September 11, 2009

Download the full game notes here (pdf)

THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (0-1) open up the home portion of the 2009 campaign with visit by the No. 1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (1-0).

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 $12 for adults, $5 for Champlain and High School students, $3 for Bishop's students and $2 for children under 12.

ON THE AIR: Today’s game will be broadcast nationwide on Société Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the CBC. This is the Gaiters’ first appearance on the QUFL’s new broadcast partner. Jean St-Onge will be the play-by-play man, with former Montreal Machine head coach Jacques Dussault providing colour commentary. SRC is available on Cable 12 in the Greater Toronto Area, Cable 5 in Ottawa (both Rogers), Cable 2 or 4 in Montreal (Videotron) and Channel 112 (among others) on Bell TV. Note that in Western Canada, the game is scheduled to air at 1 p.m. local time.

THE RECORDS: The Gaiters are 0-1, having dropped last week’s game at Sherbrooke. Laval is 1-0, having shut out Concordia 51-0 on Sunday afternoon. Laval has won 17 straight regular-season games, and 13 games overall.

LAST MEETING: Benoit Groulx threw for 327 yards and two touchdown passes as the No. 1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or cruised to a 41-10 victory over the Gaiters at Coulter Field. The Rouge et Or led 24-10 at halftime, and pulled away with 17 unanswered points in the second half. Ten different receivers caught passes for Laval, led by Laurent Lavigne-Masse, who had five for 103 yards. For the Gaiters, Jamall Lee carried 18 times for 70 yards. The Gaiters' only touchdown came on an eight-yard pass from Jesse Andrews to Steven Turner in the second quarter. Keith Godding had a career-high nine catches for 121 yards. Defensively, the Gaiters were led by James Yurichuk, who made 11 tackles (9 solo) while Nick Poloniato and Harrison Maloney made seven each.

THE SERIES: The Gaiters are 6-15 against Laval (including three games forfeited by Laval in 2001, and one by Bishop’s in 1997). The first meeting came on Sept. 2, 1996, when the Gaiters downed Laval 22-11 at the PEPS in Ste-Foy. Bishop’s last win against Laval (excluding forfeits) was 17-14 in OT at Coulter Field on Oct. 25, 1997. At Coulter Field, the Gaiters have gone 3-5 against Laval all-time, with Laval having won the past three games in Lennoxville.

LAST TIME OUT: A 329-yard passing performance from Bishop’s Gaiters quarterback Jesse Andrews went for nought as the Gaiters suffered a 25-20 loss at the Sherbrooke Vert & Or last Friday. The Gaiters were undone by five turnovers, which resulted in 17 Sherbrooke points, as the Vert et Or took the Mayor’s Cup for the third time in four years. Sherbrooke broke through with 21 seconds left of the first half, as Jonathan L’Esperance recovered an Andrews fumble and rumbled 35 yards for the touchdown. Individually, two Gaiters went over 100 yards receiving, as Shawn Gore caught seven passes for 109 yards, while Olivier Mongeau had six catches for 108 yards. For Sherbrooke, Pascal Fils was the star of the night with 24 carries for 189 yards and a touchdown.

ANDREWS AIR FORCE: Jesse Andrews will be making his 24th 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 week, Andrews passed for 329 yards, the second-highest performance of his career, in the Gaiters’ loss at Sherbrooke. Andrews leads the QUFL in passing yards, and was one of only four quarterbacks in Canada to post a 300-yard game in Week 1 of the season.

RANKING MEMBERS: This week’s game is the ninth time in the past 12 games that the Gaiters have faced a team ranked in the CIS Top 10, dating back to October 21, 2007. In 2008, six of the Gaiters’ eight games were against ranked teams. Since 2007, the Gaiters are 3-7 against ranked opponents, but are 5-3 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. On Friday, he made seven catches for 109 yards, averaging 15.6 yards per reception. Both of those were career highs for Gore, and Friday’s game was the first 100-yard receiving game of his career.

THE BIG O: Fourth-year receiver Olivier Mongeau played his first game in 22 months last Friday, and it was as if he never left. Mongeau made seven catches for 108 yards, setting a new career high for catches, and tying his personal best for yards. His only other 100-yard game came on Oct. 6, 2007 against McGill, when he caught four passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.

TURNER’S A BURNER: Fourth-year slotback/kick returner Steven Turner is second in the QUFL with 167 all-purpose yards. Last week, he rolled up 72 receiving yards, 53 punt return yards, 33 kick return yards and nine rushing yards. In 2008, Turner finished with 642 all-purpose yards, an average of 80.2 per game.

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).

TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY:  On September 12, 1992, the Gaiters opened the OQIFC season with a 53-7 demolition of the woeful Carleton Ravens. Seven different players found the end zone for Bishop’s, highlighted by Alain Beaudoin’s 85-yard touchdown catch from Jim Murphy. Murphy finished 10-for-19 for 254 yards. Beaudoin made four catches for 166 yards. Greg Hiscox’ seven converts, one field goal and a punt single rounded out the Gaiters’ scoring. The only scoring for the Ravens was by Jason Mallet who ran an interception back 85 yards for a touchdown. Bishop’s outgained Carleton 513-209.