ROUGE ET OR DEFEAT LIONS IN EXHIBITION CONTEST

The York University Lions were defeated by the Laval Rouge et Or 76-0 in a pre-season contest at PEPS Stadium in Quebec City on Sunday (Aug. 29).

The Lions entered the contest with a brand new coaching staff and several new players on the roster, and thus used the contest to evaluate talent and to give the returning players the opportunity to execute the plays they have been learning under the new coaches.

The team knew going in it would be facing stiff competition as the Rouge et Or are perennial contenders in the race for the CIS’ Vanier Cup, and they proved why with solid play in all facets of the game.

Linebacker Steven Reading (Fenelon Falls, Ont.), now in his fourth year with the squad, picked up from where he left off last season – he led the CIS in tackles in 2009 – by recording 11 tackles in the contest to lead all players. Michael Boyd (Hamilton, Ont.) also had a big game by breaking up one pass and recording eight tackles.

Fifth-year safety Jason Marshall (Innisfil, Ont.) led all Lions players with 83 all-purpose yards, among those 47 on kick returns and another 31 in punt returns.  

On offence, Lashane Oldacre (York, Ont.) and William Austin (St. Catharines, Ont.) each tallied four catches for 43 and 32 yards, respectively, while starting quarterback Nick Coutu (St. Catharines, Ont.) and DJ Frank (Pickering, Ont.) combined for 13 completions and 101 yards.

Coutu was busy all afternoon as he also recorded a team-high 35 rushing yards on eight attempts and punted eight times for a total of 275 yards, with his longest going 57 yards downfield.

The Lions have one more week of practice before hitting the field in their first regular-season game, which will be played on Monday, Sept. 6 against the Guelph Gryphons. Kick-off is set for 1pm at York Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Mathieu Belanger