CIS Football Report (Week 8)
Then there was one with the CIS season wrapping up for most of the conferences next week and the OUA this week there is only one undefeated team left. After the loss by Laval two weeks ago and a battle between Saint Mary’s and Montreal for a rules violation Calgary and Western were the only two teams left without a loss. This week that all changed as one of the two teams took their first loss on the season as the #1 ranked Western Mustangs lost in their final week of the regular season. The Mustangs lost to the one team that they hoped they would never lose to as they took on their rivals in the Queen’s Golden Gaels. These two teams have been battling since the beginning as they are both two of the oldest football teams in the OUA. Of course Queen’s takes the cake for the oldest as they are one of the oldest teams in the world and were established in 1882. Throughout Queen’s history they have won 3 Grey Cups, yes the Grey Cup of the CFL, and 4 Vanier Cups including their last Vanier in 2009. Queen’s takes the crown for the oldest team the Western Mustangs take the crown for the winningest team in the CIS. The Mustangs have been to the Vanier a total of 12 times since they were established in 1929. Out of these appearances they have won 6 times as they are tied with Laval for the most Vanier Cups in the history of the CIS. With two teams that created the basis of OUA football the rivalry is there as they do not like each other. They both represent the great history of the CIS and the battle seems to represent a sort of battle to see who really represents the CIS as the most legendary team. Both teams have been successful and after 2009 when the Gaels took on the Mustangs for the Yates cup the rivalry was potent. After Queen’s won that game they moved on to an improbable Vanier Cup championship. This year it seemed as though the Mustangs were on the fast track to the Vanier Cup as they looked unbeatable, crushing every team this season. That was until they met their rivals in the last week of the OUA regular season. Their powerful offence and good defence seemed to be the envy of the CIS but Queen’s would not let that stand as their defence changed the game. Queen’s got out to an early lead when Ryan Granberg ran 88 yards for a TD in the first quarter. Then their special teams went to work with four field goals and a safety making the score 21-0. The Mustangs were frustrated all day as the Queen’s defence completely shut down Donnie Marshall and the rest of the offence down. The Gaels went on to a 37-0 victory over their bitter rivals as they shutout the Mustangs for the first time since 1966. Western also had a streak gone as they had not been shutout by any team since 1973. The loss did not change much in the standings however as the OUA solidified their playoffs the last week but Western had already clinched the conference. Western and McMaster will take the first round byes next week while Queen’s will take on Laurier and Windsor will take on Ottawa in the Semi-Finals. For the OUA the loss by Western gave everyone a blueprint for beating the team but they are still the team to beat in the playoffs this year with McMaster and Queen’s finishing the season very strong.
The rest of the CIS will play one more week of the regular season with some playoff spots up for grabs and some conference titles up for grabs. In the AUS conference the playoffs were finalized but there is still more to fight for. Early this week the X-Men and the Mounties fought for their playoff lives with the X-Men only having one win and the Mounties with none. The game was a close one as the X-Men took the win in overtime and took the last playoff spot in the AUS. StFX is guaranteed to play in the semi-final game as they will not make it to the top spot in the AUS but who they play if still up for grabs. Acadia and Saint Mary’s fought it out for first place with Acadia earning the win and taking over first place in the AUS for now. There is still a possibility of Saint Mary’s taking over the top spot in the last week. In the CanWest division there is a winner as Calgary has remained undefeated and has clinched the top spot but will wait to see who they will face in the first round of playoffs. With UBC and Saskatchewan taking two of the 4 playoffs spots the last spot will come down to the last week. Manitoba and Regina will face off for the last spot in the playoffs in the last week. That is the big battle in the west as they wait for the order to be sorted out. In the RSEQ there is also a battle as the Rouge et Or took the top spot in the conference with their win over Sherbrooke this week but the final spot in the playoffs is still up for grabs. Concordia and Bishop’s will play next week’s game hoping to take the win and earn the last spot but they will need some help from the opposing teams to make sure one of them loses. This is especially true for Bishop’s who will be McGill fans for one week as if Bishop’s wins and Concordia wins Concordia will have the tiebreaker and take the last spot. If Bishop’s wins and Concordia loses to McGill Bishop’s will take the last playoff spot. With only one week left for the rest of the CIS there are still plenty of opportunities for teams to make a playoff run and a run at the a berth in the Vanier Cup playoffs.
CIS Top 10:
1. Calgary Dinos (2)
2. Laval Rouge et Or (3)
3. McMaster Marauders (5)
4. Western Mustangs (1)
5. Montreal Carabins (6)
6. Sherbrooke Vert et Or (4)
7. UBC Thunderbirds (8)
8. Queen’s Golden Gaels (–)
9. Acadia Axemen (–)
10. Saskatchewan Huskies (10)
Standings
AUS:
1. x-Acadia Axemen (6-1)
2. x-Saint Mary’s Huskies (5-2)
3. x-StFX X-Men (2-5)
4. Mount Allison Mounties (0-7)
CanWest:
1. y-Calgary Dinos (7-0)
2. x-UBC Thunderbirds (5-2)
3. x-Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3)
4. Manitoba Bisons (3-4)
5. Regina Rams (2-5)
6. Alberta Golden Bears (0-7)
OUA:
1. y-Western Mustangs (7-1)
2. z-McMaster Marauders (7-1)
3. x-Queen’s Golden Gaels (6-2)
4. x-Ottawa Gee Gees (5-3)
5. x-Windsor Lancers (5-3)
6. x-Laurier Golden Hawks (4-4)
7. Toronto Varsity Blues (3-5)
8. Guelph Gryphons (2-6)
9. York Lions (1-7)
10. Waterloo Warriors (0-8)
RSEQ:
1. x-Laval Rouge et Or (7-1)
2. x-Sherbrooke Vert et Or (6-2)
3. x-Montreal Carabins (6-2)
4. Concordia Stingers (3-5)
5. Bishop’s Gaitors (3-5)
6. McGill Redmen (0-8)
x-Clinched Playoff Spot y-Clinched Conference z-Clinched First round bye
Key Scores:
StFX X-Men 42 – 41 Mount Allison Mounties
– StFX continued the Mounties’ losing streak and with the win clinched the last playoff spot in the AUS
Acadia Axemen 41 – 28 Saint Mary’s Huskies #7
– Acadia took the win and with Saint Mary’s losing a game to an appeal the win gave Acadia at least one week on top of the AUS conference
Queen’s Golden Gaels 37 – 0 Western Mustangs #1
– The Mustangs lost their perfect season against their longtime rivals in the Golden Gaels leaving only one undefeated team in the CIS
#3 Laval Rouge et Or 40 – 10 Sherbrooke Vert et Or #4
– Laval took a lead in the race for the RSEQ title beating up on the rival Sherbrooke to take a one game lead on the RSEQ title
Key Matchups Next Week:
Laurier Golden Hawks vs. Queen’s Golden Gaels (Oct. 29th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The first weekend of OUA playoffs will feature the Gaels at home and coming off of a big win but will face a strong challenge in Laurier
Windsor Lancers vs. Ottawa Gee Gees (Oct. 29th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The OUA playoffs will also feature the defending OUA champion, not Yates Cup champion, in Ottawa against a surprising Lancer team
Concordia Stingers vs. McGill Redmen (Oct. 29th; 1:00 pm ET)
– Concordia will face the winless McGill Redmen and hope that they can take the win and earn the last playoff spot in the RSEQ
Regina Rams vs. Manitoba Bisons (Oct. 29th; 1:00 pm CT)
– The winner of this game will take the last CanWest playoff spot as both teams are tied at 3-5 and with a win will take over the playoff spot to face Calgary in the first round
The Sport Addiction 