The Université de Montréal Carabins secured first place in the Quebec university football conference on Sunday by inflicting a severe 35-13 loss to the Laval University Rouge et Or.
It was the most convincing victory in Carabins history against their great rivals. It was also the first time they had won their two season games against the Rouge et Or.
Marco Iadeluca praised the character of his players, without underestimating his rivals.
“I am very proud of my players who have overcome a lot of adversity throughout the season and still do today. That said, we still have one game left in the season, and everything will have to be started over afterwards in the playoffs.
“In all the Carabins-Rouge et Or games, the score ultimately means nothing,” recalled the head coach. I know they will come back strong if we ever earn our place in the Dunsmore Cup final. They will be well prepared, I have no doubt. ”
The visitors were the first to score, on a 22-yard drive from Kevin Mittal, but they didn’t have a chance to score until the last minute of the game. We still had to wait until the 12e minute of the second quarter to see the Carabins tie the game after a long push of 71 yards in 7 games that came after a turnaround by the Rouge et Or.
Quarterback Jonathan Sénécal, who finished the game with 350 passing yards (19 in 29, 3 touchdowns), then made several timely passes, the last to Hassane Dosso on 19 yards for the touchdown.
The Carabins then released a more or less hidden card to their game: receiver Jarryd Taylor, who had his best game of the season with 5 catches and 138 total yards.
“This is the story of our season, several players came to take over from the injured successfully,” Iadeluca recalled. It was known which player Jarryd was, but he himself was sidelined and only returned a few weeks ago. Today he was ready. ”
Taylor therefore stood out by first completing a 13-yard pass to Tristan Fiske-Casault himself, before catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sénécal. On their momentum, the Carabins added 3 points at the very end of the first half when Michael Arpin posted a 13-yard field goal.
“It took me a few weeks to adjust, due to COVID-19, but it’s getting better day by day and I was really involved in the game plan today,” Taylor said. But there are so many great receivers on this team and they could all be starters. For me, after several seasons at Concordia, it’s special to be here and be part of the Carabins. “
It’s incredible to play in front of such a crowd of fans… without getting heckled!
Jarryd taylor
In the second half, the Carabins defense really took control of the game, including a streak of five sacks in seven games. In attack, Sénécal turned to running back Bertrand Beaulieu – 91 yards on 15 carries -, not without completing a third touchdown pass, on 39 yards, to Simon Riopel. Arpin added three field goals.
Lemieux-Cardinal, who had two of those sacks, said: “We started slowly, but we really started playing our football in the second half, after making a few small adjustments depending on what they were doing. in attack. We still have things to improve, but we are moving in the right direction and we will now have the advantage of playing the playoff games at home. ”
“Lots of mistakes”
The Rouge et Or added a touchdown late in the game, when the outcome had been sealed for a long time. For the visitors, who had not suffered three losses during the season since 2002 and who finished the year with a record of 5-3, the score was obviously severe.
“We made a lot of mistakes, in all facets of the game, and that explains the score a bit,” said head coach Glen Constantin. However, I do not want to take anything away from the Carabins, who played very well and took full advantage of the home field and their crowd advantage.
“Their quarter [Sénécal] was very good, often extending the games thanks to his runs to give his receivers time to free themselves. On our side, the noise of the crowd disrupted the rhythm of our attack and their defense took the opportunity to put a lot of pressure on our quarter. ”
Constantine, who agreed that such a defeat was a good lesson for his young players, however recalled: “A year [2014], we beat them 40-13 here and lost the Dunsmore Cup final at the end of the season. It is possible, and I reminded my players after the game. Our week without a game is going pretty well. The players will have time off tomorrow, and then we will prepare for the semi-final [contre Concordia] in the hopes of earning the right to come back here for the Dunsmore. ”
For their part, the Carabins will conclude the season next Friday (7 p.m.) when they visit the Redbirds at Percival-Molson Stadium at McGill University.
Already assured of third place after their decisive 31-3 victory on Saturday against the Redbirds (1-6), the Concordia Stingers (4-3) will be in Sherbrooke to face the Vert & Or (2-5). . The latter is guaranteed to finish the season in fourth place, to obtain the last place in the playoffs and to face the Carabins in the semifinals.