Montreal Ā – The Montreal Carabins returned to CEPSUM with a 38-10 preseason victory over the Guelph Gryphons Sunday afternoon in front of 2,324 spectators.
The four quarterbacks on the team conducted their attack into the end zone, while the defense remained strong throughout the match.
“I am very satisfied with our air attack, said Carabins Head Coach Danny Maciocia after the game. “We can win with our four quarterbacks.”
“Work remains to be done to better balance our attack, but we saw some nice things today. The important thing for us was also that all our players are jumping on the field. ”
The Carabins’ air attack started in the second quarter. Gabriel Cousineau was successful on four consecutive passes to lead his troops into the end zone. A 11-yard pass to Nicolas Dubeau gave a 9-7 lead to the Montrealers. In their next attack sequence, it was a dash of 41 yards by Sean Thomas Erlington that led to the touchdown.
Cousineau had a good day. Before leaving the field after the first half, he completed 14 of 21 passes for 229 yards. He distributed the ball to seven different receivers. His favorite target was Mikhail Davidson. The latter caught four passes for 84 yards. Finally, rookie Regis Cibasu caught the most receptions with five, for a total of 60 yards.
“I am satisfied with this game,” said Cousineau. “I wish our offense started faster, but it takes more time early in the season.”
“Our coaches had us well prepared and we gained confidence as the game progressed. There are now two weeks left for us to make adjustments and become confident for the first game of the season.”
The Carabins added to their lead in the third quarter. With Pierre-Luc Varhegyi at quarterback, the Blues have travelled 90 yards on the ground. The sequence ended with a touchdown by Manuel Crisi-Lauzon on a one-yard run.
In the next quarter, Crisi-Lauzon repeated the feat, this time for four yards after an orchestrated sequence by quarterback Hugo Henderson. Late in the game, quarterback Samuel Caron launched a touchdown pass for 101 yards to Mathieu Guindon. Rookie kicker Louis-Philippe Simoneau scored a single on a kickoff to round out the scoring.
On the other side of the ball, the Carabins defense stayed true to their reputation. The Gryphons took the lead after the first quarter, but the Carabins quickly made āāadjustments. In the second quarter, the Carabins only allowed one first down to the Gryphons.
In the end, the Carabins outscored their opponents 601 to 268 total yards. Ā The Carabins have also won 28 first downs versus 18 for the Gryphons.
In the first quarter, both teams each missed a field goal attempt. However, Guelph scored a single.
On the play that followed, a safety was conceded by Guelph after quarterback Gabriel Cousineau fumbled in the Carabins territory . The Gryphons followed with a touchdown. James Roberts launched a three-yard pass to Curtis D’Hollander in the end zone.
Once the Carabins offensive was set in motion, the only Gryphons other points came from Gabe Ferraro, a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Notably, the Carabins managed to stop their opponents twice in their one yard line.
“I think this is the most important thing to remember that game on defense, said Anthony Coady, one of the Carabins defensive captains “It shows the character of our team.”
“We had to make some adjustments early in the game, but we had a good performance.”
The Gryphons made āāthe trip to Montreal without a few starters including quarterback Jazz Lindsey, defensive end Cam Walker and receiver A’dre Fraser.
This is the third consecutive win for the Carabins in preseason games after defeating the Windsor Lancers and the McGill Redmen in the previous two seasons.
The Carabins will begin their regular season in Quebec City against the Laval Rouge et Or. This is a rematch of the 2013 Dunsmore Cup final and will be played Saturday, Sept. 6 at 19h.
With files from Mathieu Dauphinais
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