Though last week's loss to Laval was embarrassing, this week's loss hurt even more. We know that any time we have to visit their stadium that we'll be playing in a hostile environment. Such was the case again yesterday, as their boisterous fans filled the Stade Peps. We weathered the storm though, and our offense was able to drive down and put 3 points up on the board early, despite all of the crowd noise. 

Playing well, in the second quarter, the game was 8-6 in Laval's favor, and something that always seems to happen occurred. Laval suddenly capitalized on 2 of our turnovers and increased their lead to 18-6 within the span of five minutes. This was something that coach McGrath warned us about: if we ever let up for a couple of minutes, they are a team that will make us pay, especially when they are feeding off of their fan's energy. Contrary to last week though, we were optimistic going into the locker room, as we had added another field goal, reducing the margin to nine. We knew that we were playing well, and that if we could limit our mistakes in the second half, the game was ours.

Points were hard to come by in the second half, as both teams traded field position back and forth. We were able to score twice more, unfortunately settling for field goals again. These points did put us within 1 score of taking the lead though, and we had the momentum. With the ball at midfield and 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, we were forced to punt, and trusted our defense to get the ball back. Laval's dagger though was a first down conversion on second and fifteen that brought the ball deep into our end. They kicked a field goal to go up by 2 scores, and effectively ended the game. 

Despite the result, I think this was our best-played game of the season so far, but once again, our miscues made the difference. We outplayed Laval, but we were unable to force them to turn the ball over; and just as we feared, they put up ten points on 2 of our successive turnovers. I do think that as a team, we can take a lot of positives out of this game, and I know that we are a better team than our 2-2 record indicates. We have another tough game coming up this weekend against Montreal, and I'm hoping we will be able to add another W in the 'win' column against them.

Another Loss to Laval

I'm still upset over our loss to Laval this weekend. We put forth a very disappointing effort, and it's a shame because we were right in the game up until there was 2 minutes left in the first half. Laval scored ten points in those 2 minutes though, taking advantage of some of our numerous mistakes. Suddenly we were heading into the locker room down 17-3, rather than 7-3; not only making it more difficult to come back, this also stole our composure at the half. Instead of being pumped up, excited, and ready to make adjustments, we were upset and unfocused. This of course resulted in more unnecessary penalties and mental errors in the second half. Laval is a very good team, but we made their job easy this week.

Shrine Bowl

On Wednesday I attended the Shrine Bowl Press Conference for the first time. In each of my previous Shrine Bowl experiences, the games never seemed to be all that different from any other regular season games, apart from meeting some of the kids on the field afterwards. It's much different to see them in a hospital setting though, and it gave me a better understanding of what the game's proceeds help to accomplish. 

At the hospital, we met this year's Shrine Bowl King and Queen, Jason and Katie, who will both attend the game;  as well as Shayor, Pamela, Brandon  and some of the hospital staff. Each one of the kids are battling through illnesses that no child would want to experience; but it is clear that the Shriner's provide the necessary care and facilities in an environment where the kids can feel comfortable throughout their stay. Play areas, nightly activities and daytime classes are among some of the activities available for the children who are able to participate.   

So as important as the game itself is to us as players and coaches, it's an honor to simultaneously be a part of the spectacle that is the foundation for this fundraiser. Our job as players couldn't be any easier either, as the numerous staff and volunteers that help to organize the event deserve all of the credit. As a team, we've only been preparing to put on a good show.

To add a few thoughts on the game, I'm hoping that our experience last Friday will turn out to have a positive impact on the rest of our season.  I'm a firm believer that every good team needs to be humbled every once in a while, to keep them sharp, focused and motivated. Usually teams lose when they are humbled though, so we were extremely fortunate to still manage a win, and stay on track during our short season. Our defense is especially eager to prove that we have what it takes to be an elite team, and we're excited to get this opportunity against a quality opponent like Laval. Playing them twice in a row also has huge implications for both teams, and will likely determine which team finishes ahead of the other at the end of the regular season. Needless to say, both teams will be up for this game.  

Close one at McGill

Our offense was on fire this past Friday night, and they bailed us out of many bad situations. Our offensive line in particular had a great game, by opening up huge holes in the running game and giving Liam all day to throw from the pocket. In all our offense racked up over 500 yards, 326 on the ground, and 233 thru the air.

With our offense lighting it up though, our  defense and special teams units weren't 'holding the rope'. Our first punt of the game was blocked and recovered by McGill for a touchdown, which definitely gave their squad a lift, and put us in the hole. We knew that they had an explosive offense, and the last thing we wanted to do was give them points in any other phase of the game. After McGill scored again on their next possession, the thought of an upset occurring must have run through the heads of players on both benches, and it seemed like our defense played with this mentality throughout most of the game. The only time when we actually resembled our normal defense was when we came out in the 3rd quarter, after we had re-taken the lead, and we were playing with swagger. Our DB's jumped routes and were putting some hits on the McGill receivers. This only lasted for half a quarter though, until McGill's quarterback found an open receiver down-field, and suddenly our defense were 'on our heels' again. 

After relinquishing the lead again, our offense got the ball back deep in our own end with only about a minute and a half to go. They executed perfectly, and Devon Mitchell Jr. capped the drive with his second touchdown of the game to put us ahead for good.

Thanks offense, we owe you big!

Bishops Game Re-cap

We came away with a victory this past Friday night, but still feel we have a lot of aspects of our game that still need to be improved. We made some mistakes on both sides of the ball, and committed a lot of penalties that either gave away field position, or took us out of scoring position. We even let Bishops take the lead on us after a special teams turn-over deep in our own end. We had stopped them on second down inside our ten yard-line, but committed an off-sides that gave them a second chance to punch it in, and go up 7-0.

That being said, we did accomplish many good things throughout the game. Newcomer Tony Testa had a great game returning punts, and also caught a touchdown reception. Our offense was consistently able to move the ball, and racked up 355 total yards. This was especially key when we needed to regain field-position, and more often than not, we were able to do so. Though not all of our drives ended in scores, we forced Bishops to start deep in their own end repeatedly throughout the game. Our kicker Rene Paredes, was also a key factor in this respect, making a few angled punts that went out-of-bounds inside their twenty yard line.

Defensively we gave up 24 first downs and a lot of yards to the Gaiters offense, but we also took the ball away from them four times. We even converted one turnover into a score when William Miller picked up a fumble and returned it all the way. Then Nic Arsenault-Hum absolutely blew-up a Bishops receiver in the seam, and set the 'big hit' bar pretty high for us, as we'll attempt to improve upon his effort throughout the season. 

This Friday night we'll look to put another 'W' in the win column, as we go to McGill to play the Redmen.

Complaining About Weather

Well I guess these hot and muggy days that we usually get in July are only showing up now; and they couldn't be any more unwelcome, as far as I'm concerned, especially during the football season. I usually don't even enjoy temperatures above 25 degrees unless I'm pool-side, or on vacation- let alone when I'm underneath my helmet and ten pounds of padding. It's tougher to breathe and easier to cramp up in the heat, and it drains your fluids and energy.

I know I'm complaining, but at least it will be the same conditions for both teams tonight when we play Bishops. And though I was cursing the weather this past Tuesday and Wednesday, we were able to get in two high-tempo practices during those hot days, which should be of help to us tonight. 

Since I typically complain about the heat pretty often, people always respond to me by saying that I'll be wishing for this weather by the time winter comes around- not true. And if you come out to see us play in a snowy November play-off game later this season, I guarantee that I'll be sleeve-less on the field!