Carleton adds an out-of-province commit to their Class of 2018.
CƩdric ThƩriault, a defensive lineman from Champlain College Lennoxville, has spent his entire career playing in QuƩbec, but now he has decided to test his talents against Ontario opponents after committing to the Carleton Ravens.
With 11 teams, the OUA has the most football teams in U Sports. The RSEQ, on the other hand, contains five teams. To ThƩriault, this difference in league size played a role into his decision to cross over into Ontario.
āI think the OUA football league is more exciting than the RSEQ as you play a new team every week and there is more parity,ā ThĆ©riault said.
Before 2013, the OUA had one less team than it does now. It was in 2013 that the Carleton Ravens revived their football team. āCarleton is a fairly young football program,ā ThĆ©riault said. āI want to be apart of that new generation that will bring this program to the highest levels.ā
In its five-year inception, the Ravens have had limited changes to the coaching staff. āI liked the fact that the coaching staff has been really stable since the program restarted and many of them will most likely be there for my whole U Sports career,ā ThĆ©riault said. āI also already knew the defensive line coach, David Caron, and he is full-time, which is a great advantage.ā
ThĆ©riault is originally from QuĆ©bec City, QuĆ©bec, where he played high school football with Les Blizzard du SĆ©minaire Saint-FranƧois (RSEQ). After five years, the 6ā0, 230lbs defensive end moved to Lennoxville and played three years with the Champlain College Cougars (RSEQ Division 1).
In 2015 and 2017, ThĆ©riault and the Cougars captured the Bol dāOr championship. In 2015, while he was a captain on Team QuĆ©bec White, he was player of the game versus Team Nova Scotia at the Football Canada Cup.
At Carleton, ThƩriault will be studying finance with a co-op option at the Sprott School of Business.
āI really like the city of Ottawa and instantaneously fell in love with the place and the city during my official and unofficial visits,ā ThĆ©riault said. āOttawa looks like QuĆ©bec City in some ways and it felt like home.ā
(feature photo credit: Maxime Bellemare)
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