QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – Make it 7-of-7 for No. 1 Laval and quarterback Benoit Groulx.
The top-ranked Rouge et Or dominated the AUS-leading Acadia Axemen (4-3) on Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-0 on the season and clinch first place in the Quebec conference and home-field advantage throughout the QUFL playoffs.
Sophomore quarterback Benoit Groulx, the front-runner for player-of-the-year honours in Quebec, had his seventh 300-yard passing game in as many outings this fall as he went 28-of-40 for 341 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Groulx, who entered the game with a CIS-best average of 333.7 yards passing per outing, now has 2343 on the year and stands 52 yards back of the QUFL record of 2395 set by former Laval great Mathieu Bertrand in 2003.
“If we can go 8-0 with a win over Montreal next week that will be the icing on the cake but our number-one priority was to take care of business today and clinch first place,” said the second-year pivot from Laval, Que., who leads the CIS for a second straight year with a 68.2 completion percentage. “I have so many great players around me I can’t take too much credit for my personal success. This is why I chose to come to Laval last year after they won back-to-back Vanier Cups.”
Laval opened the game with a 10-play, 87-yard scoring drive and never looked back. Groulx went six-of-six in the opening sequence capping off the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to Laurent Lavigne Massé, a six-foot-three junior from Montreal.
Lavigne-Massé, who finished with six catches for 112 yards, sent the Rouge et Or to the locker room ahead 17-0 with his second TD reception of the afternoon, a nine-yard catch with exactly one minute left in the first half.
Freshman Marc Rémillard of St-Luc, Que. had Laval’s third and final major on an 11-yard reception in the fourth stanza. Cameron Takacs of Brantford, Ont. was perfect on three field-goal attempts to bring his CIS-leading total to 19 on the season – in 21 attempts.
Sophomore Anthony Mayes caught a one-yard TD pass from backup quarterback James Michener with 54 seconds left in the contest as the Axemen avoided the goose egg.
Laval out-gained Acadia 438-164 in total yards and 24-13 on first downs.
No. 1 Laval (7-0), who extended its win streak in regular-season play to 20 games, rounds out the conference schedule next Saturday at No. 7 Montreal (4-2, playing later today at Sherbrooke). Acadia (4-3) finishes at Mount Allison (2-4).
