THE CANADIAN PRESS
(#1) ROUGE ET OR 51 (#6) STINGERS 0
LAVAL — Quarterback Benoit Groulx threw four touchdowns for a total of 237 yards as the Rouge et Or pounded Concordia to open their CIS season.
Christopher Milo kicked three field goals for Laval.
Stingers (0-1) quarterback Robert Mackay completed 17 of his 39 passes for 240 yards.
Laval next takes on Bishop’s Saturday while Concordia hosts Montreal Carabins on Sunday.
(#2) MUSTANGS 32 (#10) GEE-GEES 17
OTTAWA — Nathan Riva ran for two touchdowns as the Western Mustangs opened their 2009 Canadian Interuniversity Sport football campaign with a 32-17 win over the No. 10-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sunday.
Riva finished with 96 yards on 11 carries, adding 26 yards on three catches, four punt returns for 27 yards and three kickoff returns for 51 yards.
Da’Shawn Thomas had nine carries for 77 yards and six catches for 92 yards.
“Both are great receiving and with running the ball,” said Western quarterback Michael Faulds, who threw for 293 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. “Early in the game we used one as a receiver and one as a running back. Later we noticed Ottawa was tiring so we rotated the backs and it worked really well.”
Quarterback Brad Sinopoli was effective, going 22-of-41 for 355 yards for the Gee Gees (0-1), who scored first with a Sinopoli pass from the six-yard line to Jordan Wilson-Ross.
Western tied the game with 44 seconds left in the first quarter, as Jesse Bellamy pulled in a 33-yard pass from Faulds.
Matthew Falvo gave Ottawa their second lead on a 38-yard field goal 12:50 left in the second quarter, then added another from 29 yards out to extend the lead to 13-7 with 4:33 left in the second.
Thomas scored his first CIS touchdown, running in a Faulds pass to give Western the 14-13 lead, and Riva scored on an off-tackle rush to make it 21-13 going into the half.
On the first Gee-Gees possession of the third quarter, a great drive ended with a 23-yard Falvo field goal to make the score 21-16 for Western five minutes into the second half.
Ottawa conceded a safety to make it 23-16 Ottawa but Western extended their lead when Faulds hit Riva with a nine-yard pass making it 30-16 for the Mustangs.
After Ottawa conceded a safety, Falvo added a single missing a 47-yard field goal attempt to make it 32-17 for Western.
“The score doesn’t indicate what it could have been,” Faulds said. “We had a big win against a Top 10 team in the country. The good thing is that we probably don’t have to come back here again with the tiebreaker.”
Western has now won the past four meetings against the Gee-Gees.
(#4) HUSKIES 34 (#3) DINOS 33 (OT)
SASKATOON — Laurence Nixon passed for 304 yards to lead Saskatchewan to an overtime win over Calgary.
(#7) GOLDEN HAWKS 36 BLUES 0
TORONTO — Michael Montoya rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns as Laurier blanked the Univeristy of Toronto Blues (0-1).
Montoya scored all three TDs in the second quarter as the Golden Hawks (1-0) entered the second half with a 26-0 lead.
Laurier quarterback Luke Thompson completed 8 of 15 passes for 184 yards, including a 37-yard TD strike to Dillion Heap in the third quarter.
(#8) GOLDEN GAELS 52 GRYPHONS 49
KINGSTON — In a slugfest between quarterbacks, it was a kicker who dealt the final blow.
Mike Petranovic hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired to lead the No. 8 Queen’s Golden Gaels to a wild 52-49 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Monday in Canadian interuniversity football action.
Petranovic’s winning kick came just 42 seconds after quarterback Justin Dunk had tied the game for Guelph, finding Nic Fitzgibbon on an eight-yard touchdown pass.
Defence was scarce in the regular-season opener for both teams. The Golden Gaels (1-0) and Gryphons (0-1) combined for 12 touchdowns, 60 first downs and more than 1,100 yards of total offence.
Danny Brannagan had a career day for Queen’s, completing 32 of 50 passes for 495 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Dunk was no slouch himself, going 23-for-44 for 433 yards and four touchdowns. Dunk added nine carries for 39 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Golden Gaels rode special teams dominance to an emphatic halftime lead. Jimmy Allin returned two punts for touchdowns in the quarter – one for 66 yards, the other for 78 – as Queen’s led 29-11 at the midway point.
After a pair of Dunk touchdowns – one a 36-yard pass, the other a one-yard run – cut the lead to 32-25, Allin struck again, running back a kickoff 105 yards for his third score of the game. Allin finished with a whopping 439 return yards on seven punts and four kickoffs.
Guelph stormed back in the fourth, as Dunk threw two more touchdown passes early in the quarter to cut the lead to seven. The teams exchanged field goals before Dunk completed another TD strike, setting the stage for Petranovic’s heroics.
Devan Sheahan led the way with 154 receiving yards and a touchdown for Queens, which had three receivers finish with more than 100 yards on the day.
Jedd Gardner had 154 yards receiving for Guelph, while Fitzgibbon wound up with 44 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
(#9) CARABINS 66 REDMEN 14
MONTREAL — The ninth-ranked Montreal Carabins scored eight touchdowns and racked up 387 net yards en route to a 66-14 rout over visiting McGill in the Quebec University Football League opener before 4,649 at CEPSUM Stadium, Thursday.
It was the highest offensive output in school history for the Carabins, breaking their previous mark in a 58-7 win over the Redmen last season. The result extended McGill’s losing streak to 17 consecutive regular-season games, which dates back to the 2006 campaign and is one short of the conference record established by Carleton between 1988 and 1990.
Montreal, which had 34 first downs compared to 16 by McGill, led 25-0 after the opening quarter, 48-0 at halftime and 48-14 after three quarters. Seven of their eight TDs came on an effusive ground attack, which totaled 264 yards on 46 plays.
Olivier Renière of Trois-Rivières and Alex Deluca of Boucherville, Que., registered two touchdowns apiece, with other majors going to Montreal natives Rotrand Sené (who led all rushers with 80 yards on 10 carries), Patrick Jean-Marie and quarterback Marc-Olivier Brouillette, who also hooked up with receiver Kevin Rivet on a nine-yard TD pass.
THUNDERBIRDS 25 GOLDEN BEARS 24
EDMONTON — Dave Boyd ran for 221 yards and a touchdown and the UBC Thunderbirds stormed back from a 21-point deficit and beat the Alberta Golden Bears 25-24 in Canadian Interuniversity Sport football action Friday.
Boyd piled up 126 rushing yards on the Thunderbirds’ final two drives of the game, both of which led to touchdowns and helped dig UBC (1-0) out of a 24-3 hole. UBC trailed 24-6 at the half and 24-11 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
With 9:25 left in the fourth, the UBC marched from its own 38-yard line to score its first touchdown of the game, a two-yard plunge by Boyd on third-and-goal, with 5:05 left on the clock.
Boyd then led an 11-play, 105 yard UBC drive in the final three minutes of the game, capped by a five-yard run from quarterback Billy Greene.
Alberta moved the ball into field goal range as time expired but Golden Bears kicker Hugh Boyd missed from 48 yards.
The Golden Bears (0-1) opened the game with a touchdown on the opening drive and scored three touchdowns in the first half to take a commanding 24-3 lead with just
21 seconds left on the clock in the first half.
Quade Armstrong led the Golden Bears going 14-of-22 for 180 yards and one touchdown while Alberta running back Tendayi Jozzy rushed for 122 yards and a score.
VERT et OR 25 GAITERS 20
SHERBROOKE — Pascal Fils ran for 198 yards and a touchdown and the Sherbrooke Vert et Or turned five Bishop’s turnovers into 17 points en route to a 25-20 win over the Gaiters in Canadian Interuniversity Sport football action Friday.
The loss spoiled a huge game for Gaiters quarterback Jesse Andrews, who threw for 329 yards and a touchdown. However he also gave up a key fumble with 21 seconds left in the first half, which Sherbrooke returned for a touchdown to give the Vert et Or a 15-7 halftime lead.
Fils opened things up with a 70-yard touchdown run at 4:57 of the third quarter that gave the Vert et Or a 22-7 lead to the delight of the record Sherbrooke crowd of 8,719.
The Gaiters made a game of it with Josh Maveety’s third field goal of the night and a Steven Turner touchdown to make the score 22-17.
In the final quarter, an eight-play, 68-yard drive put the Gaiters in a position to take the lead but stalled when Andrews’ pass to Turner was caught just outside the corner of the end zone.
Sherbrooke quarterback Jean-Phillippe Shoiry went 11-for-18 for 177 yards and an interception.
Shawn Gore caught seven passes for 109 yards for Bishop’s, while Olivier Mongeau had six catches for 108 yards.
MARAUDERS 52 WARRIORS 21
HAMILTON — Ryan Fantham threw four touchdown passes as the Marauders trounced Waterloo.
Kevin D’Hollander and Matthew Peressini each had a pair of TD catches to pace McMaster (1-0), which erupted for 33 second-half points in front of 5,678 at Ron Joyce Stadium. Running backs Jordan Kozina and Joey Nemet combined to rush for 237 yards to lead the Marauders’ ground attack.
Evan Martin had a dreadful day for the Warriors (0-1), going just 11-of-18 for 62 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Martin was also sacked four times, and lost a fumble in the rout.
Backup quarterback Jon Roney had 109 passing yards and a touchdown in relief of Martin, while linebacker Brian Adams returned a blocked punt 35 yards for a touchdown in defeat.
LANCERS 17 LIONS 14
TORONTO — John Celestino returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter as Windsor escaped with a win over the Lions.
Joe Colella’s 37-yard field goal and Sam Malian’s 26-yard strike to Mike Harrington gave the Lancers (1-0) an early 10-0 lead, and they held on from there. Malian finished 13-for-28 for 134 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Anthony Tombler had a fumble recovery for a touchdown to pace York (0-1), while Jason Marshall added a 125-yard punt-return for a touchdown in the game’s final minute.
The teams combined for just 22 first downs and 365 yards of offence, while turning the ball over eight times.
RAMS 28 BISONS 10
REGINA — The Regina Rams opened up their 2009 Canada West schedule with a 28-10 win over the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night in front of 2,241 spectators at Mosaic Stadium.
An early field goal gave the Bisons a 3-0 lead, but the Rams reeled off 18 unanswered points in the first half and added another major late in the third quarter to take a commanding lead. Manitoba scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to draw within two scores, but the Rams were able to hold off the Bisons the rest of the way.
Making his first CIS start after serving as a backup for the previous two seasons, Rams quarterback Marc Mueller completed 24 of his 34 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns. Mueller’s top target on the night was Jordan Sisco, who caught seven passes for 93 yards. Graham Mosiondz led the Rams on the ground with 86 yards on 15 carries.
For the Bisons, Nathan Friesen completed eight of his 24 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Rory Anderson caught three passes for a team-high 45 yards and hauled in Manitoba’s lone major of the contest. James Gerardy rushed for 57 yards on just five carries, while starting back Matt Henry had 12 rushes for 50 yards for Manitoba. Wyatt Jacobi led the Bisons on defence with eight tackles and a sack.
