MONTREAL – Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another as McGill rallied from an early 14-0 deficit with 26 unanswered points en route to a 26-14 victory over visiting Sherbrooke before 2,255 at Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.
 
It was McGill's second straight win over the Vert & Or, dating back to last season as the Redbirds improved to 12-20 lifetime against Sherbrooke. The result evened McGill's regular season record at 1-1, while Sherbrooke dropped to 0-2.

The visitors struck first, registering a pair of touchdowns over a four-minute span. Running back Michael Morin broke free for a 20-yard TD run on the last play of the first quarter. Minutes later, receiver Pier-Olivier Cadoret hauled in a one-yard TD pass from quarterback Anthony Robichaud. Things didn't look good for Old McGill.

But the Redbirds rebounded after place-kicker Antoine Couture nailed a 38-yard field goal at 8:46 of the second stanza to ignite an explosive third quarter. Couture finished with six points, converting three touchdowns. The psychology senior from Montreal responded well from an early blocked 23-yard field-goal attempt that ignited a nine-play scoring drive for Sherbrooke's opening touchdown. He averaged 41.3 yards on nine punts, in addition to a 57.2 average over four kickoffs.

"At halftime, I told the guys that if we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, we should be okay," Redbirds head coach Ronald Hilaire told the media. "In our first game against Montreal, we paid dearly for our four or five turnovers. We started the game against Sherbrooke with a blocked kick. We had a breakaway, we gave big returns on special units. We had a good defensive game plan for what the Vert & Or had to offer. And we had a good offensive game plan too. We were lucky their 99 (suspended defensive lineman Dylan Côté) wasn't there, so that helped. We were able to run the ball behind our experienced offensive line. We have a couple of spark-plugs in the backfield. We used them and it paid off."

One of those was Redbirds running back Brandon Ciccarello, an arts sophomore from Kirkland, Que., who generated a game-high 226 all-purpose yards, including 153 on 15 carries, 55 on three kickoff returns and 18 on five punt returns.

Latendresse-Regimbald, a sophomore from Montreal, was 12-for-22 passing for 155 yards. More slippery than an eel, he added 68 more yards of real estate on eight carries. He took the ball in his own hands and scored on a one-yard plunge at 5:30 of the third quarter, narrowing the deficit to 14-10. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound pivot then found receivers Abdala Traore and Zacharie Magnan for short TD passes at the 12-minute mark and on the final play of the third, respectively, to put McGill ahead 24-14. The Redbirds added two points late in the fourth stanza when Sherbrooke punter Louis Tardif conceded a safety touch in exchange for better field position.

"When we play well, we can do great things," added Hilaire. "Our worst enemy is ourselves. Sherbrooke is a tough opponent. It feels good to win. There are never easy games. When you can win a game of character like this, when you've come from behind, it's great for your confidence. It gives you a good headwind for the rest of the season." 

McGill, which only had one turnover in this contest, collected 22 first downs and 426 net yards, compared to Sherbrooke, which had 16 and 272, respectively. The bulk of McGill's offence was produced by the ground game, which amassed 277 yards. The Redbirds took 11 penalties for 85 yards, while the Vert & Or had seven for 59. Both teams had one QB sack.

For Sherbrooke, the aforementioned Robichaud was 17-for-29 passing for 170 yards, one TD and an interception. Morin sparked the Vert & Or ground game with 90 yards on 10 carries and a TD.
 
Sherbrooke (0-2), which finished third in the RSEQ conference last year with a 4-4 record, plays at Concordia (0-1) on Sept. 8, while McGill (1-1) travels to the provincial capital to confront Laval (1-0) on Sept. 9 in a 7 p.m. kickoff for the televised game of the week on TVA Sports.
 
REDBIRDS RAP: Middle linebacker Ilan Barbaras paced the McGill defence with 6.5 tackles, while DB Philippe Trudel added 4.5 tackles, including a shared QB sack with DB Ryan McNally, who was credited 3.5 tackles and a knockdown... The lone interception of the game was made by DB Brendon Francois, who also collected 1.5 tackles.

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