Box Score
QUEBEC CITY -- Luca Perrier rushed for 105 yards -- highlighted by a spectacular 72-yard TD run up the middle with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter -- as heavily-favoured Laval escaped with a 17-11 season-opening victory over McGill before a sold-out crowd of 6,500 at Stade Telus, Sunday.

It marked McGill's 140th season of football and was the first game in almost two years for both clubs as COVID-19 protocols limited Laval's ticket sales to about 50 per cent of their usual attendance.

Playing for the first time under the Redbirds moniker, McGill led 3-0 after the opening quarter, and held on to a precarious 4-3 advantage at halftime. Laval rallied with two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 17-4 lead into the final stanza after Perrier's game-breaking run. The 25-year-old native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, averaged 13.1 yards over his eight carries.

The result spoiled a solid performance from McGill quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos, who passed for a career-high 309 yards. The Redbirds had a chance to win the contest in the final quarter. Sinodinos, who hails from Laval, Que., scored on a two-yard keeper play at 1:48 to reduce the gap to six and had his troops in position to win. On a third-and-two play from the Laval 47-yard line with 68 seconds remaining, Sinodinos found Pearce Dumay for a first down but the veteran receiver couldn't hold onto the ball and the Rouge et Or took over on downs to run out the clock.

Sinodinos completed 22 of 32 passing attempts but was picked off once.  He rushed twice for 10 yards, including his short TD scamper around the right end of the line when Laval appeared to be expecting a run up the middle. He found six different receivers, including Dumay, who ended up with 71 yards on six receptions.

Both teams registered 20 first downs and McGill's 358 yards of net offence was only two shy of the host team's total. But in the end, it was Laval's 31st consecutive victory over McGill since the last Rouge et Or setback in 2001.

"It was poetic to see our guys back on the field and competing after 21 months of being (sidelined) with COVID restrictions," said Ronald Hilaire, in his seventh season and eighth year as head coach and defensive coordinator at McGill. "Our guys were resilient and showed a lot of fight throughout the entire game against a tough Laval team. Our group never stopped believing that we could play with them and win that game. We fell just a little bit short but it (bodes well) for other tough games later in the season."

Quarterback Thomas Bolduc paced Laval's attack, completing 25 of 37 attempts for a modest 214 yards and one touchdown. He concluded an eight-play scoring drive by hooking up with receiver Kevin Mital on a six-yard toss at 5:59 of the third quarter to put Laval ahead 10-4. Mital finished with six receptions for 62 yards.

Both kickers rounded out the scoring with five points apiece. Laval rookie Vincent Blanchard was 1-for-3 on field-goals. After missing his first two attempts, he made a 22-yard effort that tied the score at 3-3 midway through the second stanza.  His first attempt, from 34 yards, was blocked by Benjamin Carre and his second attempt missed from 42 yards out.

For McGill, freshman kicker Antoine Couture was 1-for-2 on field-goals, making a 36-yarder but missing a 30-yard effort on the last play before halftime, which resulted in a rouge.  Couture also converted the lone McGill TD, averaged 33.7 yards on 10 punts and 58.0 yards on a pair of kickoffs.

The top Redbirds receiver was freshman Darius Simmons of Lachine, Que., who registered a game-high 139 yards on seven catches, including a 40-yarder.  It was the team's highest single-game reception yardage total since Jeremy Sauvageau had 166 in a game at Sherbrooke on Sept. 9, 2017.  Simmons, a highly-touted recruit out of John Abbott College, also had a pair of kickoff returns for 32 yards.

McGill (0-1) will host Sherbrooke (0-1) at Percival Molson Stadium next Saturday (Sept. 4) at 1 p.m. Laval (1-0) travels to Concordia (0-0) for a 2 p.m. start on the same day.

REDBIRDS RAP: Another rookie, Dhandre Weekes, posted a solid debut, snaring six balls for 61 yards.... On the ground, McGill utilized five ball carriers, led by freshman Elijah Williams, who had seven carries for 29 yards... McGill had seven penalties for 69 yards, compared to Laval's 9-for-90... Each team had a pair of QB sacks, with junior DL Jonathan Wilding collecting both for the Redbirds, the first two of his collegiate career... Senior DB Guillaume Beland led the McGill defence with eight total tackles, two knockdowns and a fumble recovery... Rookie DB Ryan McNally had 7.5 tackles and a knockdown, while LB Anthony Leclerc was credited with 5.5 tackles.

(LINK TO COMPLETE STATS)


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Info Office
McGill University
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca