MONTREAL -- The McGill Redmen have embarked upon their 136th season of football and will officially open the campaign with their league home opener against Concordia in the 48^th annual Shaughnessy Cup game on Friday, Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

The Redmen are coming off a 3-5 fifth-place finish in the tough six-team Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference, which has produced the Vanier Cup national champion in eight of the last 13 seasons. Head coach and defensive coordinator Ronald Hilaire has had a fruitful recruiting year with 43 freshmen in camp. His opening-day roster will feature 37 returnees including 10 seniors, nine juniors and 18 sophomores.

"We had a very good recruiting year and have improved our talent level and depth as well as our strength and conditioning. Our goal is to earn a playoff berth," says Hilaire, who has returned for his third season.

McGill has a favourable schedule with only single contests against defending Dunsmore Cup champion Laval (7-1) and second-place Montreal (6-2). The Redmen are slated to play two games apiece against Bishop's (1-7), Concordia (4-4) and Sherbrooke (5-3). The post-season begins on Nov. 5, culminated with the 52nd presentation of the Vanier Cup national championship in Hamilton, Nov. 26.

The Redmen have lost 10 starters, six of them on offence, most notably RG Timothy Mitchell, centre Terence Gamit and TE Malik Gagnon, as well as RB Luis Guimont-Mota (469 yds., 5.1 avg., 3 TD), WR Yannick Langelier-Vanasse (470 rec. yds.) and kicker Justin Lavallee (36.0 punting avg.; 5-for-7 on FGs). On defence, key losses include MLB Karl Forgues (41.5 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 KD, 1 FR, 2 FF), RE Devon Stewart (30 tackles, 4 sacks) and defensive backs Woldy Murat (17 tackles, 1 knockdown) and Alexandre Brunet (16 tackles).

Despite the losses, the team's strength will be on offence, under the guidance of second-year offensive coordinator Benoit Groulx, who will utilize his experience as a two-time Vanier Cup champion quarterback with Laval.  A veteran offensive line is in place to protect the quarterbacks, in addition to running backs Nicolas Khandar, Donavan Martel and a plethora of receivers, led by fifth-year senior wide-out Louis Brouillette and junior slotback Remi Bertellin.

The battle for the starting role at QB will be an interesting one with sophomore Nicolas English and freshman Frederic Paquette-Perrault battling to land the top spot. If one falters, Matthew Mannarino and Simon Cossette – both sophomores – are waiting in the wings for playing time.

English, a six-foot, 205-pound southpaw, is coming off a solid freshman campaign, where he completed 115 of 194 attempts for 1,399 yards,  10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Paquette-Perrault is a 6-foot-2, 212-pound freshman and a product of College Vieux-Montreal, where he completed 125 of 235 for 1,620 yards, 10 TDs and 10 INTs.
 
Pacing the running attack is the aforementioned Nicolas Khandar, a shifty, 5-foot-8, 183-pound junior from France, who averaged a lofty 9.1 yards per carry last season with 264 yards on 29 attempts and scored one TD. Expected to join him in the starting backfield is freshman Donavan Martel, a 5-foot-8, 187-pound product of College Lionel-Groulx, who led the Div.2 CEGEP conference in rushing with 1,448 yards on 201 carries for 7.2  average and a league-leading 18 TDs in nine games.

Among the receiving corps is co-captain Louis Brouillette, a six-foot, 183-pound wide-out, led the team in both scoring (43 points) and all-purpose yards (88.9 per game) last year.  He was the team's top receiver with 495 yards and three TDs. An extremely versatile player, he threw a few passes, had a team-leading 42 receptions, returned punts and kickoffs, and even went 4-for-6 as a back-up field-goal kicker
 
Other receivers expected to start include senior Jonathan Mack (15 rec., 250 yds., 2 TDs), junior Remi Bertellin (24 rec., 354 yds., 1 TD; 660 all-purpose yds.) and sophomore Jacob Dwinnell (5 rec., 59 yds.) along with freshman Joel Soucy from College Vieux-Montreal and newcomer Preston Bews, a Regina native who played junior and spent part of last season on the practice roster of the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders.
 
Mack was one of four Redmen picked to played in the CIS East-West Bowl last June, a group which included senior Qadr Spooner, a 6-foot-4, 314-pound native of Brossard, Que., and a Montreal Alouettes scholarship recipient who is entering his draft year as the starting left tackle and was recently named by InstantScouting.com as a preseason all-Canadian.
 
Spooner anchors a veteran offensive line that also includes senior Nicolas Bertrand (6-1, 258) at left guard, sophomore Alexis Andrieux (6-0, 269) at centre, senior co-captain Pierre-Olivier Daloze (6-2, 295) at right guard and junior Steven Gusew (6-3, 260) at right tackle.  Freshman Charles Marchand-Thibault (6-1, 234) from College d'Alma, will start at tight end.

The kicking game will be handled by freshman Findlay Brown, out of Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg.
 
A young defensive line will be anchored by co-captain Ousmane Guindo (5-10, 217; 29 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble), a junior rush end who is joined by freshman DT Andrew Seinet-Spaulding (6-0, 303), junior Anis Kali (5-11, 269; 5 tackles) at nosetackle and junior RE Philippe Carrier (6-0, 206; 2.5 tackles). Others in the mix include sophomores Scott MacDonald-Ducharme (6-0, 254; 1 tackle) and Simon Aubin-Lavoie (6-2, 223; 6 tackles), plus freshman Valentin Gnahoua (6-2, 216) and newcomer John Oda-Gallagher (5-11, 215), a transfer from Concordia.

The linebacking corps will be led by sophomore middle LB Dane Wagner (5-11, 220; 28 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), sophomore OLB Maxime Rouyer (6-0, 214; 18 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and co-captain Charles-William Tremblay (5-9, 206), a senior defensive back who was a one-man wrecking crew last season with 25 tackles, one sack, three knockdowns, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Tremblay also played in the CIS East-West Bowl along with senior Eric Gracioppo (6-2, 231; 6 tackles, one knockdown, 1 fumble recovery). Others in the running for playing time will be sophomores Kamba Katchelewa (6-0, 221; 9 tackles, one sack) and Vincent Dube (6-0, 222; 1.5 tackles).

The defensive backfield will be very young with the only experienced starter being sophomore CB David Polynice (16 tackles, 1 INT, 1 knockdown). Four freshmen are among the projected starters, namely DHB Antoine Mongeau, safety Jean-Philippe Hudon, DHB Vincent Dethier and CB Pier-Olivier Grenier-Gachet. Others expected to challenge for a role include senior Stephane Ishimwe-Baganizi (5 tackles, 1 KD, 1 fumble recovery), junior Anthony Couturier-Lagace (35.5 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 knockdowns, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery) and sophomore Alexandre Ghaly along with rookies Olivier Therrien and Benjamin Carre.
 
The RSEQ on television
TVA Sports has returned for a second season as the official television partner of RSEQ football. The network will broadcast 11 regular season games beginning this Saturday, Sept. 3 at 6:30 p.m. with a highly-anticipated Dunsmore Cup rematch between the Montreal Carabins and Laval Rouge et Or. The Redmen are slated to be on television twice, beginning with a home game against Sherbrooke on Sept. 24 and a road game at Concordia on Oct. 22. Additionally, TVA will broadcast all RSEQ post-season games.
 
Link to TVA Sports televised football schedule
Link to 2016 RSEQ season calendar, stats & broadcasting schedule
Link to 2015 McGill Football Stats
Link to McGill football live stats
Link to McGill football webcasts
Link to McGill football roster
Links to McGill single-game ticket info  and season tickets.

2016 McGill Football Schedule
 
Sun., Aug. 21 *Won 22-17 vs Queen's (EXHIBITION)
Fri., Sept. 2   vs Concordia, 7 p.m. (HOME OPENER; 48^th SHAUGHNESSY CUP)
Sat., Sept. 10 at Sherbrooke, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 16  vs Bishop's, 7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 24 vs Sherbrooke, 1 p.m. (TVA)
Sun., Oct. 2     at Laval, 3 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 14     at Bishop's, 2 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 22   at Concordia, 2 p.m. (TVA)
Sat., Oct. 29   vs Montreal, 1 p.m. (HOMECOMING & SENIORS DAY)
Sat., Nov. 5     vs TBC (RSEQ SEMIFINAL; TVA)
Sat., Nov. 12   vs TBC (RSEQ DUNSMORE CUP; TVA)
Sat., Nov. 19   at  OUA Champion, 1 p.m. (CIS MITCHELL BOWL)
Sat., Nov. 26   vs TBC (CIS VANIER CUP @ Hamilton, Ont)

HOME GAMES IN BOLD
 
 
SOURCE

Earl Zukerman
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McGill University
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