Hitting Rock Bottom

Stingers Squander 20-Point Lead in 53-52 Shrine Bowl Loss to McGill

SportsChanel Jacques — Published September 30, 2013

That was the difference in Concordia’s football team’s loss to the McGill Redmen (3-2) in the Shrine Bowl last Saturday, as they fell 53-52 on a missed conversion in overtime.

The defeat drops the Stingers to a dismal 0-5 on the season.

“We wanted to get on our playoff run, and today is a setback,” said Stingers head coach Gerry McGrath. “We just got to play with more maturity and consistency.”

The game had the showings of a defensive struggle early on, with both teams allowing only field goals in the first quarter.

The game would see its first touchdown two minutes into the second quarter, when François Dessureault, who stepped in as quarterback after starter Reid Quest threw an early game interception, scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak on third down to give the Stingers a 10-6 lead.

Both teams then traded field goals before the Stingers found the end zone again late in the second quarter, with running back Kevin Wade scoring on an 11-yard run to give Concordia a 20-9 lead.

The Stingers found themselves ahead 20-12 at halftime and would go on to lead by as much as 20 points five minutes into the second half.

But the Redmen didn’t give up, storming back to score 24 unanswered points to retake the lead 36-32 with just over four minutes left in regulation.

From there it would be a back-and-forth game right up until the end of the fourth quarter, when McGill quarterback Pierre-Luc Dussault led a 60 yard drive in 58 seconds to the Concordia 28-yard line. From there Rassy would boot his sixth field goal of the day to tie the game at 46-46 as time expired.

In overtime, McGill opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run from running back Luis Guimont-Mota before the Stingers answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass Dussereault to receiver Kris Bastien to make it 53-52.

But the Stingers missed the extra point conversion and a chance at victory, as holder Shayne Stinson was unable to get the ball down for the kick.

“I’m not sure if it was a bad snap, or a bad handle on the hold,” said McGrath.

Despite, the loss, the Stingers remain positive they can turn their season around.

“Being 0-5 is disappointing, we obviously want to win, but [we have] three games left and we can still make it to the playoffs,” said running back Kevin Wade, who finished with 12 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown on the ground. “I’m very proud of the whole team and how we played.”

Treloar echoed the sentiment.

“That’s how the cards fold sometimes, it just a bad way to lose like that,” he said. “It was heartbreaking to lose, but we came together as a team.’’

The Stingers will next travel to Laval to take on the top-ranked Rouge et Or on Oct. 6.