SHERBROOKE -- Rookie place-kicker Findlay Brown of Winnipeg, Man., nailed four field-goals with a pitch-perfect performance as the McGill University football team rallied from a 16-point deficit to eke out a hard-fought 19-18 road victory over the Vert & Or before a home-opening day crowd of 6,043 at Stade de l'Université de Sherbrooke, Saturday.

It halted McGill's nine-game losing streak to Sherbrooke, since a 29-11 Redmen conquest on Sept. 11, 2009 and marked McGill's first win on Sherbrooke's grass surface field since Sept. 25, 2004, snapping a 12-year, six-game road jinx at that venue, nestled in the heart of the Eastern Townships.

Sherbrooke led 10-0 after the opening quarter and upped that to 16-0 early in the second quarter before the Redmen mounted a spirited comeback with 19 consecutive points, then conceded a safety touch for better field position late in the game.

Brown, a management freshman out of Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg, accounted for 13 of McGill's 16 points, going 4-for-4 on his field-goal attempts from distances of 10, 33, 40 and 20 yards, respectively. The 5-foot-10, 172-pounder also converted a five-yard touchdown run by rookie Anthony Deschamps which left the Redmen trailing 16-13 midway through the third quarter. Deschamps ended up with a game-high 94 rushing yards on 19 carries.

Minutes later, Brown cooly kicked his 40-yarder to knot the score at 16-16, capping a three-play scoring drive late in the third stanza. He added the winning 20-yarder just 33 seconds into the final period. Brown also averaged 52.7 yards on three kickoffs and 27.3 yards on six punts.

"Brown did an amazing job," said McGill head coach Ronald Hilaire, whose 48-man dress roster featured a whopping 20 freshmen, nine of them starters. "For an 18-year-old to come into a tough situation like this was impressive. He was solid throughout the game and made some big field-goals. It was a great moment for both him and the team."

The number of first-year players dressed for McGill was three shy of the school's single-game record, established in a 17-13 home loss to Bishop's on Oct. 9, 2014.

Sherbrooke kicker Pierre-Antoine Dastous, turned from hero to goat, making two field-goals in the first half -- from 37 and 36 yards -- but missing two critical attempts from distances of 33 and 36 in the final six minutes of the contest. Dastous finished 2-for-5 on the day, also missing a first-half 40-yarder. He was one of two place-kickers used by Sherbrooke in the game.

Teammate Samuel Polan had provided Sherbrooke with an early 3-0 lead on a 42-yard field-goal but was given a breather from some of his kicking duties after returning a punt 68 yards for touchdown to put his side ahead 10-0 late in the first quarter. It was a busy day for Polan, who also had 5.5 tackles and two interceptions.

McGill, which held a 23-13 edge in first downs, racked up 447 yards of net offence, compared to only 240 by the host team. But the game was kept close because of eight turnovers committed by the Redmen, including three on interceptions, three on fumbles and two on downs. The Redmen have coughed up the ball 20 times in their two games.

"My heart was pumping all through that fourth quarter," added Hilaire, the fourth-year bench boss who also serves as the team's defensive coordinator. "Our offence finally started to click in the second half. We moved the ball and were able to finish drives. Defensively, we played a tremendous game. We limited their offence to just 240 yards and stopped their running game. It was a great team win, something to build on but we still turned over the ball too much. Despite that, we learned how to persevere and come out with the 'W'"

Rookie quarterback Frederic Paquette-Perrault, making his first start in place of injured sophomore Nicolas English, threw for 331 yards in his CIS debut. He went the distance, completing 22 of 31 attempts but was picked off three times. He utilized six different receivers, most notably rookie Joel Soucy, who snared 10 balls for 104 yards. The 5-foot-6, 149-pound native of Montreal was the busiest player on the day with 158 all-purpose yards, including 54 on kick and punt returns.

Sherbrooke quarterback Alex Jacob-Michaud, also a first-year player, had a tough day at the office, completing 11 of 21 passes for just 134 yards and one pick. He was sacked twice, by junior lineman Ousmane Guindo and rookie Antoine Mongeau. Both defenders hail from Laval, Que.

Normally a defensive back, the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Mongeau was moved to linebacker this week because of injuries to other personnel. A 20-year-old physical education freshman out of College du Vieux-Montreal, Mongeau registered 6.5 tackles, one quarterback sack and a forced fumble. 

McGill (1-1) will host Bishop's (0-2) on Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m., while Sherbrooke (1-1) plays at Laval (2-0) on Sept. 18. The Redmen, who improved to 6-14 lifetime against Sherbrooke, will get another shot at the Vert & Or when the two teams tango at Percival Molson Stadium on Sept. 24.

REDMEN RAP: McGill receiver Jonathan Mack, a senior from St. Lambert, Que., was just shy of the century mark, with 94 yards on three receptions... Also shining on defence for the visitors was freshman safety Jean-Philippe Hudon (five solo tackles) of Levis, Que., and rookie Pier-Olivier Grenier-Gachet (four solo tackles) of St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., who collected his second pick of the season... Among the plethora of key McGill players scratched due to injury was QB Nicolas English, WR Remi Bertellin, RB Donavan Martel and DB Charles-William Tremblay.