Redbirds 28 – Carabins 38 | The Carabins are getting a scare

A Carabins-Redbirds duel is the football equivalent of a match between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Generals in basketball. No matter the quality of the spectacle or the point gap between the opponents, the identity of the winner seems predetermined. Even though the Redbirds offered solid opposition, they lost by a score of 38-28.

In the last meeting between the rivals, in August, the Carabins shredded the Redbirds by a score of 47-8. In fact, throughout its history, the University of Montreal has only lost twice to McGill. These two defeats were suffered in 2002, during the Carabins’ inaugural season.

During this streak, the Carabins had only allowed more than 20 points to the Redbirds once, in 2008. Things changed on Friday: McGill managed to score 28 points, in the heart of this Mount Royal duel. A battle of mountain kings that was enough to make Bernard Drainville dream.

Not only were the Redbirds in the game, they were dictating the pace. And this, above all thanks to the brilliance of quarterback Eloa Latendresse-Régimbald, conductor of a brilliant aerial game. He was still perfect at the end of the first quarter, completing seven passes in addition to winning by running.

“We knew the match was in our hands. Unfortunately, we missed several chances, attempts in the zone which were costly,” commented Latendresse-Régimbald after the game.

“Unacceptable”. This is also the term that Carabins coach Marco Iadeluca used to describe his team’s first half, at the end of which the team was trailing.

The Carabins struggled to gain momentum. Not only were they missing easy relays, the Blues were victims of two costly turnovers in their zone. “We talked about it all week, we wanted to start quickly against McGill. The fault is on us. Our state of mind was not the right one,” commented ball carrier Lucas Bertet-Dembele.

Ascent

Towards the end of the second quarter, the Carabins trailed 20 to 6. Quarterback Jonathan Sénécal pulled a rabbit out of his hat by sending a 45-yard pass to rookie receiver Enrique James Leclair. Mathieu Barsalou only had to complete the sneak to score his first major, and allow his team to begin an irresistible comeback.

“It wasn’t the right way to start, but it shows us that we have great resilience as a team. Not all teams could have come back like that,” said Jonathan Sénécal, a few seconds before loved ones sang to celebrate his birthday.

In the second half, the Carabins showed their true colors, not only by scoring 23 points, but above all by limiting the Redbirds’ attack. McGill was shut out in the second half, before scoring a touchdown and a conversion in the very last minute.

“Everyone was calm. We gave ourselves the challenge of playing at our level [habituel] in the second half. We took control from there. I loved our response,” said coach Marco Iadeluca.

If the outcome of the game is positive for the Carabins, the team cannot afford to have a bad start to the match like this. Stumbling in this way could prove particularly costly during the next game, which will pit the Montrealers against the Laval Rouge et Or.

Laval got the better of Montreal by a score of 23-22, during the last clash between the two teams, at the beginning of September.

For its part, McGill will try to obtain a second consecutive victory against the University of Sherbrooke in its next match, Friday. The playoffs will begin during the first weekend of November.