When he wasn’t at his best as a passer, Jonathan Sénécal stood out with his legs.
In the third quarter, the University of Montreal Carabins’ pivot made magic. With the Blues deep in their territory, Sénécal chained three consecutive first downs with his legs to change field position.
“We had a difficult start because Laval gave us different coverages, but I took advantage of my legs,” said Sénécal, who collected 129 yards on nine carries, dominating both teams. Our 25-24 defeat in the Dunsmore Cup in 2022 was further motivation. We have worked hard for this moment. Big congratulations to the entire defense for keeping us in the game and the special teams for making big plays.”
Sénécal had a 79 percent success rate in the first two games, completing just 18 of his 32 passes for 157 yards and two interceptions.
“We have to do much better.”
In the opposing camp, Arnaud Desjardins could only see the damage. “We had poor execution, I made poor decisions and we shot ourselves in the foot,” he concluded. We have a lot to do and we need to look in the mirror, me first. We have to do a lot better.”
Desjardins was the victim of three interceptions, including that of Guillaume Perrier in the fourth quarter that gave the Blues the lead. “The throw was too high and I shouldn’t have thrown the ball. As far as the end zone interception goes, that’s the play I’d most like to see back. This game really, really hurt. It’s difficult to find the rhythm when you always have to be satisfied with your placement.”
The author of this crucial interception was very proud of his shot. “It was one of the big plays of the game,” said Bruno Lagacé, who finished the game with two interceptions and also caused a breakaway. Since the Rouge et Or was in the “red zone”, we took easy points from them. We lost some good players up front, but the newcomers are solid. We have an extremely mature team.”
With his experience, Lagacé assures that the Carabins will not take anything for granted. “It would be ridiculous to think we’ve reached the summit,” the fifth-year veteran said. We will not rest on our laurels and get back to work on Sunday.”
Rouge et Or’s defense spent a lot of time on the field in the second half and managed to limit the damage. “We had a good game plan, but we spent too much time on the field,” said defenseman Cristophe Beauliue, who made five tackles and an interception. We’re going back to the lab tomorrow. We didn’t want it to be easy and we were served as requested.”
The author of a wiretap, Thomas Landry, also found nothing positive. “You’re never happy with a loss,” the linebacker said. We only gave up one touchdown, but we gave up too many yards. Jonathan Sénécal injured our legs and we have to be more disciplined. If one unit performs less well, the others have to take over.”
Every time Rouge et Or managed an interception, Rouge et Or failed to reach the end zone, even though both series began in Bleus territory. At the first opportunity, Desjardins was the victim of an interception and Blanchard scored a field goal. Blanchard’s winning streak ended at 16.