Laval claims Desjardins Vanier Cup in record fashion
QUEBEC CITY – In the 46th edition of the Desjardins Vanier Cup, the top-ranked Laval Rouge et Or captured their sixth Vanier Cup title with a 29-2 victory over the Calgary Dinos before a sold-out hometown crowd of 16,237 at PEPS Stadium on Saturday.
Photo credit Yan Dublet
QUEBEC CITY – In the 46th edition of the Desjardins Vanier
Cup, the top-ranked Laval Rouge et Or captured their sixth Vanier
Cup title with a 29-2 victory over the Calgary Dinos before a
sold-out hometown crowd of 16,237 at PEPS Stadium on Saturday.
In what was statistically the most commanding defensive effort in
Vanier Cup history, the Rouge et Or held the powerful Dinos offence
to just 140 net yards, bettering the previous Vanier Cup mark of
161 net yards allowed by the Guelph Gryphons in their 1984 victory
over the Mount Allison Mounties.
Canada West and Mitchell Bowl champion Calgary came into the game
having scored 35 points or more in five straight contests,
including a 42-point average in three playoff duels.
“I am really proud of my guys, and I am thrilled to pull
this off in front of a hometown crowd,” said Laval’s
Glen Constantin, who with the win becomes the first head coach to
win five Vanier Cup titles, surpassing the four crowns amassed by
former Calgary bench boss Peter Connellan.
Winning the Ted Morris Memorial Trophy as the game MVP was Laval
running back Sébastien Lévesque, who racked up 168
yards on 30 carries and one touchdown. He had one additional
major score negated by penalty.
“From a personal standpoint, this was a difficult season
filled with injuries for me,” said Lévesque, whose 30
runs rank second all-time in single-game Vanier Cup performances.
“I was really glad to come up with such a big performance for
my teammates in a game like this. This was a team accomplishment,
and my o-line was awesome today.”
With one sack and a team-high 4.5 tackles, defensive end
Marc-Antoine Beaudoin-Cloutier claimed the Bruce Coulter Award as
the MVP on the opposite side of the ball from the Morris
winner.
“We had a great week of preparation,” said
Beaudoin-Cloutier. “Our coaches came up with a fantastic game
plan, and we executed it well.”
Laval quarterback Bruno Prud’homme connected on 10 of 13
attempts, including one touchdown. His top receiver was
Seydou Junior Haridara, who caught five passes for 70 yards.
Rouge et Or placekicker Christopher Milo kicked five field goals,
tying a Vanier Cup single-game record held by Greg Vavra (Calgary,
1983) Frank Jagas (Western, 1994).
Laval becomes just the second team to win a Vanier Cup game before
a hometown crowd, following the Toronto Varsity Blues, who captured
the national title at Varsity Stadium in 1965 and at SkyDome (now
the Rogers Centre) in 1993.
The victory caps a perfect, 13-0 season for Laval. It marks the
first time in CIS football history that a team wins 13 games in a
campaign. The Rouge et Or accomplished the feat thanks to an
expanded nine-game regular season in Quebec.
Calgary completed its third straight campaign with a defeat at PEPS
Stadium, having lost both the 2008 Uteck Bowl to Laval and 2009
Vanier Cup to Queen’s at Quebec City.
A constant snowfall made this the first Vanier Cup played with the
field covered in snow from start to finish.
For Calgary, two-time Hec Crighton Trophy winner Erik Glavic
completed just six of 27 passes for 69 yards, including one
interception. Galvic’s accuracy was considerably better
than the statistics indicate, as his receivers repeatedly dropped
well-targeted throws.
“This sort of result is obviously disappointing, but
I’m really proud of my players,” said Calgary head
coach Blake Nill, who now holds a 2-4 record in six career Vanier
Cup appearances. “They left it all on the
field.”
The victory extends Laval’s overall winning streak at home to
44 games, last losing at PEPS on September 19, 2004 with a 14-13
defeat at the hands of the Montreal Carabins. Laval is also
now tied with the Western Mustangs for most Vanier Cup victories,
both boasting six banners. Laval is undefeated in Vanier Cup
appearances, while Western has had 12 visits to the national
final.
Laval dominated the opening quarter, outgaining the Dinos 183 yards
to 43 in net offence, and allowing but three. Lévesque
opened the scoring for the Rouge et Or at the 4:27 mark, rumbling
through his offensive line and into the open field for a 41-yard
rushing major. Yannick Morin Plante capped Laval’s
subsequent drive with a 40-yard receiving touchdown from
Prud’homme. Milo posted his first field goal of the
afternoon, a 12-yarder, before the quarter was out, to give Laval a
17-0 lead at quarter-time.
The Dino offence proved unable to break the Rouge et Or defenders,
failing to capitalize on a fumble recovery in Laval territory, and
suffering a net loss of three yards offence over the second
quarter. Calgary's defence fared somewhat better in the
second frame, forcing Laval to settle for three field goals by
Milo. Laval yielded enough to concede a safety
touch rather than punt from its own end zone, to leave the score
26-2 at the intermission.
Laval’s defence allowed Calgary just four first downs in the
first half, forcing the Dinos into two-and-out situations on five
of their eight drives.
Both teams settled into a defensive stalemate in the second
half. Calgary's sole attempt at offensive points, a 39-yard
field goal attempt by Aaron Ifield late in the third quarter,
sailed wide. Lévesque had a 38-yard touchdown run
called back for holding. Milo added his record-tying field
goal with 1:31 remaining in the game, accounting for the only score
of the second half and the final 29-2 tally.
The 47th edition of the Desjardins Vanier Cup will be played on
Friday, November 25, 2011, at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
SCORING
SUMMARY
Cgy: 0-2-0-0=2
Lav: 17-9-0-3=29
First Quarter
Lav – TD Lévesque 41 run (Milo kick) 4:27
Lav – TD Morin-Plante 40 pass from Prud’homme (Milo
kick) 7:43
Lav – FG Milo 12 13:39
Second Quarter
Cgy – Safety Touch (Milo conceded in endzone)
4:09
Lav – FG Milo 24 6:46
Lav – FG Milo 23 10:49
Lav – FG Milo 27 14:49
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
Lav – FG Milo 18 13:29
Attendance: 16,237
-CIS-