MONTREAL --
Louis-Philippe Simoneau made four field-goals and added a conversion to set a school place-kicking record as the undefeated and No.1-ranked Montreal Carabins defeated McGill 21-3 in RSEQ university football before a noisy crowd of 4,930 at Stade CEPSUM, Friday.
In a real defensive struggle, the omnipotent Carabins, who improved to 6-0, had a meagre 14-11 advantage in first downs and amassed only 289 net yards, compared to 190 by McGill, which dropped to 2-4.
Montreal, which clinched at least second-place and a home playoff game, led 5-0 after the opening quarter on a safety touch and a field-goal. They increased that to 15-0 by halftime and added three points in the third stanza. Both teams scored three in the final quarter.
Simoneau connected from distances of 13, 26, 22 and 32 yards. He converted a two-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback
Dimitri Morand at 6:58 of the second quarter to put the home side ahead 12-0. Simoneau now has 60 career field-goals, breaking the school record of 59 held by
Pierre-Paul Gélinas.
McGill's lone scoring lay came off a 41-yard field-goal from
Findlay Brown early in the final period, narrowing the gap to 18-3. The 21-year-old management senior from Winnipeg ranks second among league leaders with 13 field-goals, four benind Simoneau. Brown, who leads McGill in scoring with 48 points in six contests, is now 13-for-17 on the season, including a 4-for-5 performance from outside the 40-yard mark.
The boisterous crowd played a big role in McGill's feeble offensive performance during the first half. Quarterback
Dimitrios Sinodinos made a significant second-half adjustment to the noise finished up 20-for-35 passing for 218 yards. He was sacked seven times.
Morand, his Carabins counterpart, didn't fare much better. connecting on 17 of 26 for 227 yards. He was sacked once by McGill defensive lineman
Andrew Seinet-Spaulding, who had six solos tackles and a fumble recovery in the game and now shares the league lead in sacks at six sacks with
Benoit Marion of the Carabins, who had two in the game.
Neither pivot threw a TD pass nor did they get picked off.
Laurent Sansalone, a 5-foot-7, 176-pound running back from Laval, Que., was McGill's busiest player on offence, leading the team with 88 all-purpose yards. The fleet-footed freshman, wearing flashy golden spikes tallied 45 yards on five receptions, 30 on five carries and 13 on a kickoff return.
Lineback
Antoine Mongeau led the McGill defence with 7.5 tackles and a forced fumble.
McGill (2-4) remains third in the five-team RSEQ conference, and will travel to Concordia (1-4) on Oct. 12 in a 1 p.m. kickoff. With two games left to play, a win or tie will clinch third place and a second-consecutive playoff berth for McGill, which defeated Concordia 40-14 in the 51st annual Shaughnessy Cup game earlier this season.
BOXSCORE
2019 RSEQ UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Montreal (6-0) plays at Sherbrooke next Saturday (Oct. 12) at 2 p.m.
