OTTAWA (CFL.ca wire) -– McGill sophomore Charles-Antoine Sinotte is the new CIS football all-time record holder for receptions in a single season.
The six-foot, 178-pound wide receiver from Trois-Rivières, Que. hauled in 15 balls for 191 yards Saturday in a 58-30 loss to No. 10 Concordia to bring his 2007 total to 66 catches, three more than the previous single-season mark of 63 set by former Queen’s standout Craig Spear in 2003.
Ottawa’s Don Burns held the previous Quebec conference record of 61 since 1982.
Sinotte, who also leads the QUFL with 807 receiving yards this fall, will get a chance to add to his record-setting numbers next Saturday when the winless Redmen (0-7) wrap up conference play at home against Sherbrooke.
Sinotte already set a Quebec single-game mark earlier this year when he caught 18 balls in a loss to Bishop’s on Oct. 6, coming up one reception short of the CIS record. He also had a 16-catch performance against Acadia on Sept. 22.
The 20-year-old, who had a solid freshman campaign in 2006 when he finished in a tie for third place in Quebec with 28 catches for 430 yards, has benefited from McGill’s one-dimensional offence this season. Entering Saturday’s game against Concordia, the Redmen were dead last in the country in rushing averaging only 39.7 yards per outing, while their passing attack was tied for second in the nation averaging 301.5 yards.
Redmen fifth-year quarterback Matt Connell also had a record-setting day against Concordia.
The 23-year-old from St-Bruno, Que. completed 35 of 59 passes for 557 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He broke his own Quebec single-game mark of 536 passing yards set on Sept. 22 against Acadia, and now ranks third on the CIS all-time single-match list behind Calgary’s Greg Vavra’s 627 yards (Oct. 7, 1983 vs. Saskatchewan) and Queen’s Tommy Denison’s 561 yards (Nov. 2, 2002 vs. Western).
Connell also tied his own QUFL mark for passing attempts in a game, equalling his performance versus Acadia earlier this fall.
The six-foot, 225-pound pivot also continued his climb up the QUFL and CIS record lists for single-season and career passing completions, attempts and yards.
With one game remaining on McGill’s 2007 schedule, Connell leads the nation in all three categories going 182-for-305 for 2396 yards in seven outings.
Connell’s 182 completions are a Quebec single-season record and rank fifth on the CIS list, 21 shy of Denison’s 203 in 2003. His 305 attempts are a Quebec mark and are good for a tie for sixth place on the CIS list, 31 short of Vavra’s 336 in 1983. His 2396 yards leave him 26 shy of the Quebec single-campaign record of 2422 set a year ago by Laval’s Benoit Groulx.
His career numbers are equally impressive.
Connell is the Quebec record-holder with 592 completions, tied for third place in CIS history with Acadia’s Larry Jusdanis (1991-95) and 19 short of Vavra’s mark of 611 set from 1979-83. With 999 career attempts, he holds the Quebec record and is one shy of becoming the seventh player in CIS history to reach the 1000-attempt plateau. With 7863 yards, he is 137 yards away from becoming the 10th 8000-yard passer in CIS history, and is 425 short of the Quebec record of 8288 yards owned by Laval’s Mathieu Bertrand (1998-99 / 2001-03).
A number of other CIS players made headlines on Saturday.
At Waterloo, Ont. Western running back Randy McAuley scored three touchdowns, a pair on the ground and one receiving, as the Mustangs (4-4) clinched the last OUA playoff ticket with a 37-3 win over the Warriors.
McAuley finishes his five-year career with 43 all-purpose majors, good for second on the OUA all-time list and fourth in the CIS record book, and 40 rushing TDs, second all-time in the OUA and third at the CIS level. The London, Ont. native leads the nation in 2007 with 13 rushing majors and ranks second with 15 all-purpose touchdowns.
At Toronto, Queen’s slotback Rob Bagg had 341 receiving yards on nine catches in a 54-24 win over the Varsity Blues, the second highest single-game receiving-yard total in OUA and CIS history. The record of 377 was set by another Golden Gael, James MacLean, against Guelph on Sept. 15, 2001.
At Ottawa, Gee-Gee kicker Ara Tchobanian went 3-of-5 on field goal attempts in a 43-win over Windsor to finish the season with 21 field goals, one shy of the OUA record of 22 set by McMaster’s Michael Ray in 2003 and two short of the CIS mark of 23 established by Manitoba’s Jamie Boreham in 2001.
The native of Ottawa became the 10th player in CIS history to split the uprights 20 times in one season.
