Box Score
MONTREAL -- Louis Brouillette had a career day for McGill but it was insufficient as Concordia cruised to a 33-21 victory in the 29th annual Montreal Shrine Bowl before an announced crowd of 3,001 at Concordia Stadium, Saturday.

The Stingers led 14-0 after the opening quarter, 16-3 at the half and 26-3 after three.

Brouillette, a six-foot, 180-pound receiver, caught seven passes for 101 yards, then was called upon as an emergency third-string kicker. He  punted three times for 90 yards, performed two kickoffs (one of them onside) for 51 yards and went 2-for-2 in field-goal attempts (making distances of 21 and 33 yards). He also returned three punts for 16 yards and even threw a pass for five yards on a botched snap that turned an attempted one-point conversion into two.

The mechanical engineeing senior from Sherbrooke had never kicked in his previous three years at McGill but volunteered when head coach Ron Hilaire addressed the team and asked if anyone could handle the kicking chores when back-up Remi Bertillin -- filling in for injured Justin Lavallee -- had to leave the game in the opening quarter after taking a hit to his head.

"Brouillette's kind of like a Swiss army knife for us," said Hilaire. "He is useful and excels in every situation you put him in. Aside from that, I was disappointed that we came out very flat in the first half. The score was still managable (at 16-3) and we scored 18 points in the second half but it was too late. We have to be able to compete right from the start."

For the Stingers, rookie running back Jean-Guy Rimpel, a native Montrealer, carried the ball 14 times for 135 yards, scored a touchdown on a one-yard plunge and also caught three passes for 11 yards.

Quarterback Trenton Miller made his first start for Concordia and completed 27 of 38 passes for 275 yards, two TDs and one interception. He also rushd twice for 21 yards, including a TD on a one-yard keeper.

Miller orchestrated an offence that rolled up 25 first downs and 435 yards. McGill countered with 23 first downs and 377 yards of offence.

Rounding out the TD scoring for the Stingers were receivers Yanic Lessard (a 21-yard reception) and Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren (a 3-yard toss). Kicker Keegan Treloar added seven points, including a 44-yard field-goal.

At the helm for McGill was sophomore Joel Houle who was back after being sent to hospital the previous week on the second play from scrimmage in a 42-2 loss to the Montreal Carabins.

Houle completed 21 of 36 attempts for 264 yards but was picked off three times. He also riushed six times for 38 yards and a TD. Back-up Nicolas English, a freshman, was given a few series and went 5-for-7 for 38 yards, including the lone Redmen passing touchdown, a 12-yarder to Yannick Langelier-Vanasse late in the fourth quarter.

The Shrine Bowl features three player-of-the-game awards to each team.  Collecting the hardware for McGill was the aforementioned Louis Brouillette on offence, Karl Forgues (8.5 tackles) on defence and Devon Stewart, who was selected as most outstanding down lineman with four tackles, including one QB sack. Recipients for Concordia were Jean-Guy Rimpel (offence), Arto Khatchikian (defence) and Samuel Narkaj (lineman).

The contest may have set a CIS record for the longest game ever to finish in regulation time. The three-hour, 30-minute marathon was marred by a whopping 36 penalties (for 260 yards) and a plethora of injuries. Play was halted 15 times for injured players -- nine to the Redmen -- two of which resulted in warriors from each side being removed on a stretcher and dispatched to hospital. The good news out of all that was that the two athletes in question -- Concordia receiver James Ohayon and McGill receiver Kenny Baye -- were both released within a few hours.

The Stingers, now 2-1, will host the Montréal Carabins (2-1) next Saturday at 2 p.m. on the TVA Sports network. The Redmen fell to 1-2 and will host Acadia (2-0) next Saturday at 1 p.m.

SHRINE BOWL NOTES: Concordia improved to 12-15 in the annual fundraiser, while McGill evened their record at 11-11 since the game was initiated in 1987. Net proceeds from the contest go towards the Montreal Shriners Hospital for Children. This year, the organizing committee hopes to go over the $1 million plateau in fundraising as the previous 28 Shrine Bowls have generated $916,000. Opened in 1925, this hospital treats physically handicapped children and/or burn victims free of charge. The game's official motto is: "Strong legs run so that weak legs may walk" and funds are raised through multiple sources, including ticket sales, advertising, honorary coaches program, a raffle, a golf tournament, barbeques and generous donations from the public.

Montreal Shrine Bowl Results
 
1987 Concordia 20   at McGill 31
1988 Concordia 7     at McGill 27
1989 Bishop's 15    at Concordia 9
1990 McGill 15        at Concordia 27
1991 McGill 16        at Concordia 28
1992 Concordia 25 at McGill 24
1993 Concordia 24   at McGill 29
1994 McGill 34       at Concordia 33
1995 McGill 15       at Concordia 8
1996 Queen's 20     at McGill 29
1997 Bishop's 0      at McGill* 1 *(won by forfeit)
1998 Concordia 4    at McGill 9
1998 McGill 0         at Concordia 45
2000 McGill 12      at Concordia 11
2001 McGill 14       at Concordia 35
2002 McGill 28      at Concordia 8
2003 McGill 9         at Concordia 26
2004 Laval 24        at Concordia 7
2005 Montréal 24   at Concordia 21
2006 McGill 9         at Concordia 26
2007 McGill 8         at Concordia 13
2008 Laval 36        at Concordia 13
2009 Sherbrooke 22 at Concordia 34
2010 Bishop's 18   at Concordia 17
2011 McGill 16       at Concordia 39
2012 Sherbrooke 48 at Concordia 6
2013 McGill 53       at Concordia 52 (OT)
2014 McGill 28       at Concordia 30
2015 McGill 21       at Concordia 33
 
Winning team listed in bold
 
 
Montreal Shrine Bowl Record By Team
 
TEAM                       W-L
McGill                      11-11
Concordia                12-15
Laval                           2-0
Montréal                     1-0
Bishop's                      2-1
Sherbrooke                 1-1
Queen's                      0-1

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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