CIS Football Report (Week 10)
The regular season has come to a close as every conference is now ready to catch up to the OUA and begin their playoff push. With the OUA playoffs through the first week and the first two teams moving on the playoffs this year all conferences are now in the semifinals. For the OUA it was McMaster and Guelph who would move on to the semifinals against Western and Queen’s. They will continue their run at the Yates Cup next week with the semifinal games while the rest of the CIS will do the same. The last week of the season was, for some, a warm up for the playoffs but for others it was the last chance to earn a spot among the playoffs. In the AUS the playoffs were wide open with no team clinching a spot until the last week of the season. The two games in the last week would make all of the difference for the four teams in the conference as any of them could determine the seeding of the playoffs. With wins by Mount Allison and Saint Mary’s, StFX would be eliminated and the Huskies would take the top spot. Meanwhile Acadia would lose out on a home playoff game falling to third place in the conference. With Saint Mary’s at the top the semifinals will come down to Mount Allison and Acadia with a potential change in another of the big four upcoming. In the CanWest conference there was not a lot to play for in the last week of the season as the top six teams had already clinched the playoff spots. The only thing to play for was the playoff seeding and in the end there would be no changes. The Dinos would remain undefeated and at the top of the conference while the Manitoba Bisons would take the second spot and a home playoff game. After a week with not a lot on the line for any of the CanWest teams they will be put into more important games when the semifinals and the run to the Hardy Cup begins. The RSEQ was a little different from most conferences this week as they would have something to fight for and one team’s star player would put his mark on the CIS. In the RSEQ the last spot of the playoffs was still open as McGill and Sherbrooke continued to fight for their last spot in the playoffs. The Vert et Or would come out on top of that battle with the Redmen losing out on a playoff spot. Meanwhile at the top of the conference the Laval Rouge et Or would take first place once again and will get home field the entire way through the conference playoffs. The biggest story would come at the hands of the Bishop’s Gaiters though as they would beat McGill eliminating them from the playoffs while their man under centre would etch his name in the record books. Jordan Heather would break a week-long record held by Will Finch of the Western Mustangs. Last week before the Mustangs earned a week off Will Finch would pass for 3,047 yards in the season and would break the record for most passing yards in a single season. Heather would not wait long to break this record as he would complete a season with 3,132 yards passing. The performance would give the Gaiters a win and give them second place in the RSEQ and a home playoff date. It was a great performance and a great season for Heather and Gaiters and they will have their chance to continue their run into the playoffs. The CIS is in playoff mode with every conference ready to start their playoff runs while only four will make it to the bigger stage. All roads lead to Quebec City and the Laval campus where the Vanier Cup will be held this year and where every team is hoping to find themselves.
CIS Top 10:
1. Western Mustangs (1)
2. Laval Rouge et Or (2)
3. Calgary Dinos (3)
4. Queen’s Golden Gaels (5)
5. Guelph Gryphons (4)
6. Montreal Carabins (6)
7. Bishop’s Gaiters (8)
8. McMaster Marauders (9)
9. Manitoba Bisons (–)
10. Saskatchewan Huskies (7)
-To Be Updated-
CIS Standings
AUS:
1. y-Saint Mary’s Huskies (10)
2. x-Mount Allison Mounties (8)
3. x-Acadia Axemen (6)
4. StFX X-Men (6)
CanWest:
1. x-Calgary Dinos (16)
2. x-Manitoba Bisons (10)
3. x-Saskatchewan Huskies (10)
4. x-UBC Thunderbirds (8)
5. Regina Rams (4)
6. Alberta Golden Bears (0)
RSEQ:
1. x-Laval Rouge et Or (16)
2. x-Bishop’s Gaiters (12)
3. x-Montreal Carabins (10)
4. x-Sherbrooke Vert et Or (6)
5. McGill Redmen (6)
6. Concordia Stingers (0)
x-Clinched Playoff Spot
y-Clinched First Round Bye
Key Scores:
Saint Mary’s Huskies 12 – 6 StFX X-Men
– The Huskies would take the win and would take first place earning a bye past the first round of the playoffs while in winning they would eliminate the X-Men from playoff contention doing their part to solidify the playoff seeding
Mount Allison Mounties 23 – 14 Acadia Axemen
– With the Huskies taking first place the Axemen were looking for at least a home playoff game and would have to get it through the Mounties but the Mounties would come out fighting winning the game and earning the right to host the Axemen next week in the Semifinals
Bishop’s Gaiters 40 – 21 McGill Redmen
– Jordan Heather would have a great game and would break the week old record set by Will Finch for most passing yards in a year while the loss for the Redmen would see them sit outside of the playoffs once again
OUA Quarterfinals:
McMaster Marauders 41 – 7 Ottawa Gee Gees
– The Marauders would put the rest of the OUA on notice as they are not the team that anyone is talking about but would put up 41 points in the quarterfinals and would earn a date with the best team in the OUA in the Western Mustangs
Guelph Gryphons 31 – 21 Windsor Lancers
– The Gryphons were a team that many assumed would be one of the favorites to win the Yates Cup but they would have to get through the quarterfinals to do this and in a less than convincing win they would earn a rematch with the Gaels in Kingston
CIS Playoffs
AUS Semi-Final:
Acadia Axemen vs. Mount Allison Mounties (Saturday November 2nd; 2:00 pm ADT)
– The Axemen were not expecting to be visitors in the semifinal when the season began but that is where they find themselves as they look to get the win and move to the Loney Bowl while the Mounties are hoping to shock everyone and earn this spot in the finals
CanWest Semi-Finals:
Saskatchewan Huskies vs. Manitoba Bisons (Friday November 1st; 7:00 pm CDT)
– The Huskies and Bisons have been the two teams that continued to battle for second place and the home game behind the Calgary Dinos and it was the Bisons who would earn it bringing playoff football to the new Investors Group Field
UBC Thunderbirds vs. Calgary Dinos (Saturday November 2nd; 3:00 pm MDT)
– The Dinos are once again the class of the CanWest conference and will likely walk through the T-Birds in the semifinals but with a single elimination game anything can happen even the T-Birds pulling out a win
OUA Semi-Finals:
Guelph Gryphons vs. Queen’s Golden Gaels (Saturday November 2nd; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Gryphons would lose their second place spot to Queen’s in the last game of the season when the Gaels came back to win and take the bye week and now the Gryphons are looking for revenge and a berth in the Yates Cup
McMaster Marauders vs. Western Mustangs (Saturday November 2nd; 4:30 pm EDT)
– The dominant team of the past takes on the dominant team of the future as last year’s champions travel to a team that has set records for offence this year with both looking to play in the Yates Cup
RSEQ Semi-Finals:
Sherbrooke Vert et Or vs. Laval Rouge et Or (Saturday November 2nd; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Rouge et Or are once again one of the best teams in the country and they will look to extend their 10 year winning streak in the RSEQ while the Vert et Or will look to upset the giants in what would be the biggest shocker of the week
Montreal Carabins vs. Bishop’s Gaiters (Saturday November 2nd; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Gaiters looked great in their last week of play as they leapfrogged Montreal for the second place spot and they will now host the team many consider to be the best bet to upset Laval but not if they cannot get past Jordan Heather and the Gaiters
The Sport Addiction 