Box Score
MONTREAL – Quarterback Jonathan Senecal passed for four touchdowns and 397 yards as the Montreal Carabins cruised to a 43-11 victory over McGill to open the RSEQ university football season before more than 3,500 at Stade CEPSUM, Saturday.
 
It also marked the 152nd football opener for the McGill squad, which was founded in 1872.

The Carabins led 10-1 after the opening quarter, 25-4 at halftime and 41-4 after three stanzas. McGill outscored their hosts 7-2 in the final quarter. Much of the first half was played in drizzling rain that led to an amusing sequence of four fumbles on 10 plays between the cross-town rivals.

McGill committed seven turnovers, including two on fumbles, one on an interception and four on downs. Montreal had no turnovers. The Carabins generated 25 first downs and 444 net yards, compared to McGill's 17 and 251, respectively. The Redbirds took 11 penalties for 95 yards, while Montreal had seven for 50.

Quarterback Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald tallied the lone TD for the Redbirds, on a nine-yard run with 2:12 remaining in the contest. The 21-year-old education sophomore from Montreal, was the victim of four dropped passes and finished the game with 13 completions on 26 passing attempts for 154 yards and one interception. He led McGill in rushing with 64 yards on 10 carries but was also charged with three fumbles, losing possession on one of them. 

Senecal, who completed an impressive 26 of 30 passing attempts, found four different receivers in the endzone. Receiver Carl Chabot snared four balls for 108 yards and Hassane Dosso, a third-year receiver from France, collected 102 yards on eight catches, including a 31-yard major that put the Carabins ahead 18-4 just 80 seconds before halftime. Other TDs were hauled in by Lyshawn Dubois to open the scoring, Alex Jones-Dudley on a 30-yard reception that gave his troops a 25-4 lead and William Legault on a 13-yard toss late in the third quarter to make the score 41-4.

Rounding out the Carabins scoring was Glodi Halafu on a five-yard TD run and kicker Philippe Boyer who was good on his only field-goal attempt (from 28 yards), added a rouge and converted all five touchdowns. They also tallied a pair safety touches conceded by McGill punter Antoine Couture in the endzone. Couture scored the remaining points for the Redbirds, going 1-for 2 on field-goals (making a 34-yarder and missing a 29-yarder), in addition to a rouge and a conversion.

McGill (0-1) will host Sherbrooke (0-1) in the home opener at Percival Molson Stadium on Friday (Sept. 1) at 7 p.m.  Sherbrooke, which lost to Laval on Friday, owns a 20-11 lifetime record versus McGill, including a 10-7 mark at Molson Stadium. But the Redbirds won 50-36 in the last home meeting, scoring seven touchdowns, one shy of the single-game school record set way back in 1960.

Also next Friday night, Montreal (1-0) plays a nightcap at Concordia (0-0) at the same time.

REDBIRDS RAP: Both teams dressed 52 players, a roster increase of four more than was permitted last year... WR David Kabwe led McGill offensively with 132 all-purpose yards,, including 116 on six kickoff returns, 11 on a pair of carries and five on a reception. One of his rushes was a spectacular 10-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that featured him hurdling over a defender on a play that had the fans gasping in unison... DB Jahnai-Taj Copeland-Lewis led the McGill defence with six solo tackles, while DB Charles Cossette was credited with five tackles and DB Ryan McNally had 4.5 tackles with a knockdown.
 
BOXSCORE

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012
WEBSITE:www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca