Rouge et Or leave Redmen feeling black and blue
Guillaume Rioux racked up 253 all-purpose yards and hauled in two of Laval's eight touchdowns as the No.4-ranked Rouge et Or routed McGill 69-0 in men's university football before close to 1,000 rain-soaked fans at Molson Stadium, Friday.
It was McGill's largest shutout margin in defeat since a 68-0 setback to the Rouge et Or in 2010 and marked Laval's 16th consecutive victory over the Redmen, who own a 5-22 lifetime record against their rivals from Quebec City.
Rioux, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior from Paris, France, collected 191 yards on 11 punt returns, to go along with 44 yards on four receptions.
McGill's defence limited Laval to just three first quarter points but they wilted in the second quarter as Rouge et Or exploded for 33 points. They extended the lopsided lead to 58-0 after three. Laval, which had a 22-9 edge in first downs, amassed 518 net yards compared to just 105 by McGill.
The game was played in an unrelenting downpour, from start to finish and McGill's multi-pronged running attack, which looked so good in a 36-9 win over Mt. Allison last week, was neutralized at minus-5 yards on 19 carries, compared to 300 yards on the ground by Laval.
Sophomore Maxime Boutin of Quebec City, ignited the second quarter explosion with a 20-yard TD run to make the score 12-0. Eighteen seconds later, defensive lineman Vincent Desloges picked-off a deflected pass and ran it back for a 35-yard TD and the rout was on.
Laval quarterback Tristan Grenon, a senior from Quebec City. completed 11 of 14 attempts for 197 yards, including a 62-yard TD toss to Seydou Haidara and a six-yard scoring major to Boutin.
Under-study quarterback Alex Skinner of Ottawa came on in the second half and was 2-for-4 for only 13 yards but found Rioux for a pair of TD strikes of nine and four yards, respectively.
A 43-yard interception return by linebacker Mathieu Masseau widened the gap to 51-0 and Christophe Norman's 47-yard scamper made it 65-0 early in the final stanza. He finished with a game-high 93 rushing yards on only six carries.
Placekicker Felix Faubert added 10 points on seven conversions and a 16-yard field goal. Four safeties and a 49-yard rouge by Boris Bede rounded out the scoring.
McGill quarterback Ryne Bondy, making his second consecutive start after serving a back-up role over the first two weeks, was the victim of numerous dropped balls in the rain-soaked venue and went the distance, completing only 12 of 32 attempts for 143 yards. He was picked off twice and rushed six times for 16 yards.
His leading receivers were Mathieu Guerrette and Yannick Langelier-Vanasse, with three apiece for 34 and 24 yards respectively. Langelier-Vanasse generated 144 all-purpose yards, including 81 on eight punt returns and 39 more on a pair of kickoffs.
Laval, which improved to 4-0, plays at Sherbrooke on Sept. 29, while McGill (1-3) travels to Bishop's the same day in a virtual must-win game if they have any hopes of making the playoffs.
