MONTREAL -- Rookie  quarterback Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two others as McGill rallied from an early 14-point deficit to outlast No. 10 ranked Sherbrooke 50-36 in wild RSEQ football game at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.

It was McGill's highest offensive output since a 53-11 conquest at Bishop's on Oct. 3, 2015. More importantly, the result snapped the team's five-game losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive with two games remaining in the RSEQ conference schedule.

The Redbirds amassed 32 first downs and 489 yards of net offence, compared to 24 and 377 by Sherbrooke. The Vert & Or took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter only to see it dissipate into a 21-19 deficit by halftime. McGill increased that cushion to 35-19 after three quarters before the visitors sprang back to life and won the final stanza 17-15.

"It was good to get the monkey off our back," said relieved McGill head coach Ronald Hilaire. "One of the things that was holding us back at a psychological level was the fact that we hadn't had the taste of victory since last year. Over the course of the first five games, we did a lot of things right but we weren't consistent enough. Today, we faced a little bit of adversity at the start and fell behind but we knew that if we focussed on doing the little things right, we could win this game because we felt that we had an edge in a lot of facets."

McGill scored seven touchdowns against Sherbrooke, one shy of the single-game school record set way back in 1960 with a 57-6 win over Western. That standard was matched in 2003, with a 61-0 whitewash over Sherbrooke. Coincidentally, both contests were also played at Molson Stadium.

Latendresse-Regimbald, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound field general from Montreal, was in total control of his troops. He completed 17 of 28 passing attempts for 290 yards, a pair of TDs and no interceptions. The 20-year-old physical education freshman rushed 11 times for 75 yards and three majors, all on one-yard plunges. He now ranks fifth in the nation in passing yards per game (258.7) and is second in rushing yards per contest (8.9).

He found receivers Antonio Gioffre of St. Leonard, Que., and William Langlais of Chicoutimi, in the endzone. Gioffre, a freshman, snared five balls for 68 yards while Langlais, a senior, caught three for 66. McGill's leading receiver was All-Canadian Darius Simmons who had 71 yards on five catches and continues to lead the nation with an average of 120.8 yards per game.

Also sparking McGill's offence was the electric play of sophomore speedster Elijah Williams, a 5-foot-10, 188-pound running back from Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., who rushed for a career-high 112 yards on 13 carries and one TD. Williams wore jersey No. 27 and that was reminiscent to some alumni of another former No. 27 Gerry Iffil, who scored three TDs in the 1987 Vanier Cup national championship game, a 47-11 victory over UBC.

"When 27 is rolling, it opens up a lot of options for our offence," noted Hilaire. "I'm just so happy for that young man. He has overcome a lot of adversity. He is sticking to doing the right things consistently and he was rewarded for that today."

The other Redbirds scoring major was produced from the defensive side of the ledger, when Costa Papanikolaou, a sophomore linebacker from Kirkland, Que., scooped up a fumble and returned it 30 yards to give McGill a 21-16 lead with less than a minute to go before halftime.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was eight points from third-year kicker Antoine Couture of Montreal, including a rouge on a 60-yard kickoff. Couture, who was not called upon to attempt any field goals, averaged 34.0 yards on five punts and 54.9 on eight kickoffs.

The Redbirds limited Sherbrooke rushing game to only 66 yards.

"Collectively, we played well on defence," said Hilaire, who also serves as the team's defensive coordinator. "One of the things that we wanted to do today was stop the run. Sherbrooke has done very well in that area and it has kept them in a lot of their games. Once we were able to do that, I thought that our defensive backs could contain Sherbrooke's passing game. After a few defensive breakdowns early on, we managed to limit them. However, I was a bit disappointed with the way we finished the game defensively. We made a lot of little mistakes and took penalties, extending their drives. We could have ended that game much earlier in the fourth quarter, but we just continued to keep them in it. We need to work on finishing games, especially when we have a big lead. but all things considered, I was happy with the defensive effort."

Leading the offence for Sherbrooke was  quarterback Anthony Robichaud, who was 23-for-43 passing, for 321 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He connected with receivers Yanis Lemaitre and Thomas Desrosiers.

Running back Charles Picard tallied two touchdowns on a pair of one-yard scampers. Kicker Louis Tardif completed the Sherbrooke scoring with 10 points, six of them on field-goals from distances of 22 and 37. The Vert & Or also registered a safety touch.

With one game remaining, Sherbrooke (3-4) currently sits third in the five-team RSEQ conference with a 3-4 record. They are assured of a playoff berth and will close out their regular season by hosting division-leading Montreal (5-0) on Oct. 22.

McGill (1-5) has two games remaining and now faces a must-win affair against Concordia (1-5) in the 53rd annual Shaughnessy Cup rivalry game during Homecoming Game at McGill. The confrontation is slated for Oct. 21, a rare Friday night affair at Molson Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. The Redbirds will be looking to avenge a 42-16 loss at Concordia on Sept. 17. If McGill defeats the Stingers, regardless of the score, the Redbirds will be in a playoff position, unless Concordia upsets Laval (5-1) in their final contest. Should Concordia pull that off, then McGill would have to knock off the Carabins to qualify.

REDBIRDS RAP: Among the faces in the crowd were two members of McGill 1987 national championship team, defensive lineman Dave Moffatt and defensive back Vincent Gagne...  Benjamin Labrosse of Dollard des Ormeaux, led the McGill defence with six solo tackles and a knockdown...  Brandon Francois added five solos... Jahnai-Taj Copeland-Lewis had the game's lone interception. It was his second of the season and the team's fifth pick in six contests, three shy of league-leading Laval... McGill had three QB sacks, including the aforementioned Costa Papanikolaou,  plus Tristan Fleury and Nassib Hassouna Jr.

BOXSCORE


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Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca