By Neil Stevens,
Canadian Press
TORONTO — If Ted Abraham is half as good a quarterback as he is a student, the Saint Mary’s Huskies might be okay after all.
Abraham was thrust into the Vanier Cup starter’s role when No. 1 Erik Glavic tore a right knee ligament in the win over Laval last weekend that earned the Huskies their spot in the national universities football final.
When the 21-year-old backup from Bedford, N.S., trots onto the Rogers Centre field against the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night, he’ll be starting for the Huskies for the first time.
“It’s exciting,” Abraham said after practice Tuesday night. “You’ve got to look at it for what it is: a football game.
“I’ve got to look at it as if it was any other game and prepare the same way if I was backing up. You’ve got to be ready at all times. I’ll just do the best I can do.”
Abraham is six feet four and 215 pounds. He started playing quarterback in Grade 10 at Charles P. Allen H.S. in Bedford. He threw a grand total of 19 passes for the Huskies during the regular season, completing nine for 107 yards and one touchdown. He was 0-for-4 during the second half of the national semifinal in relief of Glavic.
“The big thing is that he’s a very smart individual,” said head coach Steve Sumarah. “He’s a science student with a 4.1 out of 4.3 grade-point average, a cerebral guy who understands what his role is in this position and realizes that it’s a team game and that it’s not all on his shoulders to win or lose it.”
Abraham is working towards an honours degree in chemistry and hopes to become a Rhodes Scholar upon graduation in two years.
When he is in a passing situation Friday night, he’ll have Carl Hardwick, Shawn White, Darcy Brown, Aaron Racioppa and Ryean Warburton to throw to. It is the best receiving corps in the country. All Abraham has to do now is find them.
He’ll be handing the ball off a lot to Jacques-Olivier Lumbala, Allistair Blair and Craig Leger.
“Again, I’m going to focus as if it’s any other football game,” said Abraham. “I’ll see if I can block out all the surroundings.”
Glavic found out from MRIs on Monday that the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee was torn.
“It was kind of surreal at first,” Abraham said of realizing he’d be starting Friday. “It didn’t sink in until (Tuesday).
“My family and friends were very supportive. We’ll do our best out here. I think we can pull it off.”
Glavic, who is a nominee for the Hec Crichton Award as most outstanding player in Canada, has had his chance to start in the national final near his home town of Pickering shattered.
“It’s tough,” Glavic said as he stood alone beside the practice field while his teammates pulled on the pads in a dressing room. “You play the whole season hoping to get here and then once you’re here you’re told you can’t play.
“It’s tough but, at the same time, as long as we win the Cup, with or without me, I still think we have the players and the talent to do it.”
He intends to be of help in the big game.
“I’ll help him out any which way I can, letting him know a few ins and outs, how to read a few plays, let him know what I see in their defence,” said Glavic. “I’ll probably be on the sidelines.
“We’ll work closely together. He’s usually pretty good on the sidelines giving me info so I’m sure I’ll be doing the same.
“It wasn’t me that brought us here. It was the team, the whole team concept. I still feel confident we can bring it home.”
Glavic will have surgery when returns to Halifax.
Meanwhile, Manitoba will go with reliable John Makie at quarterback.
The six-foot-two native of Regina was eighth in Canada with 2,022 passing yards and nine touchdowns during the eight-game regular season. He’s quick and he’s protected by a strong offensive line. He was sacked only eight times. He threw three touchdown passes in the big win over Western to get to the Vanier Cup game.
“We’re clicking,” Makie says of the Bisons’ offence. “We’re getting it done in the red zone, where we had trouble all season.”
He’s never played against Saint Mary’s.
“We watched film on them,” he said. “Their defence is very good.
“Their DBs are very athletic. Their D-line are huge monsters. Their whole front seven is a very good group but, you know, we’re good as well. It’s going to be a good game. We’ve got to continue out roll on offence and get it done.”
