THE CANADIAN PRESS
WATERLOO, Ont. — On an afternoon filled with struggles, Danny Brannagan could at least take solace in the fact that he had become the all-time Canadian university passing leader.
His reign lasted less than an hour.
Brannagan had his worst performance of the season Saturday, throwing three interceptions as the second-ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels dropped a 25-13 decision to the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Other than spoiling their undefeated season, the loss had no impact on the Golden Gaels (7-1), who have already wrapped up first place in the Ontario conference, a first-round bye in the OUA playoffs and home-field advantage through the Yates Cup.
The victory meant plenty to the Golden Hawks (6-2), who earned the second OUA playoff bye. Laurier finished tied for second in the OUA with Western Ontario, Ottawa and McMaster, but won the tiebreaker by going 4-0 against common opponents.
Brannagan, playing the final regular-season game of his career, finished 25-for-45 for 289 yards. A 23-yard completion in the second quarter moved him past McGill’s Matt Connell and into top spot on the all-time CIS passing list with 10,477 yards.
The new record didn’t last long.
Western quarterback Michael Faulds, who went into the day with 10,261 career passing yards, exploded for 550 more in the Mustangs’ 47-0 rout of the Toronto Varsity Blues. That vaulted him past both Connell and Brannagan with 10,811.
Brannagan’s first two interceptions led to Golden Hawks touchdowns.
He was picked off by Giancarlo Rapanero at midfield on the first series of the game, and Laurier needed just three plays to hit the scoresheet, as Evan Pawliuk found Shamawd Chambers on a 44-yard TD strike.
Late in the first half, with Laurier leading 10-4, Brannagan was intercepted in the Golden Hawks’ end zone by Scott McCahill, who ran it back 110 yards for the touchdown.
Pawliuk was efficient in the win, going 20-for-30 for 273 yards and a touchdown. Chambers led the way with five catches for 80 yards, while Mike Montoya had 10 rushes for 63 yards.
Ryan Granberg had a game-high 81 rushing yards and scored the only Queen’s touchdown on a four-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Scott Valberg was the top receiver for the Golden Gaels, hauling in 10 passes for 159 yards.
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No. 1 Rouge et Or 22 Vert et Or 5
At Sherbrooke, Que., Sebastien Levesque ran for 201 yards and the Laval defence forced four safeties in a win over the Vert et Or.
Benoit Groulx had a subpar game for the Rouge et Or (6-1), finishing 18-for-25 for 227 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. His 27-yard TD pass to Mathieu Picard in the first quarter helped lead Laval to an uninspiring 9-5 halftime lead.
The win secured first place in the Quebec conference for the Rouge et Or, the defending Vanier Cup champions.
Sherbrooke (3-4) scored its points on a pair of rouges and a William Dion 22-yard field goal in the final moments of the first half.
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No. 3 Dinos 47 Rams 29
At Calgary, Erik Glavic threw for 470 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Matt Walter ran for three scores as the Dinos cruised past Regina.
Glavic found Anthony Parker on an 85-yard touchdown strike on the first offensive play of the game, and Parker added an eight-yard TD run early in the second quarter to put the Dinos (6-1) ahead for good.
Parker was Glavic’s target of choice, catching six passes for 154 yards. Nathan Coehoorn (102) also surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark in the win.
Marc Mueller went 26-for-42 for 384 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Rams (3-4). Jordan Sisco had nine catches for 176 yards and a touchdown in defeat.
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Gaiters 21 No. 4 Carabins 16
At Lennoxville, Que., Jesse Andrews tossed a pair of first-half touchdown passes as the Gaiters held on to stun No. 4 Montreal.
Andrews hit Shawn Gore with a 14-yard scoring strike and found Duraney White on a nine-yard TD pass as Bishop’s (3-4) opened up a 21-3 halftime lead. Andrews finished 13-for-21 for 136 yards.
Rotrand Sene’s one-yard touchdown run provided the lone touchdown for the Carabins (4-3), who have lost two straight since an upset win over Laval vaulted them to the top of the CIS rankings.
Marc-Olivier Brouillette went just 8-of-14 for 104 yards in the loss, while Pierre-Paul Gelinas was the star on offence with three field goals.
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No. 6 Mustangs 47 Varsity Blues 0
At London, Ont., Michael Faulds set a pair of passing records in Western Ontario’s rout of the Varsity blues.
Faulds finished 39-of-52 for 550 yards, giving him 3,033 yards for the season and 10,811 for his career. Both are new CIS standards: Tommy Denison held the previous single-season record of 3,001, while Faulds passed Matt Connell and Danny Brannagan on the all-time list.
Faulds’ 550-yard performance ranks fifth on the CIS single-game list and was five yards short of the Mustangs’ school record. Former Western great Warren Goldie passed for 555 yards in a playoff game against Toronto on Oct. 29, 1994.
With the win, the Mustangs (6-2) finish third in the OUA and will host the Guelph Gryphons in a quarter-final playoff game next weekend. Western beat Guelph 41-39 earlier this season on a last-second field goal by Darryl Wheeler.
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No. 7 Huskies 41 No. 9 X-Men 7
At Halifax, DeVon Hicks is making quite a name for himself north of the border with the Saint Mary’s Huskies.
The 24-year-old defensive lineman from Dade City, Fla., returned two interceptions for touchdowns Friday as the No. 7 Huskies beat the No. 9 St. FX X-Men 41-7 in Canadian university football action.
Hicks played two years at a U.S. junior college before failed tryouts with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Against St. FX, he also forced a fumble and shared a quarterback sack for Saint Mary’s (6-1).
Huskies linebacker Jeff Hecht also returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown.
The Huskies led 17-0 at the half.
St. FX (5-2) was able to move the ball against St. Mary’s, but lost three fumbles and tossed three interceptions.
Saint Mary’s kicker Justin Palardy eclipsed the 42-year-old Atlantic university football career-points record, previously held by St. FX running back Paul Brule.
Palardy has scored 307 points in his four-year career.
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No. 8 Gee-Gees 24 Lancers 9
At Ottawa, quarterback Bradley Sinopoli ran for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Gee-Gees wrapped up fourth place in the OUA standings.
Ottawa (6-2) will host the McMaster Marauders in a quarter-final playoff game Saturday. The teams did not face each other in the regular season.
Sinopoli’s rushing exploits helped him overcome a rough outing in which he completed just 12 of 26 passes for 188 yards and an interception. Jordan Wilson-Ross also had a strong game, rushing 14 times for 90 yards and a score.
Joe Colella’s three field goals accounted for the Windsor (2-6) offence. Quarterback Greg Orsini went just 6-for-19 for 51 yards, and was picked off twice.
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No. 10 Marauders 32 Gryphons 29
At Hamilton, Ont., Kyle Quinlan passed for three touchdowns and ran in another as McMaster fended off Guelph.
Quinlan finished 17-of-26 for 284 yards for the Marauders (6-2), who will travel to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees next Saturday in an OUA quarter-final.
Joseph Nemet led the way with 14 carries for 127 yards, while Jordan Kozina added 104 rushing yards and a touchdown reception in
the win.
Justin Dunk had 243 passing yards and two scores for the Gryphons (3-5), who rallied from a 29-7 halftime deficit but ultimately fell short. Guelph, which won a tiebreaker with Waterloo for the final playoff spot, will face Western next weekend.
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Axemen 28 Mounties 11
At Sackville, N.S., Josh Pearsall had 73 receiving yards and a touchdown to lead Acadia past winless Mount Allison.
Pearsall’s 44-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Kyle Graves helped the Axemen (2-5) erase an early 9-0 deficit.
Brett Haenni’s 14-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach, and Acadia added an interception-return TD in the final minute.
Jason Bertrand’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Gary Ross in the first quarter provided most of the offence for the Mounties (0-7).
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Stingers 30 Redmen 25
At Montreal, Robert Mackay’s 494 passing yards and three touchdown guided Concordia past McGill.
Mackay completed TD passes in each of the first three quarters to pace the Stingers (3-4). Cory Watson exploded for 175 receiving yards and a score, while Liam Mahoney finished with 117 yards in the air.
Jonathan Collin struggled for the Redmen (3-4), finishing 24-for-50 for 264 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Redmen receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte caught 10 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown in defeat. He now has 195 receptions in his career, one more than the previous CIS record set a year ago by former McGill teammate Erik Galas.
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Warriors 52 Lions 3
At Waterloo, Ont., Matt Socholotiuk ran for 238 yards and three touchdowns, and added a receiving TD in the Warriors’ trouncing of York.
Socholotiuk had touchdown runs of two and 26 yards in the second quarter, with a 62-yard TD reception in between. He finished his four-touchdown day with a one-yard score in the third quarter.
Evan Martin was also strong for Waterloo (3-5), throwing for 267 yards and three touchdowns. Sean Cowie was his top target, hauling in five passes for 83 yards and a score.
Nick Coutu struggled mightily for York (0-8), going 9-for-32 for 103 yards. Adam Moretti’s 34-yard field goal midway through the second quarter provided the only scoring for the Lions.
