MONTREAL – Tickets are free for this week's CIS football game between Bishop's and McGill University. Kickoff for the Friday night affair on Sept. 16 is slated for 7 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium. As part of the upcoming festivities to celebrate Montreal's 375th anniversary next year, a movie is being filmed on the McGill campus with the Redmen and Gaiters playing a starring role in director
François Girard's new film. The movie company wants to pack the place with cheering fans, so they will cover the cost of tickets for all fans and the wearing of school colours is strongly encouraged, namely McGill red or Bishop's purple.
To take advantage of this promotion and avoid long line-ups, tickets should be acquired
online. Use the code
WEARRED to get a free ticket (and don't forget to plan your wardrobe accordingly).
THE RECORDS: The Gaiters are 0-2 on the year, after opening the season with losses to Sherbrooke and No. 1-ranked Montreal. The Redmen are 1-1, with a loss to Concordia followed up by a 19-18 upset at Sherbrooke.
McGILL MEMORIES: Last week, the Redmen rallied from a 16-point deficit to pull off a 19-18 road victory over the Sherbrooke Vert & Or before 6,043 fans. It was McGill's first road victory at Sherbrooke since 2004. McGill was led by two freshmen -- kicker
Findlay Brown and linebacker
Antoine Mongeau -- a duo that went on to earn both RSEQ and CIS football player-of-the-week honours, on special teams and defence, respectively. Brown accounted for 13 of McGill's 16 points, going 4-for-4 in field-goals from distances of 10, 33, 40 and 20 yards.
Mongeau spearheaded a defence that limited Sherbrooke to just 13 first downs and 240 yards of offence. He registered 6.5 tackles, one quarterback sack, a forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
LAST TIME OUT FOR BU: The Gaiters were shutout by the No. 1-ranked Montreal Carabins last week, 61-0. The Carabins used a balanced attack to cruise past Bishop's, with six different players scoring touchdowns. The Gaiters were led by fourth-year defensive back
Jean Gayrard, who made a career-high 12 tackles, the second-highest total in program history.
THE SERIES: The Gaiters lead the all-time series 45-41-1. The Gaiters-Redmen series is the longest-running series for Bishop's, with the first meeting occurring back in 1885. However, the teams did not begin playing each other regularly until 1971, when both teams joined the Quebec Universities Athletic Association. McGill is on a modest two-game win streak over BU but the Gaiters have won three of the past five games and five of the past nine. Bishop's lost the last confrontation at Molson Stadium, a 10-3 defeat on Sept. 4, 2015, but has won three of the past five meetings in Montreal.
LAST MEETING: Nicolas English threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Redmen defeated the Gaiters 53-11 on Oct. 3, 2015. The McGill pivot went 24-for-30 for 321 yards passing and added another 88 yards on the ground. The Redmen led 19-3 at halftime, but pulled away with five second-half touchdowns. The Gaiters score came on a four-yard run by
Jamall Hyman-Hamilton in the late stages, a two-point conversion by Alex Bouffard and a second-quarter field goal by
Vincent Dube.
NOTHING BUT NET: Friday's game will be webcast live via the McGill website at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/mcgill/. Score updates will be available on Twitter, by following
@McGillAthletics and
@BishopsGaiters. Live stats also available at this
link.
UP NEXT: McGill will host a rematch with Sherbrooke at Molson Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 24 (2 pm) in a game that will be televised nationally of the French-language TVA Sports. The Gaiters return home next weekend for their Homecoming Game (Sept. 24), when they will host the Saint Mary's Huskies. Kickoff at Coulter Field is set for 2 p.m.
FUN FILM FACTS: François Girard is the award-winning director of
The Red Violin,
Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould and
Silk, and has collaborated with artists such as Peter Gabriel and Cirque du Soleil. The McGill shoot is for his new film,
Hochelaga, terre des âmes ("land of the souls"). The film traces 750 years in the history of Mount Royal by linking five disparate events – including a contemporary football game, legendary neurosurgeon
Wilder Penfield operating on conscious patients at the Montreal Neurological Institute during the 1940s, and French explorer Jacques Cartier's visit to the titular Iroquois village in 1535.
Hochelaga, terre des âmes will be released next year, as part of Montreal's 375th anniversary celebrations.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info office
(514) 398-7012
