GOTW QC: Bol d’Or rematch between CFC50 No. 3 CJE and No. 10 SSF

Henri Plante (Left) and Thomas Desrosiers (Right)

Hostilities will be renewed in Quebec this weekend with CFC50 No. 3 Collège Jean-Eudes (CJE) taking on CFC50 No. 10 Séminaire Saint-François (SSF) in a rematch of last year’s Bol d’Or.

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CJE enter with bragging rights coming off a magical run that ended with a 38-32 overtime victory, which wasn’t the climax many expected after the Aigles finished the regular season with a 4-4 record, including a 41-0 beatdown at the hands of the Blizzard. The defeat brought an end to SSF’s two year reign over the province, but it hasn’t taken long for the program to move on with a fresh mindset in 2019,

“We have already moved on from last year and are taking it one game at a time, focusing on ourselves, and improving as a team each and every week to get to the playoffs.” Running back Thomas Desrosiers explains.

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“We’re really focusing on ourselves, trying to establish our running game, solidify our passing game and communicating effectively.”

Desrosiers led by example in their 28-16 week one victory over Triolet rushing for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. His performance was the perfect compliment to a competent passing attack that completed 8/14 attempts led by Frédéric Doucet, including a team high four catches for 44 yards by Oderic Mutemberezi, who echoed his teammate’s message heading into their rematch against the Aigles,

“The main focus is to get better every week. We want to learn from our mistakes and get better on a weekly basis. Our main objective is to be 1-0 every week. So our focus this week is on Collège Jean-Eudes. Again, with our standard of performance, our goal is to be 1-0 this week. We focus on ourselves to get better.”

"…College Jean-Eudes are riding a huge high already providing the biggest upset of the year in Quebec, but do they have one more in them?"

RSEQ Juvenile div 1/1b (QC): The finals are here … https://t.co/c45RcHjZ1v pic.twitter.com/zogH7Xwg6K

— CanadaFootballChat (@chatfootball) November 16, 2018

It’s clear the Blizzard would rather focus on the path ahead, but the Aigles understand there may be a few doubters still hanging around that don’t believe they can defend their championship throne. It’s easy to say this game has zero correlation to what happened in the Bol d’Or, but defensive end and longsnapper Henri Plante would like to remind the rest of the province who had the last laugh in 2018,

“It would be a statement to all the teams in the league that we are a strong team again this season. Winning this game would be the motivation to the team this year to continue playing hard like in the playoffs last year.”

CJE ran into no issues during their week one victory over Académie Saint-Louis, with Plante helping shut the door on defence with 12 total tackles in a 22-0 shutout. Charles Foisy led the way under centre completing 20/32 attempts for 224 yards and a touchdown toss to Yan Gaspar Cernacek for their only offensive major. Surprisingly 12 tackles wasn’t enough to lead the squad with Xavier Thibaudeau stealing the honours with an impressive 14.5 total tackles including three for loss, while Justin Tremblay scored a defensive touchdown, giving the Blizzard plenty of faces to worry about on both sides of the ball.

Plante says they may not be the biggest group around, but their quickness combined with great coaching is a lethal weapon when they’re firing on all cylinders,

“We are not very big players so we work a lot on our speed and on our ability to keep the game fast and physical. We have a great group of coaches and we can learn a lot about the team who we are playing against and what we must do to win.

“The first point would be to create a great chemistry between the players like the one we had last year. The second point this week is to focus on all the small details that can turn a game into a win for us. The last point would be to come out strong from the beginning of the game.”

SSF also got some big defensive performances in week one outta Alex-Essomba Nathan who led the way with 7 total tackles, and Samuel Frenette who came up with the team’s first interception of the season. They only allowed 74 total points last year, which made their high-scoring defeat in the Bol d’Or even more shocking, but Mutemberezi says they’re determined to focus on the little details in order to march their way back to the finals,

“The scouts should notice how guys are well prepared, with a great work ethic, attention to detail and the team is playing fast. As a team player, I will do what the coaches want me to do. I’m looking to help the team anyway I can.”

Mutemberezi and Desrosiers appear to be on the same page as the rest of their program, because the star running back’s only personal goal listed for this season is helping the Blizzard return to the top of football in Quebec,

“We focus on the small details and we work hard to fix our mistakes from the past. My personal goal for this season is to be the best player that I can be to help my team get back to the Bol d’Or.”

On the flip side, with a chance to knock off the Blizzard again, Thibaudeau expects an intense atmosphere leading up to the battle on Saturday,

“We need to survive to the first part of the game where there will be a lot of emotions. As always we need to focus on the execution and details on every play. Assure that every player is ready because there’s no weakness in their lineup.

“It would be amazing to have another victory against them. We know they will come to compete, but we will prepare ourselves as for any other team. We want to fight for every single game and we do not take anything for granted. Our goal is to be best team possible at the last game of the season and not necessarily at the second week of the season.”

Séminaire Saint-François will travel to Collège Jean-Eudes on Saturday, September 7th for 1:30pm kickoff.

BONUS QUOTE

I think this is a big year for me, but I want to enjoy this last year in high school with my teammates. One of my goal is to be on the all-star team this year, but I don’t really want the think about that now. I look forward to taking my time to listen to the different offers I may receive after the season. I am pretty sure that I will receive Cegep D1 offers, but I will take my time to make the good decision.

• DE Henri Plante (Collège Jean-Eudes, QC)