MONTREAL -- Freshman Anthony Deschamps of Montreal scored two touchdowns as McGill bashed Bishop's 43-9 in RSEQ football conference play at Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.

It was the third straight win over Bishop's for the Redmen, who improved to 2-1 on the season, their best start since posting a similar record in 2013. The game featured 29 penalties, including 17 to the Gaiters, who coughed up 165 yards of real estate. BU committed six turnovers, compared to only three by McGill.

The Redmen, who tallied five touchdowns, led 7-2 after the opening quarter, 19-2 at halftime and 26-9 after three. They won the fourth quarter 17-0. The game featured 11 quarterback sacks, six of them by McGill, which is now ranked third in the CIS in that department with nine. The Redmen registered 325 net yards and 24 first downs, compared to the Gaiters, who had 236 and 13, respectively.

Deschamps, a stocky 5-foot-9, 200-pound running back, rushed for a game-high 44 yards on eight carries. His three-yard TD scamper put McGill ahead 7-0 before the game was four minutes old and the Redmen never trailed after that. He added a two-yard TD run at 11:28 of the final stanza to put the game out of reach at 36-9.

Also scoring for McGill was rookie receiver Benjamin Plu, a native of France, who hauled in a 23-yard TD toss from quarterback Frederic Paquette-Perrault to give the Redmen a 14-2 lead early in the second quarter.

Paquette-Perrault, a freshman from Montreal, made his second career start and completed 13 of 26 passes for 212 yards, one TD and an interception. He appeared to be shaken up late in the second quarter and was replaced by sophomore Matthew Mannarino of Ile-Bizard, Que., who was 7-for-12 passing, for 54 yards.

Running back Nicolas Khandar gave the Redmen a comfortable 26-2 advantage when he crossed the goal-line on a 10-yard romp midway through the third quarter. The fifth McGill major was scored on a blocked kick in the final minute of play when Vincent Dethier, a freshman from Boisbriand, Que., broke through the Gaiters punt formation and knocked down Vincent Dube's attempted kick. Louis Brouillette, a fifth-year engineering senior Sherbrooke, scooped up the loose ball and ran 17 yards into the endzone.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was rookie place-kicker Findlay Brown, who tallied 11 points, including field-goals from distances of 12 and 36 yards. Brown, now 5-for-6 on the season in that department, also averaged 41.6 on eight punts and 51.6 on seven kickoffs.

The lone Gaiters TD was scored by Alexandre Bouffard, who snared five balls for 53 yards, including a 20-yard strike from Jaeden Marwick late in the third quarter, narrowing the gap to 26-9. Marwick, who started at quarterback, completed 15 of 27 attempts for 160 yards, one TD and a pair of interceptions.His understudy, Mathieu Demers, was 6-for-8 passing for 70 yards.

McGill (2-1) will host Sherbrooke on Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. The Vert & Or are 1-1 heading into Sunday's game at Laval (1-1). Bishop's (0-3) will host Saint Mary's (1-1) in an interlocking game between the Quebec and Atlantic conferences, on Sept. 24 at 2 p.m.

REDMEN RAP: Among the faces in the crowd to cheer on the Redmen was McGill Principal & Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier... The 43 points scored by McGill was the most since a 53-11 conquest at Bishop's, Oct. 3, 2015... The Redmen are now 42-45-1 lifetime in 88 games against BU since they first tangled, way back in 1885... McGill rookie Joel Soucy led all receivers with 76 yards on four receptions...He also led in all-purpose yards with 121, including 45 on four punt returns... LB Maxime Rouyer led the McGill defence with six total tackles, five of them solos... DT Andrew Seinet-Spaulding spearheaded the defensive front seven with a pair of QB sacks among his 3.5 tackles... Others in the Redmen sack attack were Valentin Gnahoua, Ousmane Guindo and Simon Aubin-Lavoie, plus a shared sack by Anthony Couturier-Lagace and Scott MacDonald-Ducharme... McGill interceptions were made by Antoine Mongeau and Kamba Katchelewa.. The team now has five picks on the season, which ranks fourth in the nation... Three Redmen were credited with forced fumbles (Dethier, Couture-Lagace, Aubin-Lavoie).. Joining Brouillette in the fumble recovery department was Alexandre Ghaly.

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman      
Communications Officer
McGill University Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca