The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) season is on the horizon, and that means two things: teams are making final adjustments to their rosters, and they’re testing out plays before the season gets underway and they have to actually run them. What better way to do that than fine-tune with some OUA preseason cross-conference exhibition games?
Enter the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) conference.
OUA Preseason, RSEQ Crossover Edition
Last Saturday, teams from the OUA and RSEQ partook in interleague play for some last-minute tuning before their respective seasons started. Some interesting matchups on the docket, as a number of OUA teams made the trip to Montreal to test their strength against the might of the RSEQ. The York Lions faced off against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, the Queen’s Gaels played the McGill Martlets, the Montreal Carabins took on the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and Laval Rouge et Or played the Carleton Ravens.
Some teams struggled. A potent Vert et Or squad limited the Lions offence to a first-quarter field goal before taking control of the game, winning 44-3. The Lions defence held Sherbrooke to a touchdown in the second quarter before they broke through breaking in the second half.
Others gave the RSEQ squads a run for their money. Carleton led for three quarters before Laval took the game into overtime and completed the comeback victory 36-29. Queen’s took it to the Martlets and came up short 22-17 during Sunday’s game.
And then there were the Golden Hawks.
Golden Hawks vs. Carabins
The Golden Hawks faced a tough task in the 2015 Vanier cup finalist Carabin squad. Coming off their strongest season in head coach Michael Faulds’ tenure, the Hawks were poised to make an impression on the RSEQ finalist. After being deadlocked at three points apiece, Laurier broke through and took a 13-9 lead when a 75-yard pass from quarterback Julien John connected to Brentyn Hall with just over two minutes left in the half.
The Carabin offence were only slowed — two quick touchdowns from Julien Choquette-Daigneault and Raphael Major-Dagenais in the fourth quarter gave them their first lead of the game. Michael Knevel took over quarterback duties in the second half and showed a lot of grit, making 9 of 13 attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown, but in the end the Carabins came out on top, 37-33.
Despite not getting the result they wanted, the game answered a lot of questions around the Hawks prior to the season. Both John and Knevel were comfortable at quarterback, giving the Hawks some depth at the position, while they picked up where they left off in reigniting their passing game. Laurier’s offence passed for 256 yards, and only rushed for 117 yards over 27 attempts, for a total of 373 yards. Their defence remained stout and kept the Carabin offence off the board as much as possible, with fourth-year defensive lineman Kwaku Boateng finding holes in the Carabin offensive line and recorded a sack in the outing.
Overall, successful outings for the OUA and RSEQ squads last weekend. They got to play against teams they wouldn’t normally play against unless they made it out of their conference, tried out some new plays, and saw how their teams stack up against other teams in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport league. It gave teams a snapshot on what adjustments they need to make.
With the regular season starting this weekend, teams’ preparations are well underway for their first opponents. Week one begins on Sunday August 28th with a handful of games, and kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
All Photos by Drew Yates, all rights reserved.
