Gaiters’ Strong Start Not Enough to Beat Montreal’s Brouillette and Sené
Despite a strong and efficient first quarter by the Gaiters in the Dunsmore Cup semi-final, they were not able to stop the surging University of Montreal Carabins offense that dominated the latter part of the elimination game. Ranked #8 in the country, the Carabins enjoyed the return of their quarterback Marc-Olivier Brouillette after missing one game, while the Gaiters missed the presence of Jesse Andrews, who suffered a shoulder injury against Concordia and was not cleared for the game. Jordan Heather got his first career start as a Gaiter at the windy CEPSUM Stadium in front of 3,057 fans, but was not able to bring his offense down the field, as the Gaiters lost 40-15.
The Gaiters could not have asked for a better start, coming out guns blazing and stuffing Montreal on their first drive. After the punt, rookie quarterback Jordan Heather went 3-for-3 and 50 yards, highlighted by a 15 yard touchdown pass to Dave Soucy to give the Gaiters an early lead. The following Carabins drive was also picked apart by the Gaiter defense, who allowed only one first down, before special teams came on the field and downed the ball at the Montreal 2-yard line, because of a long snap that Montreal’s kicker Pierre-Paul Gelinas could not handle. Heather took over only two yards out of the end zone and handed it off to Tim Cronk for a 2-yard dive into the end zone to put the Gaiters up 14-0.
Gelinas soon brought his team back to life with a 28-yard field goal that seemed to blow some wind into their sails, as the defense only let up a single point on the following drive and took control of the game. The rest of the game was simply an entire highlight reel for Montreal, with plays from Marc-Olivier Brouillette, Retrand Sené and Youssi Pierre who all seemed unstoppable.
Montreal started the second quarter with a 90-yard drive that was capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brouillette to Pierre. Gelinas kicked his second of four field goals, which was then followed by an 85-yard drive and finished with an 8-yard scamper into the end zone by Rotrand Sené. Three Bishop’s safeties, another Gelinas field goal and a single rounded out the scoring going into the fourth quarter, putting the Carabins up 30-15.
With the wind at their backs, the Gaiters had to pull something special out of the playbook, but Jordan Heather repeated the efforts of the two previous quarters, punting and turning the ball over on downs twice respectively. The Carabins added on to their lead, getting another touchdown from Sené after a 97-yard drive and putting the game out of reach with a Gelinas field goal from the thirty-one.
The Gaiter offense seriously struggled against a prevailing Montreal defense that only allowed 191 total offensive yards including 69 yards rushing. Jordan Heather completed 12 of 28 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Shawn Gore hauled in 5 passes for 114 yards; the second time he has reached 100 yards this season.
Montreal had a much more successful day in almost every aspect of the offensive game, amassing 639 yards. Marc-Olivier Brouillette threw 26 passes and completed 19 for 363 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Rotrand Sené carried the ball 30 times and collected 236 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Receiver Youssi Pierre caught 9 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown. The only offensive aspect in which Montreal did not shine so brightly was the turnover count, which favoured Bishop’s 5-3.
The Gaiters finish the QUFL season with a record of 4-5, while Montreal are 6-3 hopefuls going into next Saturday’s Dunsmore Cup final against the Laval Rouge et Or at PEPS Stadium. The Stingers were blown out 63-1 by Laval, favourites to win the Dunsmore Cup and the Vanier Cup, which will both be hosted by the number one ranked Rouge et Or.
