September 3, 2008

Download the full game notes here (pdf)

THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (0-0) open up the 2009 campaign with a short trip to Sherbrooke, to face the Vert & Or (0-0)

FOLLOW, FOLLOW: Fans can follow the game with Twitter updates on the Gaiters website at http://www.ubishops.ca/gaiters or http://www.twitter.com/BishopsGaiters.

TICKETS, PLEASE: Tickets for the game are available at the door. Fans are advised to arrive early to avoid lineups. General admission tickets cost $16 for adults, $9 for students over 18 years of age and $7 for those under 18.

THE RECORDS: This is the first regular season game for both teams. In preseason action, Sherbrooke fell 18-16 to Ottawa last Saturday on a last-second field goal. Last year, the Gaiters finished 3-5, while Sherbrooke was 5-3.

LAST MEETING: Pascal Fils and Joseph Mroué led Sherbrooke to a 37-19 victory over the Gaiters on Oct. 4, 2008. Fils carried the ball 20 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns while Mroué ran for 132 yards and a major. Fils broke the game open with two touchdowns 2:19 apart in the third quarter. The Gaiters’ Steven Turner caught a career-high seven passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, while Kheon Clarke had three catches for 44 yards and a TD. Jamall Lee gained 122 yards on 23 carries, while Jesse Andrews was good on 18 of 26 passes for 198 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a fumble.

THE SERIES: All-time, the Gaiters are 6-6 against Sherbrooke. The first meeting came in the 1971 QUAA Championship, when Bishop’s dumped the Vert & Or 49-2 in Sherbrooke, clinching the Gaiters’ first bowl bid (the 1971 Western Bowl). Since the restart of Vert & Or football in 2003, the Gaiters have gone 4-6 against their cross-town rivals, with the Gaiters having won two of the last three games. The home team has won the last five games in the series. The last win by a road team was a 39-19 Sherbrooke win in Lennoxville on Sept. 5, 2005. The Gaiters’ last win in Sherbrooke was a 62-0 shutout on Oct. 11, 2003.

THE CUP RUNNETH OVER: Today’s game is the fourth annual “Mayor’s Cup”. Sherbrooke currently holds the cup, by virtue of their 37-19 win last year at Sherbrooke. This will be the last Mayor’s Cup for Jean Perrault, who has been Mayor of Sherbrooke since November 7, 1994 but is retiring this year. The Gaiters are 40-79 since Perrault took office and 15-43 since the amalgamation of Lennoxville into Sherbrooke.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Tonight’s game is the first of two Friday night games for Bishop’s this season. Once a rarity, they are now a regular part of the Gaiters’ schedule, as this year is the second time in a row that the Gaiters will play two Friday games. All-time, the Gaiters are 6-7 on Friday night, with their last Friday win coming on Sept. 18, 2008—a 45-21 win over McGill.

PERRY ON MY WAYWARD SON: Friday’s game will mark the QUFL debut for Perry Marchese, the Gaiters’ new Offensive Coordinator. Marchese spent four years as an assistant coach in the CFL, including winning a Grey Cup with Toronto in 2004. Most recently, he has been the Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach of the Steel City (Hamilton) Ironmen of the Ontario Varsity Football League, as well as with the Ontario U-19 provincial team.

ANDREWS AIR FORCE: Jesse Andrews will be making his 23^rd consecutive start under centre for the Gaiters on Friday, the longest current streak in the QUFL. Andrews took over as the Gaiters’ quarterback in the second quarter of the Laval game on Sept. 24, 2006, and made his first start one week later. Last year, Andrews passed for a career-high 1501 yards and six touchdowns. Andrews was also fleet of foot last season, rushing for 260 yards on 42 carries – an average of 6.2 yards per attempt. Earlier this year, Andrews became the first Bishop’s quarterback to participate in the annual East-West Bowl.

RANKING MEMBERS: Friday is a rare game for the Gaiters against an unranked opponent. The Gaiters have faced a team ranked in the CIS Top 10 eight times in their past 11 games, dating back to October 21, 2007. Since 2007, the Gaiters are 3-7 against ranked opponents, but are 5-2 against unranked teams.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAINS: The Gaiters have named eight captains for the 2009 season. On offence, the squad will be led by quarterback Jesse Andrews, receivers Shawn Gore, Olivier Mongeau and Steven Turner and lineman Phil Sauer. The defensive captains are linebacker Wes Rundle, defensive lineman Nick Rigg and defensive back Nick Poloniato.

WARNING! THIS GAME WILL CONTAIN GORE: Fourth-year receiver Shawn Gore led the QUFL last season with an average of 19.3 yards per catch. He caught 12 passes for 232 yards in 2008. He was ninth in the QUFL with an average of 46.4 yards per game.

THE BIG O: Fourth-year receiver Olivier Mongeau is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the Gaiters’ lineup tonight. Mongeau was forced to sit out all of last season due to complications resulting from off-season knee surgery. In 2007, he made 21 catches for 417 yards and averaged 10.1 yards on 22 punt returns.

NICK’S PICKS: Third-year cornerback Nick Poloniato finished last season with five interceptions, after leading the CIS with seven picks in 2007. Poloniato is three shy of the school record of 16 career interceptions, held by John Getuluis, and needs seven interceptions to tie the league mark of 20 – held by Stéphane Chapados (Concordia) and Maxime Gagnier (Montreal).

‘TIS BETTER TO RECEIVE THAN TO GIVE: The Gaiters finished last season with a +1 giveaway/takeaway ratio. When the Gaiters won the turnover battle, they were 3-1, while they were 0-4 in the four games in which they committed more turnovers.

PRO GAITERS: This year, the Gaiters sent three players to the professional ranks. Running back Jamall Lee was signed by the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, and was also drafted third overall by the CFL’s B.C. Lions. In three preseason games, Lee has carried the ball five times for 11 yards. Linebacker James Yurichuk was drafted fourth overall by the Lions, and has made an impact on special teams. He is tied for 5th in the CFL with 12 Special Teams Tackles. He also made a key play by dribbling (kicking) a loose ball, setting up the go-ahead touchdown in B.C.’s 35-20 win over Saskatchewan on August 7. Linebacker Kyle Jones signed a practice roster agreement with the Toronto Argonauts on July 12, 2009, and has been on the club’s taxi squad since then, but (so far) yet to dress for a game.

BISHOP’S – YOURS TO DISCOVER: 65 of the Gaiters’ 95 players this year hail from the Province of Ontario. Quebec is the next-biggest source of talent, with 24 players, while there are two Gaiters from British Columbia and New Brunswick, with one each from Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Of the Gaiters’ 65 Ontarians, 38 call the Greater Toronto Area home, with 11 coming from Eastern Ontario and nine from Ottawa.

AAA RATING: This year, the Gaiters have 21 players from the collegiate ranks, including 16 from the Cégep AAA league. This is up from the 11 collegiate players the Gaiters had last season.

MILESTONES: Several Gaiters are approaching significant milestones:

• Jesse Andrews needs 404 yards for 4,000 in his career.

• Jesse Andrews needs16 attempts to reach 500 for his career.

• Shawn Gore needs 95 receiving yards for 750 in his career

• Steven Turner needs 31 punt return yards to reach 500 for his career

• Josh Maveety needs three points to reach 100 for his career.

TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY:  On September 4, 1993, the Gaiters defeated the University of Western Ontario Mustangs 28-15 in an non-conference game at Coulter Field. The win is the Gaiters’ only victory in four tries against the Mustangs, who would go on to down Bishop’s 41-24 in the 1994 Churchill Bowl.