The Lakeshore bantam AAA Cougars seized the second spot in the Quebec bantam football league with an easy 54-19 win against the LaSalle Warriors in the final game of the regular season Sunday at Des Bénévoles Park in Kirkland.
After a hotly contested first half, the Cougars took a commanding lead in the end of the second quarter and never relinquished it.
"We moved the ball consistently when we had to. As long as we didn't stay lazy and kept on playing we were in for a good game. That's what I wanted from the guys today," said Cougars' head coach Julian Ramsay.
After LaSalle took an early lead, Lakeshore came back strong at 10:31 as second-string quarterback Philippe Dion threw a six-yard pass to Tristan Quirion for his first of three touchdowns to tie the score.
Receiver Adam Bell made a spectacular 17-yard reception at the two-yard line moments later before running back Cordell Ramsay punched it in for the touchdown in the opening seconds of the second quarter. LaSalle's Matthew Maclean tied the score with a walk-in-the-park 11-yard run five minutes later.
With less than two minutes left in the minutes in the half, Dion threw a blistering 38-yard touchdown pass to Dimitri Papanikolaou. LaSalle took a costly penalty with 15 seconds left in the half which allowed the Cougars to punch in a three-yard touchdown which cemented their lead at 28-13. The home team never looked back.
"I was just hoping people didn't get hurt because it was the last game of the season. We just wanted to play a good clean game, make sure nobody got hurt and come out healthy for the playoffs," said Warriors' head coach Norman Weekes.
