CIS Football Report (Week 4)
The CIS season continues on and the teams are beginning to figure out where they stand among their conferences. The only problem for many of the teams this year is that there is not a lot that has been figured out yet. The CIS season has seen very few teams break away as the season looks to be one of the more even years in the league. In the AUS they are only two weeks in to their season but something seems a bit off. The StFX X-Men are at the top of the league after beating the Mounties in their opening game and now winning their crossover game against the Concordia Stingers. The X-Men have had a bit of luck in earning the top spot as unlike the Saint Mary’s Huskies and Acadia Axemen the X-Men got one of the worst teams in the RSEQ. The Huskies would take on the #4 ranked Montreal Carabins and lose while the Axemen got the distinction of facing the #1 ranked Laval Rouge et Or and would lose. With the crossover done the AUS teams look ahead to their own conference where the X-Men will try to prove if they are for real while the Axemen and Huskies try to assert their dominance again in a conference that seems upside down right now. The CanWest Conference is seeing much of the same but in a much different way. The Dinos remain the team to beat but only one team does not have a win yet and that could end at any time. The Dinos will have to look behind them at the Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies who are looking to unseat the champions and have looked good so far this year. The CanWest remains the same for the most part with the Dinos sitting on top again but the rest of the conference is still up for grabs with plenty of room for teams to move. Only three wins separate the worst form the best team in the conference and there is plenty of time for teams to make their mark. The Dinos will look to stay undefeated though and dominate the conference on their way to another National playoff berth while the Huskies and Bisons will have something to say about that. The OUA is one of the more interesting and even conferences this year with 10 of the 11 teams earning at least 2 points this year. The only team to not win is the new addition in the Carleton Ravens who expected to struggle in their first year. Meanwhile teams like York and Toronto have already had a win this year while the Western Mustangs are trying to pull away. Undefeated so far the Mustangs are hoping for a return to the top but the Guelph Gryphons and Queen’s Golden Gaels are taking their own shots with only one loss each so far. The OUA looks to be a great battle to the end as there are plenty of teams looking to get their piece of the conference and one team looking to dominate. The RSEQ is not much different this year as once again Laval and Montreal are at the top of the division with no losses. Both are looking to get to the top and they are heading straight for a showdown next week that will determine the top team in the conference. Meanwhile the Bishop’s Gaiters sit with two wins while an unexpected team sits right behind them. The McGill Redmen are out of the basement with two wins and are hoping to continue that into the playoffs this year. The CIS is extremely even this year as many of the conferences are far from figured out and with plenty time left this season should be a fun one as teams continue their progress to the playoffs.
CIS Top 10:
1. Laval Rouge et Or (1)
2. Western Mustangs (3)
3. Queen’s Golden Gaels (2)
4. Montreal Carabins (4)
5. Calgary Dinos (5)
6. Guelph Gryphons (7)
7. Saskatchewan Huskies (6)
8. Manitoba Bisons (8)
9. McMaster Marauders (9)
10. Bishop’s Gaiters (–)
CIS Standings
AUS:
1. StFX X-Men (4)
2. Saint Mary’s Huskies (2)
3. Acadia Axemen (0)
3. Mount Allison Mounties (0)
CanWest:
1. Calgary Dinos (6)
2. Manitoba Bisons (4)
3. Saskatchewan Huskies (4)
4. Regina Rams (2)
5. UBC Thunderbirds (2)
6. Alberta Golden Bears (0)
OUA:
1. Western Mustangs (8)
2. Guelph Gryphons (6)
3. Queen’s Golden Gaels (6)
4. McMaster Marauders (4)
5. Ottawa Gee Gees (4)
6. Windsor Lancers (4)
7. York Lions (2)
8. Laurier Golden Hawks (2)
9. Toronto Varsity Blues (2)
10. Waterloo Warriors (2)
11. Carleton Ravens (0)
RSEQ:
1. Laval Rouge et Or (6)
2. Montreal Carabins (6)
3. Bishop’s Gaiters (4)
4. McGill Redmen (4)
5. Concordia Stingers (0)
6. Sherbrooke Vert et Or (0)
Key Scores:
#1 Laval Rouge et Or 26 – 14 Acadia Axemen
– It is quickly become a bit of a rivalry as the Axemen would clearly not let the Rouge et Or be their dominant selves in this game although Laval would still take the win and go 3-0 in the last two years against the Axemen
#3 Western Mustangs 83 – 27 Ottawa Gee Gees
– Ottawa was simply outclassed by the Mustangs who put up 83 points as Will Finch showed that Donnie Marshall would not be missed and putting the rest of the OUA on notice that the Mustangs are out to dominate
#2 Montreal Carabins29 – 10 Saint Mary’s Huskies #10
– The Huskies were looking to make a serious impact on the national level but they could not get past the second ranked Montreal Carabins who remained tied with Laval after taking care of the Huskies
#5 Calgary Dinos 36 – 24 Saskatchewan Huskies #6
– The Huskies got their chance to take a shot at the top team in the conference but they could not do it as they would fall to the Dinos who continued to work their way through the conference in the hopes that they can make another appearance in the national championship
Next Week:
Acadia Axemen vs. StFX X-Men (Friday September 20th; 7:00 pm ADT)
– The X-Men will get their first true test of the year while the Axemen will get their first chance to face someone other than one of the best teams in the country as Acadia looks to right the ship and move to the top of the conference
#8 Manitoba Bisons vs. #5 Calgary Dinos (Friday September 20th; 6:00 pm MDT)
– The Dinos will be once again looking to fend off one of their toughest challengers in the conference as the Bisons will be looking to take down the best team in the CanWest and take over the top spot
#9 McMaster Marauders vs. #6 Guelph Gryphons (Saturday September 21st; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Marauders are not the same team they were from last year when they beat the Guelph Gryphons in the Yates cup and now the Gryphons are looking for revenge as they hope to beat the Marauders and stay at the top of the conference
#4 Montreal Carabins vs. #1 Laval Rouge et Or (Sunday September 22nd; 1:30 pm EDT)
– It has become the de-facto RSEQ championship game as the rivalry between Montreal and Laval continues with the winner taking top spot in the conference and the loser sitting in second place
The Sport Addiction 