Abbott leads way with major upset

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI



Early November traditionally means playoff time for local amateur pigskin followers, and last weekend was no exception as five major clubs saw duty, three at home, two on the road.

The John Abbott Islanders a CEGEP AA team by far penned the biggest story. It entered its quarter-final road contest against the Sherbrooke Volunteers on Saturday afternoon coming off a dismal 1-9 regular season record. With Scott Mironowicz calling the signals at quarterback, head coach Lou Chapman’s troops shocked the hometown side 20-15. The Volunteers finished with an 8-2 mark. The victory means the Isles will live to see another day. The team travels to Trois Rivières this Saturday to take on the powerful Diablos in a semifinal contest.

Bantam Lions destroy Patriots

Meanwhile, the venue of Saturday night’s bantam AAA regional semifinal encounter between the North Shore Lions and Vimont Patriots sparked interest. It was the first time in many years the Lions played a home game away from the friendly confines of Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds, which was suffering from terrible turf conditions. The Lions enjoyed their new den, Dollard des Ormeaux Park 2, routing the Montreal Metro Football League representative 59-0. Quarterback Matt Leblanc threw two touchdown passes each to Richie Elias and Robin Schmidt while running back Sammy Mesidore scored another TD for head coach Jason Jourdenais’ boys, who led 31-0 at the half. Backup quarterback Max St-James also ran for a pair of TDs and threw another to Jonathan Still. The Lions move on to this Sunday’s provincial final at Molson Stadium against the Hochelaga Archers. Game time is 1 p.m.

Midget Mustangs reach final

The midget AAA North Shore Mustangs also qualified to play for a provincial title thanks to a convincing 22-6 semifinal win over the Richelieu Pirates Saturday afternoon at DDO2 Park. Last week in a 14-2 quarter-final win over the Laurentian Wildcats, the Mustangs’ defence bent, but did not break. Against the Pirates, it did not even bend, never allowing the visitors to mount much of an offensive threat at all.

“They say offence wins games but defence wins championships,� said Mustangs head coach Justin McHugh. “It’s peaking at the right time. It should be a very interesting provincial final.�

The Mustangs led 8-0 at the half on a single point and a James Crowe touchdown reception from quarterback Victor Kozlowski. Kozlowski hooked up with Crowe again in the third quarter to make it 15-0 while running back Shane McKenna punched it in from the one-yard-line early in the fourth quarter to sew things up. The Mustangs will meet the Beauce Dragons Sunday afternoon at 4 at Molson Stadium in the title game.

Midget Cougars fall short

Speaking of the Dragons, a powerful squad that has not lost a regular season or playoff game in two years, it qualified to play the Mustangs after beating the visiting midget AAA Lakeshore Cougars 46-20 on Saturday afternoon. Running back Mike Homsy led the Cougars, who trailed 26-0 after the first quarter and never managed to recover, with a pair of touchdowns.

“It’s difficult when you’re playing a team that practises every morning at 10 and its coaching staff takes every Friday off to concentrate on football,� said a disappointed Cougars head coach Bob Mironowicz. “We don’t have that situation.�

Chargers reach championship

Finally, in a Montreal Metropolitan Senior Football League semifinal contest at Riverdale High School on Sunday afternoon, the North Shore Chargers advanced to the championship game by shutting out the Shawinigan Marauders 14-0. The contest featured as crazy a finish. With about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, feeling betrayed by the referees, the Marauders head coach pulled his team off the field and went home. “The game wasn’t going his way,� said Chargers head coach John Roveto. “I was told he wanted to send a message to the league. But the thing is, we got more penalties than they did. All that aside, it was a tight game with solid hitting. We controlled them because our defence controlled their quarterback. We forced him to throw and run inside instead of outside.�