CFL.ca Staff
OTTAWA — Quarterbacks Matt Connell of McGill and Josh Sacobie of Ottawa both fell short last week in their quest of breaking the CIS career record of 9,974 passing yards held since 2001 by former McMaster great Ben Chapdelaine (1997-2001) and becoming the first pivots in CIS history to reach the 10,000-yard plateau.
The two seniors get another crack at these historical standards on Saturday when the Redmen (0-6) host Montreal (3-3) at 12 p.m. in their second to last outing of the regular season, and the Gee-Gees (3-4) host Toronto (2-5) at 1 p.m. in their conference finale.
Connell was held to a season-low 181 yards through the air by StFX last weekend and now stands at 9,856 yards for his career. The 6-foot, 225-pound native of St. Bruno, Que., needs 119 yards to break Chapdelaine’s mark and 144 to reach 10,000.
In 36 career starts, including regular season and playoff games, Connell has failed to pass for 119 yards only twice, both times in his freshman year in 2004. He was held to 116 yards by Montreal in his first career start on Sept. 2 and to a career-low 93 yards by Laval on Oct. 16.
For Sacobie, who was limited to 202 yards by No. 2-ranked Queen’s last week, Saturday’s duel versus the Varsity Blues represents his final shot at Chapdelaine’s record and at 10,000 career yards. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound native of Fredericton stands at 9,763 yards and needs 212 to surpass Chapdelaine and 237 to reach 10,000.
Connell ranks fifth in the nation this fall with 1,856 passing yards in six outings and is second with an average of 309.3 yards per game. Sacobie is third in the country with 2,049 yards in seven contests and fifth with a 292.7-yard-per-game average.
Meanwhile, another Redmen senior is closing in on a prestigious CIS career record.
With two games left in the regular season, fifth-year slotback Erik Galas of Ottawa needs 13 receptions to break the all-time mark of 189 set over four seasons by Saskatchewan Roughrider and former Western Ontario Mustang Andy Fantuz (2002-05).
Galas is currently fifth on the CIS list with 177 catches behind Fantuz, Laurier’s Stefan Ptaszek (186), Ottawa’s Chris Evraire (185) and Winnipeg Blue Bomber and former Windsor Lancer Arjei Franklin (178).
Over the past two seasons, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound veteran has averaged 7.2 receptions per game.
