Source: Earl Zukerman, McGill Communications Officer / Credit Stéphane Gaudreau
MONTREAL – Quarterback Hugo Richard passed for 379 yards,
three touchdowns and a couple of CIS rookie records as No.1-ranked
Laval cruised to a 53-14 victory over McGill in CIS football at
Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.
It marked a CIS record 25th consecutive victory for the Rouge et
Or, who improved to 7-0 on the season and the 10th straight loss
for the Redmen (0-7). Laval led 20-0 after the opening quarter,
29-0 at the half and 40-0 after three.
The lone bright spot for McGill's offence was sophomore Raphael
Casey, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound running-back, who rushed for a
career-high two touchdowns and 61 yards on 11 carries.
Richard, who completed 24 of 39 attempts, set a CIS single-season
rookie record with 22 TD passes and established another mark for
most passing yards in a season by a freshman with 2,440 in seven
contests. He surpassed the mark held by Sherbrooke's
Jérémi Roch, who benefited from an expanded nine-game
RSEQ schedule in 2011 to rack up 2,383
yards.
Richard generated an offence that produced 30 first downs and 608
yards, compare to 195 by the Redmen, who conceded a whopping seven
safeties, which ate up 89 yards of real estate. Richard hooked up
twice with fullback Felix Faubert-Lussier for TD catches of 17 and
20 yards to put Laval ahead 18-0 before the game was six minutes
old. He also found wide receiver Antony Dufour for a 10-yard TD
toss to make the score 39-0 in the third quarter.
The two other Laval TDs came on their ground game, with Christopher
Amoah rushing nine times for161 yards and a TD and Guillaume
Bourassa collecting a team-high 10 carries for 58 yards and a
TD.
Rounding out the scoring for the Rouge et Or was kicker Boris Bede,
who tallied nine points on five conversions, a 37-yard field goal
and rouge on a missed 24-yarder.
Freshman Joel Houle was the lone quarterback to dress for the
injury-plagued Redmen, who suited up 26 first-year players and
never previously dressed only one pivot in the post-war era. Houle,
who was sacked four times, completed 17-of-30 passing attempts, for
227 yards, no TDs and no interceptions.
Defensively, McGill rookie Karl Forgues registered a game-high 11.5
tackles, including 11 solos, two of them sacks. The 5-foot-9,
200-pound linebacker also had a forced fumble and a knockdowns. He
leads the RSEQ conference with 66 tackles in seven games, including
six quarterback sacks.
The division-leading Rouge et Or wrap up conference play versus
Montreal on Nov. 1.
McGill (0-7) will close out their 134th season at Concordia with
the 28th annual Shrine Bowl game, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. , which
generates funds for the Montreal Shriner's Hospital for Children. A
press conference about the event is scheduled to be held at the
hospital on Oct. 29 at 11:30 a.m.
REDMEN RAP: McGill had only three penalties for 18 yards, their
lowest total in nine games, dating back to a 28-3 loss against the
Carabins, Oct. 19, 2013, where they were flagged twice for five
yards... It was the last home game for eight McGill seniors,
including injured LB Zach Lord, REC Pascal Tshilambo, DB Eran
Gerstein, SFTY Simon Lamontagne, OL Frederic Methot, REC J.P.
Paquette, DL Olivier Cain-Tremblay and K Nils Jonkmans.