In their first game in the newly-renovated Molson Stadium, the Redmen football team suffered a 26-19 loss in double overtime to the fifth-ranked Bishop’s Gaiters on Saturday, bringing their regular season record to 0-2.
Gaiters’ quarterback Jesse Andrews connected with freshman running back Quincy Van De Cruize on a 10-yard pass in the second round of overtime after both McGill’s Austin Anderson and Bishop’s Josh Maveety converted on field goal attempts. Anderson’s 48-yard kick earned him a new career record.
McGill failed to even the score when QB Ryne Bondy, who went 21 for 41, was taken down as he threw his third attempt, with the ball going out of bounds and ending the game in Bishops’ favour. The game was Bondy’s second for the Redmen, after a knee injury last week put starting quarterback Jonathan Collin out for the season.
“We knew that having a new quarterback would present some interesting prospects and Bondy played up to expectations and above, so that’s something very positive going forward,” said Head Coach Sonny Wolfe, “Ryne played real well. Certainly the first time you’re in a game in over a year there are some issues that he may have been able to make a better decision once or twice and not give up a sack but you would probably say that sometimes about a third or fourth year starter. It was a terrific performance by Ryne.”
The team announced the full extent of Collin’s injury last Wednesday. An MRI showed two torn ligaments in his left knee and a stretched nerve in his left foot. He will have surgery in the upcoming weeks, and hopes to return next season.
After a scoreless first quarter, freshman running back Sean Murphy put McGill on the board with a 10-yard run into the end zone with three and a half minutes on the clock in the second. Murphy also led the team in rushing, racking up 44 yards.
With 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and Bishop’s leading 16-9, sophomore Thomas Fortin connected with Bondy’s eight-yard pass into the left corner of the end zone to bring the Redmen within one point of the Gaiters. Anderson’s kick pushed the game into the QUFL’s first overtime match since 2003, and the Gaiters’ first since 1998.
“Our biggest strength was that we were able to compete for 60 minutes. It’s been a while that we’ve been harping on that as a huge component to having a chance to be successful, and we feel we now have a team that does compete regardless of the competition and regardless of the circumstances,” said Wolfe, “But we played hard for 60 minutes and that gives us a chance to be successful.”
After becoming the first player in CIS history to reach 200 receptions last week, fifth-year Charles-Antoine Sinotte increased his tally to 214 with eight more catches on Saturday. However, freshman Justene Edwards was also a bright spot on the McGill roster, matching Sinotte’s 85 yards in reception in only five catches.
The Gaiters demonstrated the impressive range of their ground play, particularly midway through the third quarter when Matt Burke caught a 19-yard pass from Olivier Mongeau on a fake field goal, making the score 9-7 Bishop’s. The Gaiters ended the game with 193 yards rushing, compared to the Redmen’s 76. Maveety also provided the Gaiters with two field goals in the fourth quarter, while McGill earned their extra two points on a safety.
The Redmen will look to earn their first win of the season on Friday as they take on the Concordia Stingers (1-1) at Molson Stadium at 7 p.m. The game will double as both the Shaughnessy Cup and the Fill the Stadium event.
“Every week we try to play to our strengths a little bit, and a couple of things we may be able to exploit in terms of how they play offence and defence and special teams,” said Wolfe. “So we’ll try to change things around a little bit, not too dramatically. We ended up having some issues with substitutions, so there are a number of things we want to clean up and we are working really hard to ensure that happens.”
