Stingers Cap Off Homecoming in Style
ConU Throttles X-Men From Start to Finish
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The Stingers kicked off homecoming weekend in style, beating the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 55-9 at Concordia Stadium on Saturday. The massive crowd was witness to a dominating performance by the Stingers, spearheaded by the efforts of cornerbacks Kris Robertson and Nathan Taylor, both of whom contributed immensely on defense and special teams.
Quarterback Reid Quest threw two touchdown passes and Raul Thompson ran for three scores, pacing the Stingers offense to an easy victory. The win improves the Stingers’ regular season record to 2-1, and while the Stingers executed their game plan to near perfection, Quest still feels there is more work to be done.
“There’s always room for improvement on the offensive, defensive, and special teams side of the ball,” said Quest, “but we had a good week of practice and preparation. We had a lot of film study and we were just prepared for this one.”
After an early field-goal by Keegan Treloar, Robertson widened the Stingers’ lead, intercepting St. Francis Xavier quarterback Cory Wensley’s first pass of the game and running it back 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0.
“[The crowd] was electric,” said Robertson. “We were ready to go. We watched film, we worked hard in practice, we were primed and ready.”
Quest stepped in for starting quarterback Terrance Morsink near the end of the first quarter, sparking the Stingers’ offense. Quest marched his team downfield and Thompson finished off the drive, barreling his way into the end zone in for his first of three touchdowns on the afternoon.
Speedy St. Francis Xavier receiver Damone Williams fired back with a 99-yard kick-off return, but his run was upstaged minutes later when Taylor snatched a missed field goal in the back of his end-zone, returning it 120 yards for a touchdown.
Taylor’s run brought the crowd to its feet as he scampered away from a dozen would-be tacklers for the score. The play put him in a tie for ninth on the CIS’ all-time list of longest missed-field-goal returns.
“It’s kind of cool,” said Taylor with a grin. “But it’s a team effort, though. It’s all blocking. I didn’t have to break any tackles, I just ran and followed my blocks.”
As the game trudged forward, it was clear nothing was going the X-Men’s way. Even when Concordia missed a 47-yard field goal attempt, return-man Jordan Catterhall, trying his best to replicate Taylor’s earlier efforts, was stripped by linebacker Max Caron.
Quest wasted no time getting the ball into the end zone, as he connected with fullback Brendan Urness just before halftime, giving the Stingers a commanding 38-9 lead going into halftime.
St. Francis Xavier began the third quarter with the ball, but as was the case in the first half, the X-Men were unable to penetrate the Stingers’ strong defense. The Stingers put up two quick scores in the middle of the quarter, with Quest connecting on a 39-yard bomb to Kristopher Bastien. After the Stingers recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick-off, Thompson burst up the middle for a 40-yard touchdown run.
The day belonged to Concordia’s defense, however, who dominated the opposition’s offense at every turn.
“Shutting them out gives us a lot of confidence,” said defensive back Christian Walcott, who had the Stingers’ third interception of the afternoon. “We were pretty confident coming into the game, but seeing the fruits of our labour definitely gives us more confidence in ourselves.”
