National Round Up: Nearing the end of the season

The Laval Rouge et Or (#1) have played 131 minutes of shutout football. That's just over a full 8 quarters without allowing a single point from their opposition.

Wow.

Laval has not been spared any questions or scrutiny throughout the season thus far. speculation arose earlier in the season when the perennial Quebec champions were keeping games much closer for far longer against teams who, in the past, never put up any real competition. There was an offensive shutdown in a game against their long-standing rivals the Montreal Carabins where they had to fight back from a halftime deficit, an unheard of position for Laval in interconference play.

But then also came the response out of that halftime which has lead to the Rouge et Or outscoring their opposition 143-1 over the past 10 quarters of football. There have been no questions over recent results, the past two games in particular, and no longer any questions concerning the Rouge et Or's total dominance of the Q this season.

The past two weeks Laval has amassed 1055 total yards of offence while the stingy defence has held the competition to a mere 233 yards in both games combined. This past week it was McGill who felt the wrath. The Redmen put a scare into Laval in the season opener, even holding a lead in the first half. This past weekend was not nearly as exciting to say the least as Laval claimed a 68-0 win.

Last season Laval waited until the postseason to pull away; this year that trend has started a few weeks earlier. With the road to the Vanier paved through PEPS in Quebec City, it must be a little concerning for every other conference to watch this display of sheer dominance taking place.

The rest of the CIS must pay special attention, for Laval is already gearing up for the postseason.

Now to the other FRC/CIS Top 10 teams:

The Western Mustangs (#2) found themselves facing a rude awakening when the Varsity Blues burst out to a 17-9 lead heading into halftime. The Blues, who had already knocked off a top ranked OUA opponent in the Ottawa Gee-Gees earlier in the season, caught Western by surprise with an array of trick plays that vaulted them in to the lead. However after the half the Mustangs woke up, outscoring the Blues 26-6 en route to a 35-23 victory. While it wasn't the most impressive outing by Western, which included 3 lost fumbles by the Mustangs, they were able to put up 545 yards of total offence. Andrew Gillis, the Blues' quarterback, also had an impressive outing on the other side of the ball combining for 300 total yards (282 yards passing, 18 yards rushing) and 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) against an interception.

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The Regina Rams (#3) hosted the Calgary Dinos (#7) Friday night in a key Top 10 showdown out west. After falling behind by 21 points the Rams staged a failed late comeback as they fell to the visiting Dinos 35-27. Erik Glavic played his first complete game for the Dinos and looked good, passing for 275 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Ifield also helped to propel the Dinos to victory by going 4-for-4 on fields goals for the day.

While the conference leading rusher Adrian Charles was held in check by the Dinos defence the Rams had little response for Calgary's Matt Walter, who rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown. However the performance of the match however was reserved for Regina's Marc Mueller who who completed 32 of 49 passes for 413 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mueller is tied for second in passing in the CIS with provincial rival Laurence Nixon of the Huskies, both passers achieving 2000 yards with one game remaining on the schedule.

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The Saskatchewan Huskies (#4) won convincingly over UBC 30-9. Nixon had yet another impressive day passing for 330 yards and a touchdown, although he did toss 2 interceptions on the day as well. The result of these two games has left three teams tied atop the CanWest conference with each sporting a 5-2 record heading into the final week of the season.

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A commanding 54-11 win over the Guelph Gryphons ensured that the Ottawa Gee-Gees (#5) claimed the top spot in the OUA to end the regular season. (Although they finished tied with Western, with a 7-1 record for both programs, the Gee Gees hold the tiebreaker.) Brad Sinopoli fell short of his attempt at breaking the CIS passing record however he did punish Guelph both through the air and on the ground. Sinopoli passed for 202 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 157 yards, including a 58 yard scamper for a touchdown. The Gees posted total yards of offence, just over half of them from Sinopoli himself. The Gee Gees pivot finished with 2756 total yards of passing through the air in 2010.

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The Montreal Carabins (#6) remained an inconsistent squad for the year as they fell to crosstown rivals Concordia 21-14. The Carabins were unable to overcome a 21-6 halftime deficit.

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Enjoying their bye week to end the season were the McMaster Marauders (#8), who now prepare to host the defending national champions Queen's in the Quarterfinal round of the OUA playoffs.

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Following that devastating shutout loss to Laval the Bishop's Gaiters (#9) once again fell to their competition as Sherbrooke claimed a definitive 47-11 victory. After missing time due to injury, Sherbrooke's J.P. Shoiry passed for a phenomenal 372 yards with 5 touchdowns through the air to one interception. Simon Charbonneau-Campeau had a solid day receiving making 9 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

With the win Sherbrooke moves into a tie with Concordia for the final playoff spot in Quebec with a 4-4 record, while Bishop's remains tied in second with Montreal, thanks to the Carabins' loss to the Stingers.

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And rounding out the Top 10 the Saint Mary's Huskies (#10), re-entering the top rankings, asserted themselves with a dominant 43-7 win over the suprising Mount Allison Mounties. The Huskies gained 535 yards of total offence while holding the Mounties to just 168 yards themselves on the day. The Huskies are now in the midst of a four game winning streak during which they have outscored their AUS opponents 172-39.
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