MONTREAL -- Quarterback Arnaud Desjardins rushed for a pair of touchdowns and passed for another as the Laval Rouge et Or convincingly halted a two-game losing streak with a lopsided 55-2 victory over McGill before 2,000 rain-soaked fans at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.

It put a damper on a Homecoming Game that also served as a memorial to the late Michael Soles, a former McGill and CFL running back who passed away on July 7 at the age of 54 after a 16-year struggle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Despite the gloomy day, many of his 1987 Vanier Cup championship teammates were on hand for a pre-game reception with some members of the Soles family..

Laval, which won the turnover battle 11-1 (McGill was 0-for-8 on third down attempts), has now won 31 consecutive games against McGill dating back to 2001. The Rouge et Or led 25-0 after the first quarter, 42-0 at halftime and 53-2 after three stanzas. The game was called by the officials with 64 seconds remaining after a lengthy delay, the result of what appeared to be a serious lower body injury to freshman Zachary Aboud, the starting centre for McGill.

The Rouge et Or came to play with a chip on their shoulders after having lost two consecutive games for the first time in two decades. They registered 29 first downs and 427 yards of net offence, compared to 10 and 57, respectively, by the Redbirds, who dropped to 1-4.

Laval (3-2) racked up six touchdowns -- all but one from inside the six-yard line -- and added a dozen points on a whopping six safety touches conceded by McGill's offence in an attempt to gain better field position.

McGill, which took 14 of 23 penalties called, snapped Laval's shutout bid with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter, registering a safety touch of their own, to make the score 44-2.

Desjardins, a freshman who was making his first career start, completed 16 of 22 passing attempts for 190 yards, one TD and one interception. He also rushed seven times for 33 yards and a pair of TDs. He connected with receiver Kevin Mittal for a six-yard scoring major to put Laval ahead 16-0 before the contest was 10 minutes old. Mittal had put Laval ahead 7-0 on a 34-yard run only 70 seconds after the opening kickoff.

Laval's other two TDs were scored by Jordan Duprey -- on a 39-yard flea-flicker pass from receiver Mathieu Robitaille -- and a three-yard run by Robitaille. Rounding out the scoring was kicker Vincent Blanchard, who converted all six TDs and added a rouge on a missed 37-yard field-goal attempt.

McGill quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos was sacked three times while completing 13 of 27 passing attempts for 155 yards and two interceptions. He also rushed once for 13 yards. His favourite targets were Darius Simmons (5 for 73 yds) and Pearce Dumay (6 for 33). McGill's leading rusher was Elijah Williams, who carried a dozen times for 60 yards.

The fate of McGill's playoff hopes rest on the next game, in Sherbrooke on Saturday, Oct. 9. Both teams are 1-4 and in the five-team Quebec league, one of them will make the playoffs. The Redbirds, who defeated Sherbrooke 21-18 on Sept. 4, can gain the upper-hand for post-season play with a victory over the Vert & Or (or a loss by less than three points in the head-to-head tie-breaker). The confrontation will be broadcast nationally as the game of the week on TVA Sports, a French-language network available across the country for anyone who has it on their cable TV grid.

REDBIRDS RAP: DB Ryan McNally and LB Anthony Leclerc led the McGill defence with 8.5 tackles each, including a half-sack...DB Tristan Fleury had 6.5 tackles and an interception... LB Dimitri Papanikolaou had five tackles, includiung 1.5 sacks... Among the many former teammates on hand for a pre-game VIP reception for Michael Soles, was members of the 1987 Vanier Cup championship. Included in that group was Wayne McRae, Bruno Pietrobon, Vincent Gagne, Martin Lareau, Robin Belanger, Joff Elkas, Denis Champagne, Christian Masotti, Danny Wong... Other McGill football grads on hand included Dr. Steven Papp, Andrew Boon and Greg Hetherington.

BOXSCORE

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca