For a second consecutive game, ball carrier Mathieu Roy got going in the second half and he became a formidable weapon in the success of the Rouge et Or de l’Université since the start of the playoffs.
In the Mitchell Cup victory over the Regina Rams, Roy rushed for 67 yards on 13 carries and added 50 yards on seven receptions. Of his 117 yards, he had only 18 in the first half.
At the Dunsmore Cup against the Université de Montréal Carabins, he finished the game with total gains of 85 yards even though he did not play at all in the first half.
“I am really impressed by his performance,” praised offensive coordinator Justin Éthier. When you look at his ground numbers and his passing numbers, no one says Wow!, but you see the big impact he has when you combine the two statistics.
An awake player
In addition to amassing yards, Roy is aware of the context of the game. After getting a first down late in the game, he slid to the ground to prevent the clock from stopping if he had gone into touch. “He’s a football player,” summarized Éthier. He is very alert and understands the issues well. He did the same thing against Montreal at the Dunsmore Cup. It’s not easy to react that way in the heat of the moment.”
Roy was very happy with the outcome. “We had some ups and downs and adversity in the first half, but we came out strong after the break. It wasn’t easy to run at the start of the race, but it’s a process. When the defense gets a little more tired, you use other plays that open up the run.”
“On my 16-yard pass, I thought I was going into the end zone, but they caught me, chasing the Beauceron ball carrier. We knew that the Rams relied on a physical defense, but they also had speed.
DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
On the sequence that allowed the Rouge et Or to take a 10-7 lead, Roy gave the fans a good scare by dropping the ball, but officials ruled that his knee had hit the ground before losing the object.
“I had no fear,” he said. I knew my knee hit the ground because it was spinning upside down.”
The trusted man
Since the second half against the Carabins, Roy has been Éthier’s right-hand man who relied mainly on a committee of porters during the regular season. Against the Rams, Angel Vital started the game, but he was limited to three carries and Shawn Valentine didn’t see a field.
As for Alex Duff, he was not in uniform due to an injury. Éthier hopes to see him again at the Vanier Cup. “I like to use a rotation when we have rhythm offensively, but that wasn’t the case against Regina. With seven minutes left in the 2nd quarter, we had made seven plays. In the second half, Mathieu did well and I decided to stay with him.
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