Football

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Rouge et Or at full roar

Run over McMaster to claim Vanier Cup

By: Joshua Clipperton

Posted: 11/24/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Frank Gunn / the canadian press Laval running back Maxime Boutin had a huge game, romping for 253 yards. (CP)

TORONTO -- Maxime Boutin rushed for a staggering 253 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, including an electrifying 84-yard run in the third quarter, as the Laval Rouge et Or defeated the McMaster Marauders 37-14 in the 48th Vanier Cup on Friday night.

Boutin's rushing total was the second best ever in a Vanier Cup as Laval avenged last year's thrilling 41-38 double overtime loss to McMaster to win a record seventh Canadian university football title.

The performance earned Boutin the game's MVP honour.

Tristan Grenon was 11-for-25 passing for 234 yards and a touchdown as the Rouge et Or rolled up 605 yards of total offence and outscored the Marauders 25-0 in the second half to snap McMaster's CIS-record 21-game winning streak.

Laval's Seydou Junior Haidara was the top receiver on the night, hauling in three catches for 106 yards.

Hec Crighton Trophy winner Kyle Quinlan threw for 335 yards on 25-for-40 passing and one touchdown in front of a Vanier Cup record crowd of 37,098 at Rogers Centre in his final collegiate game. Quinlan also ran in another score but was intercepted twice.

The turning point came in the third quarter after McMaster scored two quick touchdowns late in the first half to grab a 14-12 lead heading to the locker-room.

Laval took the opening kickoff of the second half and looked to be stopped at midfield, but a Rouge et Or fake punt and an unnecessary roughness penalty brought the offence back on the field at the McMaster 19-yard line.

Boutin then ran in untouched from 11-yards out two plays later as Laval regained the lead at 19-14 and the Rouge et Or stretched their advantage to seven when McMaster conceded its second safety midway though the quarter.

Boutin was at it again with under five minutes to go in the third, taking a handoff from Grenon and weaving his way through the Marauders defence for a stunning 84-yard TD run that silenced the pro-McMaster crowd. Laval's No. 1 saluted Marauders fans seated behind the end zone for good measure after the third-longest touchdown run in Vanier Cup history.

Boris Bede booted a 37-yard field goal to make the score 31-14 heading to the fourth quarter, before adding kicks from 20 and 31 yards in the final period.

McMaster's offence, which had its lowest point output of the season, couldn't get anything going in the second half against a tough Laval defence led by linebacker Frederic Plesius and defensive lineman Arnaud Gascon-Nadon.

Trailing Laval 12-0 late in the first half, Quinlan capped a much-needed six-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard plunge. The Marauders' undisputed leader was mobbed by his teammates in front of the McMaster fans to make the score 12-7 with 1:41 left in the half.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 24, 2012 C5

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