The bantam AAA Lions beat the Cougars 49-8 on
Saturday in Dollard.
Powerful bantam Lions put an end to pesky Cougars
season
BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI
A playoff doubleheader, amateur pigskin style, unfolded Saturday at
Glenn F. McHugh Field in Dollard des Ormeaux, albeit under wet and
sometimes miserable conditions.
The opener, a Quebec Midget AAA Football League
quarter-final affair saw the North Shore Mustangs defeat the St. Hubert
Rebels 22-14. Shane McKenna, Ross Olshansky and quarterback Kevin
Hillier on a keeper scored touchdowns for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs continued to exhibit a stingy defence, their trademark
through the regular season, for the first three quarters, taking a 22-0
lead into the final period. However, that defence finally bent and
broke in the final 15 minutes. The Rebels scored two unanswered
touchdowns and threatened to get even closer by gaining possession with
a little over a minute left, but could not manage to put any more
points on the board.
“We didn’t take them lightly at all,” said Mustangs
linebacker Jesse St.-James. “They gave us a battle. We knew they
were a solid team, and they proved it.”
The Mustangs will hop on a bus early Saturday morning and travel to the
Quebec City region to take on defending provincial champion Beauce
Dragons in a semifinal contest, with the winner going on to the
championship match.
Meanwhile, the second game of the day saw traditional rivals Lakeshore
Cougars and North Shore Lions hook up in a Quebec bantam AAA Football
League division final contest. When all was said and done, the
Lions’ depth and size proved to the difference in a 49-8 North
Shore win. A mix-up between two Cougars players on the opening kickoff
allowed the Lions to recover the ball on the Lakeshore 32-yard line. A
little over a minute and a half late, the always-opportunistic Lions
scored a touchdown, and never looked back.
“They (Lakeshore) played a tremendous game, both on offence and
defence,” said Lions assistant head coach David St.-James.
“The score really doesn’t really reflect how hard they
battled out there.”
Sammy Mesidor led the Lions with a pair of touchdowns on eight carries
for a total of 189 yards while Evan Wiley, Andrew Hopkins, Matthew
John, Eric Locas and Ernst Pierre also scored TDs. Quarterback Alex
Scodras accounted for the only Cougars TD on a keeper.
“Our kids played as hard as they could,” said Cougars head
coach Dave Allen. “You just can’t break down against those
guys. They execute extremely well. Still, if we end up considered one
of the top-three teams in bantam football this year, well, that’s
a long way from where we were last year.”
The Lions will host a crossover semifinal contest this Sunday afternoon
at Glenn F. McHugh Field against a team from the Montreal Metro
Football League. The winner goes on to fight for the provincial
championship the following week.