Laval runs over Redmen en route to CIS record 22nd straight win

Box Score
QUEBEC CITY -- Quarterback Hugo Richard passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for two more as the No.1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or continued their domination of CIS football with a 70-3 victory over McGill before 14,981 at Stade TELUS-Université Laval.

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It was a CIS record-setting 22nd straight victory in regular-season and playoffs for Laval, surpassing the previous mark set by McMaster over the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Laval, which has also won 67 consecutive games at home, hasn't dropped a game there in a decade, since a 14-13 decision to the Montreal Carabins on September 19, 2004.

The Laval offensive juggernaut, which had a 35-5 edge in first downs and forced McGill into conceding four safety touches, led 16-3 after the opening quarter, 33-3 at halftime and 43-3 after three. The Rouge et Or generated a whopping 765 yards of net offence, including 439 on the ground, compared to just 121 for an injury-plagued McGill lineup that featured a school record total of 23 first-year players on their 48-man dress roster.

Yannick Langelier-Vanasse, a senior from Lachine, Que., was one of the few bright spots for McGill, collecting 109 all-purpose yards on seven touches. It marked the third time in four games that he has reached the century mark in total yardage.

The other standout performance from the Redmen was rookie Karl Forgues, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound linebacker from Repentigny, Que., who registered an interception to go along with a game-high 12 total tackles, nine of them solo, including a pair of quarterback sacks.

"It may have been a good individual performance for me but it is difficult to enjoy it and keep your head up high and be content when a game finishes like that," the 20-year-old physical education freshman told a national TV audience on SRC after the game. "There were some encouraging things in the first half that we can take away for our next game. We had a lot of injuries in the second half and ran out of gas."

Richard, a freshman, completed 21 of 33 passes for the Rouge et Or and was picked off for the first time in his four-game collegiate career. He also rushed six times for 60 yards, including a nine-yard TD run that give his side a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. He added a six-yard carry that upped the count to 50-3 early in the final stanza.

Laval's all-Canadian kicker Boris Bede tallied 19 points, highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance in field-goals, making distances of 28, 37, 27 and 12 yards, respectively. He also averaged an impressive 40.8 yards on five punts and 59.1 yards on seven kickoffs.

Teammate Charles Lambert added a pair of TDs, on a 22-yard reception just before halftime and on a six-yard run in the final minute. Other Laval majors came from Guillaume Bourassa (on a 63-yard rush), Julian Bailey (on a 25-yard toss), and Christopher Amoah (on a 50-yard run).

McGill kicker Nils Jonkmans produced the lone scoring play for his side with a 25-yard field-goal. He was 1-for-3 in place-kicking, missing from 34-yards and having a 42-yarder blocked.

Redmen freshman quarterback Joel Houle, making his second career start in the absence of injured starter Dallon Kuprowski, was 8-for-20 passing, for 142 yards and no interceptions. Houle also led a non-existant Redmen running attack, scampering for a mere 15 yards on four carries.

He was relieved in the final quarter by sophomore Pierre-Luc Moquin, who was 3-for-9 for 13 yards.

McGill has dropped 19 consecutive games to Laval and is 5-25 lifetime against the Rouge et Or. The two teams will meet again on Oct. 24 at Molson Stadium.

McGill (0-4) now gets a much-needed bye week in the RSEQ schedule to lick their wounds and hopefully have some of their injured starters back in the lineup before returning to play on Thursday, Oct. 9 against Bishop's (0-4) in a battle of winless teams at Molson Stadium.

Laval (4-0) with host upstart Concordia (4-0) in first-place showdown of unbeaten teams on Oct. 5.

REDMEN RAP: One of the few positives for McGill was that they forced Laval into a season-high four turnovers...In addition to the pair of QB sacks by Fogues, defensive linemen Kadeem Lewis and Devon Stewart teamed up to co-author a sack... Rookie cornerback Malundu Bukasa registered 7.5 tackles and one forced fumble, while LB Eric Gracioppo had 5.5 tackles and a pair of forced fumbles.

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012