The 1962 McGill Redmen football team, will forever be remembered for their magical Yates Cup championship, capturing the the Senior Intercollegiate Football League title before a CBC-TV audience with a 15-13 come-from-behind, last-minute playoff victory over Queen's in Kingston on Nov. 17, 1962.
The team was guided by head coach Bill Bewley and assistants Tom Moran (backfield), Ron Murphy (line) and Dave Copp. They featured a team record 11 honorees on The Canadian Press all-star team, including Tom Skypeck, the team captain who received the Omega trophy as league MVP. The alternate captains were Don Taylor (tight end) and Willie Lambert, the latter whom merited all-star status at both running back and defensive back.
Despite pre-season wins over St. FX and RMC, the Redmen opened the regular season with back-to-back losses, but roared back to win their last five contests to finish with a 7-2 record overall, outscoring opponents 145-112. They tied Queen's for first place with 4-2 regular season record but ended up second on a coin-toss tie-breaker and were forced to travel to Kingston for a sudden-death playoff game with the Yates Cup on the line.
McGill trailed by five points with two minutes remaining and had the ball on their own 7-yard line. Skypeck then completed five straight passes for 103 yards, hitting Lambert for the game-winning 25-yard TD toss with 59 seconds left on the clock as McGill rallied to defeat their arch-rivals.
Other all-conference selections were Eric Walter, who led the league in scoring with eight TDs in six games, plus Andy Connor (OT), Dick Feidler (DT), Allan McKenzie (DE), Russ Zelko (DE), Steve Longstaff (LB) and Tony Blair (LB).
Rounding out the 35-man roster was Leon Abbott, Fraser Allen, John Bowler, Ewart Budgell, Stewart Davis, John DiFederico, Ian Grant, Peter Halmay, Bruce Ingram, Bruce Johansson, Wade Kenny, Ray Lawson, Sal Lovecchio, Brian Marshall, Saul Miller, Ian Monteith, Dave Morton, Brian Pilgrim, Gordon Potter, Richard (Whitey) Reimer, Larry Sheehan, Graeme Strathdee, George Telesh, Allan Wallace and Gavin Wyllie.
The support staff included Dick Nicholson (manager), Dave Smith (asst. manager), Jim Adams (trainer), Al Duguid (asst. trainer) and Fred Dupré (equipment manager). The team physicians were Dr. Everett Crutchlow, Dr. Hugh Brodie and Dr. Ted Percy.
1962 SENIOR INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS
| TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
PF |
PA |
PTS |
| Queen’s |
6 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
137 |
87 |
8 |
| McGill |
6 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
108 |
94 |
8 |
| Western |
6 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
95 |
86 |
4 |
| Toronto |
6 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
67 |
140 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1962 SEASON SCHEDULE & RESULTS:
| Sept. 24 |
*Won |
29-7 at RMC |
(preseason) |
| Sept. 29 |
*Won |
13-6 vs. St.FX |
(preseason; Chruchill Bowl) |
| Oct. 6 |
Lost |
11-22 at Western |
|
| Oct. 13 |
Lost |
13-19 vs. Toronto |
|
| Oct. 20 |
Won |
38-24 vs. Queen’s |
(14,000 fans at Molson Stadium) |
| Oct. 27 |
Won |
14-10 at Queen’s |
|
| Nov. 3 |
Won |
23-11 at Toronto |
|
| Nov. 10 |
Won |
9-8 vs. Western |
|
| Nov. 17 |
Won |
15-13 at Queen’s |
(playoff; Yates Cup championship; CBC-TV) |
