MONTREAL – Montreal native Benoit Groulx completed 22 of 26 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns as No.1-ranked Laval scored routed winless McGill 67-7 before 1,012 at Molson Stadium, Friday. It was McGill's most lopsided loss in 32 years, dating back to a 72-0 setback against Ottawa in 1976.

The Rouge et Or, which scored nine TDs in the contest, took advantage of an injury-plagued McGill lineup, which equaled a school record with 21 rookies in the lineup, to rack up 661 net yards of offence, compared to just 229 by the Redmen. Laval led 21-7 after the opening quarter, 35-7 at the half and 49-7 after three stanzas.

Receiver  Mathieu Bouvette and running back Maxime Beland each scored a couple of majors, with single TDs going to Samuel Fournier, Guillaume Senecal, Victor Tremblay, Steve Landry and defensive lineman Marc-Antoine Beaudoin Cloutier, who ran back an interception 24 yards for his score.

Quarterback Matt Connell of St. Bruno, Que., scored the lone Redmen TD on a three-yard run in the first quarter. Connell was 18-for-39, for 213 yards and two interceptions. 

His leading receiver was Erik Galas, a senior from Ottawa, who hauled in nine catches for 134 yards. Galas now has a school record 170 career receptions and needs 16 more to break the Quebec conference record set by Ottawa's Chris Evraire, more than a decade ago.

Laval (5-0) will play at Bishop's next week, while McGill (0-5) will travel to Antigonish, N.S., to take on St. Francis Xavier. Although the odds are highly unlikely, the Redmen have not yet been mathematically eliminated from post-season play.

REDMEN RAP: Anthony Lukca, a senior from St. Laurent, Que., led all tacklers in the game with 11, including 10 solos and a pair of assisted tacklers. He moved into first place among CIS national leaders in both solo (36) and total tackles (45). Lukca also led the CIS in total tackles last season… The Redmen, who were missing two receivers from injuries incurred the previous week (Patrick Dodd, Bobby Mikelberg), again lost the services of All-Canadian wide receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte early in the game. Despite being hobbled with hand and leg injuries for the past three weeks, he is still ranked fourth in CIS receptions with 30… Freshman kicker Austin Anderson, son of NFL kicker Gary Anderson, missed his third straight game with a torn hip flexor suffered in Week 2 of the campaign. Since going 5-for-5 in his first game, the Redmen have not attempted a field goal… DB Schuyler O'Brien returned to the lineup after being sidelined for three weeks but McGill was without starting OL Luke van Ruyven, a 6-foot-7, 258-pound senior, who rolled his ankle in practice early in the week… Other injured starters included offensive linemen Jordan Knowles, and Scott Giroux, plus DB Adriano Tassone.


Scoring Summary (Final)
Laval Rouge et Or (5-0) vs. McGill Redmen (0-5)
Date: Oct 03, 2008  Site: Montreal, QC          Stadium: Molson Stadium
Attendance: 1012