MONTREAL -- There is much reason for optimism as the McGill University football team embarks upon their 119th season. The home opener, for the 51st annual Shaughnessy Cup game, is slated for Friday, Aug. 30 when Concordia will visit Percival Molson Stadium in a 4 p.m. kickoff. McGill is coming off a third-place result in the five-team RSEQ conference, their highest standing in the Quebec league since 2002, when they finished first and won the league's Dunsmore Cup championship.
Head coach and defensive coordinator
Ronald Hilaire returns for his sixth season at the helm and has a veteran 86-man roster that features 33 freshmen, 22 sophomores, 15 juniors and 16 seniors. His lineup is composed of 67 Quebecers, in addition to five from British Columbia, five Ontario products, two out of Manitoba and one from Alberta. Rounding out the squad are six imports, including four from France, plus one Australian and a native of Brazil.
"We are no longer just a young team and our large recruiting class over the last few years is a relatively mature one, many of whom saw significant playing time as freshmen," says Hilaire. "Our defence has the most veterans but the strength of our team should be in all three facets of the game. We have a good-looking group but to be good, we have to play that way. Our success will not happen overnight but we have sufficient talent and the chance to do something special. We want to achieve goals that nobody around the league believes we can do."
Four of the five teams in the RSEQ will qualify for post-season play, in a league that has produced 10 of the last 16 national champions. The balanced schedule features a home-and-home meeting against each of the four other teams. In a conference that features perennial national contenders Laval and Montreal, McGill's playoff hopes are primarily a factor of how they do in their four games against Concordia and Sherbrooke. Winning three of those four contests, or sweeping either of those two teams, would virtually assure a playoff berth for the second straight season and the third time since 2012.
At quarterback, 5-foot-10, 186-pound junior
Dimitrios Sinodinos will spearhead the offence after becoming a surprise starter last year, when he completed 87 of 195 passes for 1,069 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed 15 times for 32 yards and one TD.
An array of receivers are led by the unrelated pairing of
Joel Soucy (19 rec., 178 yds.) and
Mathieu Soucy, along with sophomore wide-out
Nicolas Baillargeon and junior slotback
Pearce Dumay, who also shines on special teams, where he racked up 334 yards last year, only seven shy of the team lead.
The offensive line will be young but the largest in McGill history, measuring an average of 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds. Probable starters include sophomore left tackle
Alexandre Marcoux (6-3, 261), sophomore left guard
Maxime Bernatchez-Tremblay (6-8, 342), junior centre
Ludovic Morin (6-3, 297), sophomore right guard
Louis-David Deschenes (6-2, 283). The right tackle position will likely be a battle between sophomore
Alex Montpetit (6-8, 283), sophomore
Robert Riddle (6-8, 313) and freshman
Julien El-Hajj (6-3, 266), a product of Vanier College.
Buttressing the front five is tight end
Yvan Desjardins, a six-foot, 214-pound senior, who made eight catches for 52 yards.
With all that size up front, the running attack should be more of a factor this year after only scoring a combined total of three rushing TDs over the past two seasons. Leading the way is speedy 5-foot-8, 194-pound senior
Donavan Martel who ran for 166 yards on 46 carries before being injured last season.
Senior
Findlay Brown is expected to handle all the kicking chores but will be challenged by newcomer
Andrew Kyriakou, a native of Australia who has a strong leg. Brown, who has led the team in scoring in each of his first three seasons, has a career 78 per cent success rate in field-goals (32/41), with a long of 40. Last year, he was 8-for-10 on field-goals, while averaging 36.0 yards on 70 punts, 52.1 yards on 20 kickoffs.
On defence, the line will be anchored by all-conference tackle
Andrew Seinet-Spaulding, a six-foot, 292-pound senior who has six career quarterback sacks. In seven games last season, he managed 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 QB sacks, despite being double-teamed. Others in the mix to start include junior RE
Xavier Bilodeau (6-1, 232; 5.5 TFL, 3 QB sacks), sophomore NT
Thomas Trepanier (6-1, 261; 7.5 tackles), junior RE
Joshua Archibald-Cimon (6-3, 238; 20.5 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and fifth-year senior RE
Simon Aubin-Lavoie (6-2, 223).
The linebacking corps is spearheaded by senior
Antoine Mongeau (5-10, 197; 25.5 tackles, 1.5 QB sacks, 1 knockdown) on the strong side with senior
Alexandre Paré (6-2,222; 30 tackles, 4 QB sacks, 1 INT return for a 55-yard TD) in the middle and senior
Jean-Philippe Hudon (5-7; 181) on the weak-side. Hudon is coming off a breakout season, in which he was credited with 42 tackles, 1.5 QB sacks, one INT, one knockdown, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
The secondary is loaded with depth, led by a pair of inside halfbacks, senior
Vincent Dethier (21.5 tackles, 1 QB sack, 1 INT, 4 knockdowns, 3 fumble recoveries) and junior
Benjamin Carré, who had a league-leading five interceptions—two returned for TDs—to go along with 25.5 tackles, a pair of QB sacks, one knockdown, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick.
Junior
Tristan Fleury (13.5 tackles) is slotted to start at free safety while there will be a dogged battle between three juniors for the two cornerback positions, namely
Markens Valcourt 13.0 tackles)
Guillaume Béland (14 tackles, 1 INT, 4 KDs, 1 fumble recovery) and
Chris Mbiya (20 tackles, 2 KDs, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 blocked kicks).
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012
