THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Queen’s Golden Gaels defeated the Laval Rouge et Or 33-30 in the Mitchell Bowl and the Calgary Dinos beat the Saint Mary’s Huskies 38-14 in the Uteck Bowl to earn spots in the 2009 Vanier Cup.
GOLDEN GAELS 33 ROUGE ET OR 30
KINGSTON, Ont. — With Queen’s leading 19-13 in the third quarter of Saturday’s Mitchell Bowl, Laval lined up for a field goal that could have brought the Rouge et Or to within three points.
Instead, Laval missed the kick and found itself facing a 13-point deficit it ultimately couldn’t overcome.
Queen’s defensive back Jimmy Allin returned the missed field goal 120 yards for a touchdown as the fourth-ranked Gaels hung on to beat the top-ranked Rouge et Or 33-30 to book a spot in next weekend’s Vanier Cup.
“That was electric,” said Queen’s head coach Pat Sheahan. “I thought if there was a backbreaker play, that was it.”
Queen’s, which needed another touchdown and some timely defence to seal the win after Laval made it close late, will face the No. 2-ranked Calgary Dinos on Saturday in Quebec City.
The Dinos beat the No. 6-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies 38-14 in the other national semifinal.
Allin’s return of Christopher Milo’s 44-yard field goal attempt gave Queen’s a 26-13 lead. It was also the second-longest return in Canadian university football playoff history.
Despite scoring 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on touchdowns by Maxime Beland and Julian Feoli-Gudino to go along with a Queen’s safety, the defending Vanier Cup champions ran out of time.
On their own six-yard line in the final minute, Laval quarterback Benoit Groulx had the ball stripped by Queen’s defensive lineman Frank Pankewich. Osie Ukwuoma recovered the fumble to seal the win.
Despite the loss, Laval head coach Glenn Constantin was proud of his team’s performance in the fourth quarter.
“I thought the better team won today,” said Constantin, adding that Laval’s running game never got on track. “We had our shots, but we didn’t take advantage of all of our opportunities.”
The loss stings all the more for Laval since the Rouge Et Or will be forced to watch the Vanier Cup awarded on their home field.
Queen’s quarterback Danny Brannagan outduelled Groulx, going 24-of-41 for 306 yards, largely on short passes.
“That’s what they were giving us, and I think that’s generally how they’ve played this year,” said Brannagan. “They make you earn everything that you get.”
Groulx, who went 26-of-42 for 425 yards, was sacked seven times.
Defensive lineman Shomari Williams accounted for 3 1/2 of those sacks and was named the player of the game.
“I just played,” Williams said. “I watched films on the two offensive tackles and I knew how to beat them. I just tried to execute.”
Despite the euphoria on the field at the final whistle, Williams put the win in perspective.
“This is just another step. It’s great that we won but the end goal is to win the Vanier. We’ve just got to get ready for next week.”
The loss marked the end of Groulx’s CIS career. Constantin was proud of his quarterback during the fourth-quarter rally.
“You saw a hell of a competitor today,” said Constantin. “When the chips were down he came back and he’s a hell of a football player. He’s an undersize quarterback, but you can’t measure his heart.”
With Laval trailing 7-3 in the second quarter, Groulx connected on a 62-yard strike to Beland that eventually led to a Seydou Junior Haidara touchdown.
Queen’s responded with a drive from its own 20-yard line that ended with tight end Chris Ioannides’ two-yard touchdown catch.
The Gaels padded their lead heading into halftime when Brannagan led his team downfield in the final minute, culminating in a 37-yard field goal by kicker Dan Village and a 17-10 advantage.
DINOS 38 HUSKIES 14
HALIFAX — Matt Walter rushed for 235 yards and two touchdowns as the Calgary Dinos defeated the Saint Mary’s Huskies 38-14 in the Uteck Bowl in Halifax.
Walter was named the game’s most valuable player as the Dinos advanced to the Vanier Cup in Quebec City next Saturday, where they will attempt to win their first CIS championship since 1995.
“Going to the Vanier Cup is an honour. It’s amazing and it’s going to be the greatest time in my life, for sure,” said Walter after the game. “We’ve just got to focus on winning it.”
Calgary will take on Queen’s, which held on for a 33-30 victory in the Mitchell Bowl in Kingston.
The Uteck Bowl had been billed as the homecoming of Calgary coach Blake Nill and quarterback Erik Glavic. Nill led the Huskies to Vanier Cup titles in 2001 and 2002, while Glavic, who won the Hec Creighton Award with Saint Mary’s in 2007, joined Nill in Calgary this year.
But Walter eclipsed those storylines, leading a Calgary rushing attack that shredded the Saint Mary’s defence for 426 yards.
Walter’s backfield partner Steven Lumbala added 156 yards and a touchdown as the Dinos offensive line repeatedly created holes.
“I wanted to be a leader and tell them to get it done today and they really got it done,” said of his offensive line.
Glavic, a Hec Creighton nominee again in this season, had little impact on the game after throwing for 479 yards and rushing for 106 yards in Calgary’s 39-38 win over Saskatchewan last week. He passed for just 77 yards and a touchdown and added 25 rushing yards.
With Glavic contained, Nill turned to the nation’s top-ranked rushing offence.
“We came into the week with everyone talking about Glavic and what he could do,” said Nill. “We felt as a coaching staff that we could run the football and that’s what we did.
“It was our opinion that they were going to focus mostly on Glavic and we thought maybe we’d better throw them a curve.”
The strategy paid off and didn’t seem to disappoint Glavic.
“We pounded the ball, we hit them hard and we came out with the win,” said Glavic. “I don’t need to be the focal point or anything like that, I just want wins.”
Walter collected 198 of his yards and both of his touchdowns in the first half as Calgary raced out to a 19-0 lead in the first quarter.
Michael Lau set up Calgary’s first touchdown with an interception in Huskies territory. Glavic then fired a 39-yard scoring pass to Richard Snyder to give the Dinos a 12-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Walter burst untouched through the Huskies defensive line and rushed 69 yards to the end zone.
Saint Mary’s didn’t collect a first down until the last play of the first quarter. That sparked an 83-yard drive capped off by Devon Jones’ short touchdown run.
But Calgary responded immediately with Walter’s four-yard scoring run.
Saint Mary’s receiver Jahmeek Murray’s made it 29-14 with an eight-yard touchdown reception before halftime. But the Dinos put the game away on their first possession of the second half on a five-yard touchdown run from Lumbala.
Calgary’s defence held Saint Mary’s to just 350 yards from scrimmage.
Creighton threw for 199 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for the Huskies.
Notes: Calgary quarterback Erik Glavic was forced from the game in the first quarter after taking a late hit from Huskies defender Devon Hicks. Glavic went to the sideline clutching his left wrist but returned later in the same series. … Creighton’s three interceptions followed a regular season in which the Saint Mary’s pivot was picked off just six times. … 5,735 packed Huskies Stadium for the game… The Dinos have now won three out of four head-to-head matchups against the Huskies.
