THE CANADIAN PRESS
The No. 1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or are Quebec conference football champions for an eighth straight year, but this time it wasn’t easy.
The Laval defence recovered after surrendering two second-half touchdowns to Sherbooke’s conference MVP and Hec Crighton Trophy nominee Simon Charbonneau-Campeau and held on for a nervy 22-17 victory and claim the Dunsmore Cup before 13,653 spectators at the PEPS Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Laval will play host to the Ontario champion Western, a 26-25 winner over Ottawa, next Saturday in a CIS national semi-final. The win put them one step closer to reaching the Vanier Cup final, which will be held at Laval on Nov. 27.
“It was a good test of character for our team,” Laval quarterback Bruno Prud’homme told Radio-Canada. “Going through this in the Dunsmore Cup should help us get where we want to go.”
Mathieu Picard scored a touchdown, Christopher Milo booted three field goals and Laval forced three safeties for the win.
William Dion had a field goal for No. 10 Sherbrooke, which upset the University of Montreal Carabins in a conference semifinal a week earlier.
Prud’homme took a knee on three straight plays in the final minute thinking he had run out the clock, but officials ruled he touched ground with one second left, giving Sherbrooke one last play from the Rouge et Or 30.
Sherbrooke quarterback Jean-Philippe Shoiry had his desperation pass intercepted in the end zone.
”I threw a bad pass on that Hail Mary,” said a dejected Shoiry, who played his final university game.
It was a strong showing for Sherbrooke against a team that beat them twice in the regular season. The Rouge et Or went 9-0 this season and outscored opponents 411-58.
”To come in here and not be dominated on the scoreboard shows how we’ve grown as a team,” said Sherbrooke coach Andre Bolduc. ”Our goal was to beat them, but there were a lot of positives this year.”
A Shoiry pass was picked on the first of two interceptions in the game by Jonathan Laliberte on the Sherbrooke 17 to set up a Laval field goal late in the opening quarter.
A perfect Milo punt went out at the Sherbrooke one to set up a safety 2:38 into the second quarter, but the Vert et Or then blocked a Laval punt to produce Dion’s 24-yard field goal at 8:30.
Then Jean-Philippe Dumas blocked a Sherbrooke punt and, two plays later, Prud’homme found Picard in the end zone with a 17-yard TD toss. A late Milo field goal put Laval ahead 15-3 at the half.
Shoiry started the second half by going downfield with his throws and capped an impressive drive with a 38-yard TD pass to Charbonneau-Campeau at 3:55. Laval answered with Milo’s third field goal.
A sack on the final play of the third quarter put the ball on the Sherbrooke one yard line, but on the next play, Charbonneau-Campeau beat double coverage to haul in a pass and race to a 109-yard TD to close the gap to 18-17 with 12:49 left in the game.
The defence held, however, and Laval picked up two late safeties to secure the win.
”We’d prefer it to be (an one-sided win) like usual, but you have to give credit to Sherbrooke,” said Laval defensive back Olivier Turcotte-Letourneau. ”They beat us on some long plays, but we were able to limit the damage the rest of the game.”
It was a costly win for the Rouge et Or, who lost two of Prud’homme’s favourite receivers to injuries — Julian Feoli Gudino and Francis Beaudet. Feoli Gudino was helped off the field after an opponent fell on his ankle in the fourth quarter and was on crutches after the game.
