable position” and there was “no intent to injure.”

“The judgment is supported by the league’s desire to ensure a safe environment for student-athletes,” said Gustave Roel, the director general of the RSEQ, in the league’s statement. “I commend the work [of everybody involved in] this issue, and I want to ensure that the safety and integrity of all student athletes is a priority.”

University of Manitoba quarterback Des Catellier saw Miller’s post on Facebook, and said he does not agree with the RSEQ.

“I would maybe agree that he wasn’t in a vulnerable position [as the ball carrier], but the defender led with his head, which, to me, would be intent to injure,” Catellier said in an interview with The Concordian.

Miller, who spoke about the incident to the media after the league’s decision on Sept. 29, appreciated the league’s efforts in reviewing the dangerous hits.

“They made their decision based on the footage they had,” he said. “The fact they’re even reviewing that and taking steps towards player safety is awesome.”

Trenton Miller scores a touchdown against the McGill Redmen during the 2015 season. Archive photo by Brianna Thicke.

Stingers head coach Mickey Donovan, who called an emergency meeting with RSEQ officials on Sept. 25 to review rules regarding player safety, said he believed this week’s conversation on hits to the head could lead to some changes to the current rules.

“I think the rules are probably going to get changed, just not this season,” Donovan said. “I’m sure stuff will come out eventually, hopefully for next year.”

As for when Miller will return to play, he’s not in a rush.

“I take it day-by-day, and our trainers and doctors are handling me in a very good manner, and they’re not going to rush me back.”

The Stingers will take on the number-one ranked Université de Montréal Carabins on the road on Oct. 5.

With files from Matthew Ohayon. Main photo by Matthew Ohayon

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