The Laval Rouge et Or knew they had to watch out for the Regina Rams on Saturday afternoon, a team in the Mitchell Cup final despite a 3-5 season record.
The Rams’ defense gave Arnaud Desjardins and the Rouge et Or problems, notably causing two turnovers when Laval was in position to score points, but the Rouge et Or held on to score a 17-14 victory.
Desjardins led a long 85-yard offensive drive with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to throw a touchdown pass to Isaac Gaillardetz and Laval cruised away with the victory.
The defense finished the job on the following sequence, notably by stopping Régina in a third and short situation.
Laval therefore reached the Vanier Cup final for a 14th time in its history, a first since 2022. Laval will face the Laurier Golden Hawks next Saturday in Kingston, during the Vanier Cup. The Quebec representatives will aim for the 12th title in their history.
Saturday against Regina, Desjardins completed 26 passes for 281 yards and threw two touchdown passes. Olivier Cool also reached the end zone in the victory. Cool had 147 yards of aerial gains.
Despite the setback, Rams quarterback Noah Pelletier had a good game with 356 yards of aerial gains.
Laval snatches victory
The offensive elements of the Rouge et Or seemed to have some problems adapting to their opponents at the start of the match and the Rams took advantage of this slow start to take a slim lead of 4-0, notably thanks to a field goal on the first game of the second quarter.
The Rouge et Or attack finally woke up midway through the second quarter. Desjardins joined Cool on a long distance, after the receiver broke away from Regina’s double coverage. Cool then crossed the yards separating him from the end zone to score a 75-yard touchdown and give Laval a 7-4 lead.
Regina then made an important play to approach the end zone. Quarterback Pelletier joined Marshall Erichsen and the latter gained several dozen yards after the catch to finish his race 61 yards further. The Rams, however, had to settle for a field goal to tie the game 7-7.
The Rouge et Or played with fire during a great opportunity to add points in the third quarter. Kicker Felipe Forteza seemed to hold back during a 30-yard field goal attempt and the ball hit the post directly, preventing Laval from taking the lead again.
Laval’s offensive problems continued from their next offensive sequence. Positioned at the 29 line in the Rams zone, Desjardins tried to reach Guillaume Cauchon in the end zone. Rams linebacker Michael Jourdan, however, made a nice jump to win and intercept the ball, thus ending another great scoring opportunity for the Quebec representatives.
The Rouge et Or positioned themselves inside the Rams’ 30 line for a third consecutive offensive sequence at the start of the fourth quarter. Laval even came within five yards of the Rams’ end zone, but everything fell apart again. This time, good pressure on a Laval run allowed Régina to lose the ball to carrier Charles Bourgault to regain possession and prevent the Rouge et Or from taking the lead for a third consecutive sequence.
The Rouge et Or defense made its first brilliant move afterwards to reassure the attack after this turnaround. Jordan Lessard intercepted a pass from Pelletier and returned the ball 26 yards to put Laval in position to score points. It was the first turnaround caused by the Rouge et Or in the match.
This time, Forteza made up for his earlier blunder and made a 32-yard field goal to give Laval a 10-7 lead, with the first points scored in the second half with only eight minutes remaining. in the fourth quarter.
The Rams dealt a hard blow to the Rouge et Or with three minutes and 45 seconds left in the game. Erichsen broke through the Laval defense through the center and a brilliant change of direction allowed him to reach the end zone 36 yards away, giving Réginas the lead 14-10
Faced with adversity, Desjardins raised its level of play to put the Rouge et Or back in control. The Laval quarterback led an 85-yard drive, which ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to Gaillardetz with 79 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Laval took advantage of a poor throw in the last minute of the match to make its first sack of the quarter, a play that eventually allowed the Rouge et Or to hold on.
Bishop rates on chance
Earlier in the day on Saturday, the Bishop’s University Gaiters missed their chance to reach the Vanier Cup final for the first time in their history.
Bishop lost 48-24 to the Laurier University Golden Hawks in Ontario.
This victory for the Golden Hawks allowed them to reach the Canadian university championship final for the first time since 2005. They then lifted the Vanier Cup thanks to a 24-23 victory against Saskatchewan.
Golden Hawks quarterback Taylor Elgersma had a great game with 30 completions for 452 yards and five touchdown passes.
Ryan Hughes was his target of choice and he collected 212 yards on eight receptions, including three catches for touchdowns. Ryan Speight and Sebastian Parsalidis also scored passing touchdowns.
In the Bishop camp, quarterback Justin Quirion amassed 283 yards of aerial gains thanks to 18 completed passes, including two touchdown passes.
