SHERBROOKE – Place-kicker Mario Delli Fraine connected on an 18-yard field-goal with 2:24 remaining while quarterback Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as McGill pulled off a 29-26 victory at Sherbrooke in RSEQ football, Friday.
 
The result, which silenced a noisy crowd of 7,127, was McGill's first victory on U de S's grass field in seven years – since an 18-16 conquest on Sept. 9, 2017 – halting a five-game losing streak there.
 
"ELR" threw for a personal best 422 yards, completing 20 of 38 attempts, and rushed for 113 yards on 11 carries. The 6-foot-4, 197-pound physical education junior from Montreal directed an offence that generated 25 first downs and 528 yards, compared to Sherbrooke's totals of 17 and 292, respectively. His previous best career high single-game passing total was 391 yards against Laval on Sept. 3, 2022.
 
His favourite targets were receivers David Kabwe and Darius Simmons, who both went over the century mark. Kabwe hauled in six receptions for 150 yards and one TD. The scoring play occurred on 10-yard toss that gave the Redbirds an early 7-0 lead, just 57 seconds after the opening kickoff.

Simmons snared five balls for 138 yards.The dynamic duo was among eight different receivers to catch at least one pass.

"Offensively, I'm happy with what we saw and what we did," said new McGill bench boss Alex Surprenant, who collected his first official win as head coach at the university level. "(Sherbrooke) allowed us to take vertical shots in man-to-man situations and our guys made some big plays, so I was pretty happy with the receiving corps. Defensively, it was not a bad performance as our unit often had to work with a short field for much of the game. They came up with a big interception (to stop Sherbrooke late in the game) that allowed us to kill the clock. However, It was a really tough day (for us) on special teams. Our coverage units struggled as we allowed way too many yards on the kick returns."

The game appeared to be one-sided in the statistics department for McGill but was a nail-biter on the turf. The Redbirds led 7-0 after the opening quarter, 17-10 at halftime and 24-16 after three but Sherbrooke fought back to win the final stanza 10-5. The Vert & Or were poised for at least a tie after gaining possession for a first down on McGill's 18-yard line with 1:24 remaining in regulation time. But that drive was snuffed out when Redbirds defensive back Philippe Trudel intercepted a Jeremy Fyfe pass with 63 seconds left.

Trudel, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound physical education junior from Trois-Rivieres, Que., was also credited with a pair of solo tackles and one assisted tackle.

Fyfe finished the day with a tepid 135 yards in the air, completing 17 of 27 attempts with one TD. He found receiver William Marchand in the endzone with a four-yard toss to knot the score at 26-26 after the convert by Antoine Couture with 5:04 left in the game.
 
Couture, who accounted for 14 points, went 4-for-5 in his place-kicking duties. He connected on field-goals from distances of 10, 20, 24 and 17 but missed a 49-yard attempt with about five minutes left in the third quarter.

McGill appeared poised to have a firm grasp on the outcome early in the second quarter after Latendresse-Regimbald scampered seven yards into the endzone for a 14-3 lead. But Sherbrooke responded just a minute later when tailback Jonathan Martel-Joseph broke loose for a 65-yard TD run, reducing the deficit to 14-10.  He registered a game-high 139 rushing yards on 14 carries.
 
The Redbirds slipped into the driver's seat once again when ELR sprinted 39 yards for his second rushing TD on the last play of the third quarter to go ahead 24-16.

Delli Fraine, a freshman kicker from Rosemere, Que., ended up with nine points. He made all three conversions and was perfect on his two field-goal attempts, including a 38-yarder that put the Redbirds ahead 17-10 at 11:05 of the third quarter. He averaged 54.2 yards on five kickoffs.

Rounding out the scoring a a safety touch awarded to McGill early in the final period to put the Redbirds ahead 26-16.

McGill was penalized nine times for 85 yards, compared to Sherbrooke's tally of 8-for-45. The Redbirds had a 4-2 disadvantage in turnovers, losing two balls on fumbles and twice on downs. The Vert & Or were intercepted once and lost possession once on downs. Sherbrooke defensive line also had a 2-1 edge in QB sacks.

McGill (1-1) now turns its focus on preparations for a Sept. 14 matinee against Laval (1-0), which hosts top-ranked Montreal (2-0) on Saturday in a televised game on the TVA Sports network.

REDBIRDS RAP: DB Jahnai-Taj Copeland Lewis paced the McGill defence with two solos and five assisted... CB Thomas Raphael was credited with four solos and one assisted, while DHB Victor Paradis had three solos and two assisted... The team's lone sack was by nosetackle Teddy Charlot.... The 422 passing yards by ELR ranks as the 10th highest single-game total in McGill football history. Matt Connell reached the 400 plateau seven times, including twice over 500. His single-game school record is 557 (Oct. 20, 2007 vs Concordia), followed by 536 (Sept. 22, 2007 vs Acadia). The only other McGill players to throw for at least 400 were Ryne Bondy (494 in 2011) and Pierre-Luc Dussault (538 in 2013). See list below.

BOXSCORE:
 
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS
 

McGill Single-game Highs for Most  Passing Yards

 

YDS	NAME (DATE / OPPONENT)
557	Matt Connell, McGill (20 oct. 2007 vs Concordia)
538	Pierre-Luc Dussault (28 sept. 2013 @ Concordia)
536	Matt Connell, McGill (22 sept. 2007 vs Acadia)
494	Ryne Bondy, McGill (29 oct. 2011 vs Concordia)
487	Matt Connell, McGill (6 sept. 2008 @ Sherbrooke)
465	Frederic Paquette-Perrault (14 oct. 2016 @ Bishop's)
449	Matt Connell - McGill (Oct. 1, 2005 vs. Sherbrooke)
440	Matt Connell, McGill (12 sept. 2008 vs Concordia)
426	Matt Connell - McGill (Sept. 6, 2006 vs. Laval)
422	Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald - McGill (6 sept. 2024 @ Sherbrooke)
415	Matt Connell - McGill (Oct. 2, 2004 at Concordia)
415	Matt Connell - McGill (Oct. 14, 2006 vs Sherbrooke)

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