Montreal – The Montreal Carabins were looking for a challenge during training camp and it was heard. The Guelph Gryphons, who have not suffered a defeat in the regular season last year, will head to CEPSUM this Sunday at 4pm..
This preseason game will serve as a kind of experiment as nearly 80 players will be in uniform on both teams – the standard is 48 for a regular game.
“We wanted to face a tough opponent from another conference, said Carabins Head Coach Danny Maciocia. “The Gryphons are a very competitive team in all three facets of the game and they rely on great players.”
“They are vying to win the title in their conference. It will be nice to see our players in action after only ten days of training camp.”
The Gryphons enjoyed the best season in their history last year under a seven wins against one loss. Their route was stopped in the OUA semifinals by the Queen’s Golden Gaels.
The Gryphons are led by Stu Lang, a former Eskimos player Danny Maciocia is familiar with during the time he was employed by the professional team in Edmonton. Earlier this year, Lang made news when he gave a personal donation of ten million dollars to his alma mater, Queen’s University, where he played as a receiver.
Preparing the team next season
This is an important step in training camp for Danny Maciocia’s team. Coaches have questions and this game could give them the answers.
“We want to be more consistent this year, to have a better performance, said Carabins Offensive Coordinator and Marco Iadeluca. “We want our passing game more explosive.”
“Our quarterbacks have made good progress since last season and we want to assess game situations. We also have a receiving corps that is very interesting. Youth and veterans bring a nice depth. There will be some good battles. ”
Quarterback fourth year Gabriel Cousineau is also looking forward to seeing the field with his offensive unit.
“It will be good to measure ourselves against the Carabins’ opponent,” Cousineau pointed out, referring to his teammates on defense he faces every day in training. “We will then have two weeks to make corrections before the first game of the season.”
“I’m anxious to see how the guys at different positions will behave, it will be a good way to work on our cohesion. ”
On defense, the Carabins players are also feverish at the thought of jumping on the field again in front of their supporters, including star linebacker Byron Archambault.
“These are new opponents that we do not know, so we are focused on our team,” Archambault mentioned. “I think we have shown in recent years that we have one of the best defenses in the country.”
“The attacks are going to challenge us and we must continue to work and refine our techniques in order to stay on top. It will be a great opportunity to experiment Sunday, but for sure we also want to win the game.”
As is tradition, the tailgate festivities begin three hours before the duel, at 1pm in front of CEPSUM. Carabins have won their only two preseason games played since their return in 2002 – 2012 and 2013 when they met the Windsor Lancers and the McGill Redmen.
With files from Mathieu Dauphinais
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