McGill Redmen football’s (2-2) offence stalled in a 20-11 defeat to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or (2-2), on a blustery Sept. 24 day at McGill’s Molson Stadium. It was a disappointing loss for the Redmen, who led the Vert et Or for the first three quarters of the game. Sherbrooke, however, capitalized on McGill’s inability to find the endzone after the first quarter, stringing together some impressive fourth-quarter drives to put the game out of reach for the home team.
“We just didn’t execute the way we should have on the offensive side of the ball,” Head Coach Ronald Hilaire said. “We kept them in the game by not scoring and ultimately it came to bite us in the butt in the end.”
Initially, McGill seemed dangerous and moved the chains well on offence. Freshman quarterback Fred Paquette-Perrault threw a beautiful 43-yard pass on McGill’s second possession. He seemed primed to give the Sherbrooke defensive backfield hell for the rest of the game. The Redmen’s sole touchdown came on a five-yard rush by senior receiver Louis Brouillette, a play after fourth-year wide out Jonathan Mack took a brilliant catch on the one-yard line.
Afterwards, however, McGill struggled to mobilize its offence. Paquette-Perrault was benched early in the fourth quarter after many stalled drives. The Sherbrooke defensive line had an excellent game and held the Redmen to 60 rushing yards on 20 carries. In the meantime, the Vert et Or recorded a pair of safeties and trailed 11-4 going into the final quarter. McGill’s defence was equally dominant throughout the first three quarters. This led to an offensive standstill, although Sherbrooke slowly crept towards McGill’s score.
“I don’t know [what went wrong today], because we had a good week of practice,” third year running back Nicholas Khandar said. “We did not execute the offence. Sherbrooke had a good game.”
In the fourth quarter, Sherbrooke’s offence unshackled. Riddled with drops and overthrows through the first three quarters, their wideouts started to make plays. With nine minutes left in the final quarter, Sherbrooke wide receiver Frederick Caron pulled a slick double move to record a 43-yard touchdown. It was plain sailing for the Vert et Or from then on as they scored 16 points in the final quarter.
“They had momentum and they used it to their advantage,” Hilaire said. “They got a big play on a double move and it created something for them.”
McGill lost a chance to solidify their position in the CIS playoff race. However, They still have four games to play and posses the talent to comfortably make the postseason. The Redmen take the field next on Sunday Oct. 2, against Laval
Quotable
“I am still proud of the effort we gave. We still have to fix up some things, but it is week four. We still have a lot of football to play, so we will see what happens.”—Coach Ronald Hilaire keeping the game in perspective.
Stats Corner:
McGill held Sherbrooke to 1.6 yards per carry in comparison to McGill’s 3 yards per carry.
Moment of the Game
Jonathan Mack went over the middle, absorbed a blow from a Sherbrooke defensive back, juggled the ball, and ultimately held onto it five yards from the goal line. This 10 yard catch set up McGill’s sole touchdown of the game.
