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Gaiters
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Football: Gaiters
to host Concordia with the playoffs on the line October 29, 2009
THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (3-4) close out the regular season at home against the Concordia Stingers (3-4). FOLLOW, FOLLOW: Fans can follow all Gaiters action at http://www.ubishops.ca/gaiters or at http://www.twitter.com/BishopsGaiters. THE RECORDS: The Gaiters are 3-4, with two straight wins over ranked opponents (then-No. 6 StFX, and then-No. 4 Montreal). The Stingers are also 3-4, having posted three straight wins over Sherbrooke, Acadia and McGill. LAST TIME OUT: A six-yard catch by Justin Conn keyed the Gaiters to a 21-16 upset of then-No. 4-ranked Montreal at Coulter Field. Conn scored on a perfectly-executed fake field goal, highlighting a day that belonged to the Gaiters’ defence and special teams. Kyle Exumé blocked a punt with 29 seconds left in the first half to set up the game-winning touchdown. Jesse Andrews was 13-for-21 for 136 yards and two touchdown passes. Defensively, Nick Rigg led the Gaiters with five solo tackles and an interception. Jermaine Lewis-Parris made 5.5 tackles, while Tyler Jutras had five tackles and a forced fumble. THE SERIES: The Gaiters lead the all-time series 33-27-2. The Gaiters’ 33-25 win in Week 7 of last season ended a ten-game winning streak in the series by Concordia. This will be the first time since September 6, 2003 that neither team enters the matchup ranked in the CIS Top Ten. The first meeting between the two teams came in Lennoxville on October 4, 1975, when the Gaiters upset the heavily favoured Concordians 13-11. LAST MEETING: Jamall Lee’s 189 yards rushing and two touchdowns led Bishop’s to a 33-25 win over then-No. 5 Concordia on Oct. 18, 2008. The game turned with nine minutes left, as Mahoney was intercepted by Kyle Jones on the Bishop’s 1-yard-line. The Gaiters drove 109 yards in eight plays, capped by a 26-yard Keith Godding reception to take a 32-25 lead. Godding had seven catches for 109 yards, while Jesse Andrews went 15-for-24 for 212 yards with an interception and a touchdown. Defensively, the Gaiters were led by Jones, who had a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception. Nick Poloniato made an interception and broke up three passes. THE SCENARIO—BISHOP’S: With four teams tied at 3-4, and second-place Montreal only a game ahead, the only absolute certainty this week is that 6-1 Laval will finish first. Despite the numerous two-, three-, and four-way tiebreaker possibilities, the scenario for Bishop’s is simple: a win puts the Gaiters into third place, and they would visit the Montreal-Sherbrooke winner next week, a loss would knock Bishop’s out of the playoffs. A SENIOR MOMENT: Today will mark the last home game for the Gaiters’ two fifth-year seniors: defensive lineman Nick Rigg and linebacker Wes Rundle. GO DEEP!: The Gaiters currently hold down the #2 and #3 spots in the QUFL in yards per catch. Shawn Gore is second in the circuit with 16.5 yards per reception, while Olivier Mongeau is third with a 16.4-yard average. Steven Turner actually has them both beat, with an average of 18.8 yards per catch, but has not made enough receptions to appear among the league leaders. NICK ‘NOCKS ‘EM DOWN: Fourth-year cornerback Nick Poloniato is tied for the CIS lead with seven passes knocked down this year. (Matt Grohn of Calgary also has seven.) With a total of eight passes defended (knockdowns plus interceptions), Poloniato is tied for first in the QUFL (with McGill’s Gregory Landry), and tied for 7th in the CIS rankings (with Landry, Grohn and Saskatchewan’s Bryce McCall). ‘TIS BETTER TO TAKEAWAY THAN TO GIVE: The Gaiters are currently at +3 in the takeaway / giveaway category. Last week, the Gaiters committed only one turnover (a late turnover on downs) but caused seven Montreal turnovers (four fumbles, two interceptions and one on downs). Since the bye, the Gaiters are + 7 in the takeaway / giveaway ratio. Since 2008, the Gaiters are 6-1 when winning the turnover battle, and 0-7 when losing it. CONN-GRATULATIONS!: Gaiters linebacker Justin Conn scored his first career touchdown last week, as he caught Olivier Mongeau’s pass on a fake field goal play. Conn accounted for nine of the Gaiters’ 21 points last week, as he scored two converts and a single in addition to his touchdown. In his career, Conn has made 7-of-11 career field goal attempts, and is a 5-for-6 from 20-29 yards. TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY: On October 31, 1970, the Gaiters downed the Loyola College Warriors 37-23 to clinch the Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference’s East Division championship. Terry Bradley scored three touchdowns to lead the Gaiters, while Ron Perowne and Larry Smith each added majors. Charle MacLean rounded out the scoring with a field goal and four converts. Bishop’s made 23 first downs, compared to Loyola’s five. The Gaiters finished the regular season 5-1, but lost to Ottawa one week later in the final CCIFC Championship Game. UP NEXT: If the Gaiters win today, they will visit the Sherbrooke-Montreal winner next week in a QUFL semifinal game on Saturday afternoon. |
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