MONTREAL – Back-up quarterback
Adam Vance threw for 293 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for one more as the visiting Concordia Stingers put a damper on McGill's Homecoming activities with a 36-10 victory to capture the 49th annual Shaughnessy Cup game at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
The result clinched a playoff berth for the Stingers who swept their season series with the Redmen. Concordia sits third in the RSEQ conference with a 3-3 record. McGill, which dropped to 1-5, remained tied with Sherbrooke (1-6) for the final playoff berth in the five-team league. The Vert & Or will close out their schedule at McGill next Saturday in a must-win affair for both teams. McGill, which has a game in hand, holds a two-point differential in the head-to-head series with an 18-16 victory in the first meeting, played in Sherbrooke.
The Stingers led 14-7 after the opening quarter, 20-10 at halftime and there was no scoring in the third quarter. In the final stanza, Concordia put the game out of reach, outscoring McGill 16-0. Concordia, which generated 419 yards of net offence compared to 226 by McGill, had a 20-11 advantage in first downs. McGill committed eight turnovers with one two via interception, one from a fumble and five on failed third-down attempts. The Stingers only had only one of each category for three turnovers. The game was marred by 35 penalties, including 18 for 150 yards assessed to McGill and 17 for 135 against Concordia.
Vance, who was starting in place of injured Trent Miller, completed 18 of 28 passes and was picked off once. He added 35 yards on five carries. He hooked up with
James Tyrrell for an early 64-yard pass-and-run scoring play before the contest was three minutes old. Vance made it 14-0 on the Stinger next possession, at the 6:35 mark, when Vance called his own number and scampered for an eight-yard TD run.
McGill came to life in the final minute of the quarter. Place-kicker
Findlay Brown was wide on a 33-yard field-goal attempt. On the ensuing return,
Quaysie Gordon-Maule was tackled in the end zone by McGill captain
Joel Houle and the Redmen capitalized when defensive back
Vincent Dethier fell on the loose ball for a touchdown, narrowing the gap to 14-7.
Brown connected for a 34-yard field-goal early in the second quarter but Concordia's
Andrew Stevens replied with two of his own, from distances of 36 and 40 yards to take a 20-10 lead in the final stanza. Stevens ended up with 10 points on the day, including four conversions.
The Stingers added a pair of TDs in the final stanza. Vance connected with
Yanic Lessard for a 12-yard major at 1:52 to put Concordia ahead 27-10. Then after McGill conceded a league-leading 14th safety touch at the midway mark, running back
Jean-Guy Rimpel closed out the scoring with a two-yard run and just 16 seconds remaining on the clock. Rimpel led all rushers with 88 yards on 22 carries and added another 19 yards on two receptions.
For McGill, sophomore
Frederic Paquette-Perreault started at quarterback and was 10-of-19 passing for 115 yards and one interception. He was relieved at halftime by freshman
Dimitrios Sinodinos, who completed three of 13 attempts for 73 yards and one pick.
One of few bright spots for the Redmen was on special teams, where return specialist
Joshua Lucas, a freshman from Victoria, B.C., who led all players with 151 all-purpose yards. He racked up 13 yards on four kickoff returns and added another 48 on six punt returns.
Defensively, McGill linebacker
Dane Wagner led all players with 10 total tackles, eight of them solo. Linebacker
David Polynice had the only Redmen interception. He was also credited with a knockdown and a pair of solo tackles.
NOTE: Three schools appealed the RSEQ's ruling that only winning percentage would determine the final standings in the wake the Oct. 5 cancelled game between Concordia and Montreal. The RSEQ has announced that the hearing will be held on Oct. 17 by an independent and neutral jury.
REDMEN RAP: McGill's 48-man dress-list featured 18 freshmen, 18 sophomores, seven juniors and five seniors. The Shaughnessy Cup is an annual contest between the cross-town rivals named in memory of
Frank Shaughnessy, a McGill hall of fame builder who coached at both institutions and introduced the forward pass to Canadian football in 1921 and lobbied for 10 years before it was adopted. Concordia leads the all-time series with McGill by a 43-38 margin, including a 25-18 record in Shaughnessy Cup play. McGill also owns a 5-0-1 mark in Cup play against Loyola College before they merged with Sir George Williams to form Concordia in 1975.
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE
LINK TO RSEQ LEAGUE STATS
| 2017 RSEQ Football Standings • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ 2017 |
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