A whole weekend of football with the Carabin taking home the cup
Thursday, Nov. 21
Thursday morning started off in the Mosaic Stadium media room with members from both the Montreal Carabins and Saskatchewan Huskies addressing local media. Sitting at the front of the room was the Vanier cup, flanked by, on one side, a Carabins Jersey and helmet, and on the other, a Huskies jersey and helmet. The matchup was set.
Head coach Scott Flory, starting quarterback Jake Farell, star receiver Ryker Frank, and D lineman Seth Hundeby represented the Huskies. Representing the Carabins were Head coach Marco Iadeluca, starting quarterback Pepe Gonzalez, star receiver Brandon Gourgon, linebacker Mohamed Elshal, and defensive lineman Gabriel Maisonneuve.
During the open press, Iadeluca noted that the Huskies have a great offensive line and star running back which would make the Carabins defensive line job harder. Cracking down on the Huskies run game would be key to the Carabins game plan.
The Huskies, on the other hand, emphasized that, regardless of the shifts in roster lines in the last few weeks, the camaraderie amongst the team was strong. They also noted that the Carabins have talented players all over the field, and that the Huskies have studied the Carabins film and felt well prepared.
Anton Amundrud
The jersey and helmet sitting beside the Vanier cup for the Huskies read number 11, matching the small buttons worn by each member of the Huskies team at the front of the room, a small gesture to acknowledge the missing piece of the Huskies team.
The number 11 jersey, worn by Anton Amundrud, the Huskies’ starting quarterback (QB), announced his diagnosis with Lymphoma only a week prior to the national championship game. Amundrud, at the age of 23, had taken a hiatus from the team after five games of the regular season. He started feeling unwell and underwent further testing revealing the diagnosis.
The Huskies deflected questions regarding the whereabouts of their star QB until Nov. 12, when the Huskies released their statement. Thus, Farell would be cementing his starting slot for two of the biggest football games of his career: the Mitchell Bowl and the Vanier Cup.
Amundrud finished three rounds of chemotherapy by the week of the Vanier cup but has a long road ahead of him. However, as noted by teammate Ryker Frank to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Amandrud is going to fight with everything he has.
“He’s a really stubborn guy, and that’s going to help him with this,” said Frank. “Just visiting him in the hospital, he was saying ‘pump me full of the harshest chemicals you’ve got.’ All he wants to do is get back on this field. He’s going to use this stubbornness to his advantage, I think.”
Personnel of the Huskies all wore the ‘11’ buttons for the weekend and Amundrud’s teammates wore ‘11’ stickers on the back of their helmets, a small reminder that this is bigger than just a football game.
It’s amazing just to see everybody so happy, to see the veterans so happy, and just, like, the reward of the hard work we put in.” -José Alejandro “Pepe” Gonzalez Garza
USports All Canadian Awards Gala
On Thursday evening, athletes from all over the country gathered at the Conexus Arts Centre for the All Canadian Awards Gala recognizing the outstanding performances in Canadian USport football this season.
Some quite notable guests were in attendance, including Vice Chancellor Jeff Keshen, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Bernadette McIntyre, MLA Ken Cheveldayoff, and USports CEO Pierre Arsenault, amongst others.
The evening started off with a lovely cocktail reception and dinner. The committee made sure to emphasize the prairie traditions for all of our eastern visitors in attendance. Prior to the awards being handed out, a hoop dancer performed and gave a history of the importance of the dance to Indigenous peoples of the area.
At 7:30 p.m., the awards portion of the evening began by introducing the first and second all Canadian teams. These teams acknowledge athletes with an 80 per cent or higher academic average while competing in USports football. There were six Regina Rams athletes namely Marshall Erichsen, Brandon Wong, Max Polischuk, Ty Gorniak, Nicholas Sirleaf, and Carson Sombach were part of the teams.
Following the team presentations, six individual awards were presented:
- Hec Crighton Award (Player of the Year): Ethan Jordan, Laurier University
- J.P. Metras Trophy (Lineman of the Year): Erik Andersen, Western University
- Presidents’ Trophy (Standup Defensive Player of the Year): Seth Hundeby, University of Saskatchewan
- Peter Gorman Trophy (Rookie of the Year): José Alejandro “Pepe” Gonzalez Garza, University of Montreal
- Russ Jackson Award (Student-athlete Community Service): Chevy Thomas, University of Alberta
- Frank Tindall Trophy (Fox40 Coach of the Year): Micheal Faulds, Laurier University
Friday, Nov. 22
The morning following the Awards gala, community members joined the University of Regina (UofR) in the Riddell Centre multipurpose room for a community pancake breakfast. Outside, the mobile Tim Hortons truck was available for students and patrons to grab a free coffee and hot chocolate.
Patrons were welcomed by the UofR Dance team and even got their very own UofR Cougars pom pom! The breakfast was sponsored by Sask Lotteries and included pancakes, coffee and tea to be enjoyed.
Many notable guests were in attendance once again such as McIntyre, Cheveldayoff, Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski, Minister for Sport and Recreation Alana Ross, along with members of the opposition and other Saskatchewan MLAs.
Breakfast goers had the opportunity to send their well wishes for both the Huskies and Carabins by signing a banner given on behalf of the Vanier Cup committee. The banners were placed on both sides of the Vanier.
Speeches from Bachynski, Keshen, and, Cheveldayoff were emceed by the local Sportscage podcast hosts. The speeches welcomed family members, community members, and fans of the Huskies, the Carabins, and the Rams.
This year was the first time in the 60 year history that Regina hosted the Vanier Cup.”
Saturday, Nov. 22: Game Day
Game day began at 11 a.m. at Mosaic Stadium, where the UofR Alumni Association hosted a tailgate party. The party had booths from the Regina Pats, USask Huskies, UofR Alumni Association, Polar Ice Vodka, Tourism Regina, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. A total of 8,896 people were in attendance at the game.
The coin toss was performed by Keshen, McIntyre, Premier Scott Moe, and Cheveldayoff. Finally, kicking off the game was a fly by from an RCMP plane.
Just after kickoff, a group of Saskatchewan Roughriders came out onto the field and brought out the Grey Cup. Alumni players from the Rams, the Carabins, and the Huskies stuck around for the game to cheer on their respective alma mater.
The first quarter of the game was a tight back-and-forth between the Carabins and the Huskies, with a few field goals and rogue points. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 4-3.
The second quarter saw two touchdowns: one from Brandon Gourgon for the Carabins and one from Ryker Frank for the Huskies. Following was two rogue points, one for each team, and then a field goal for the Carabins, putting them up 15-11 going into the half time break.
At the start of the third quarter, Saskatchewan got within one point following a field goal, making the score 15-14. However, the tide shifted quickly once more after Hassane Dosso scored Montreal’s next touchdown.
The fourth and final quarter did not see a lot of action. Saskatchewan gained two points thanks to a safety. With two minutes left in the quarter, Simon Larose secured the win with a touchdown off a seven yard pass from QB Gonzalez. After a good conversion kick, the final score was 30-16 for the Carabins.
Celebrations ensued on the field from the Carabin players, families, and personnel. Before the presentation of the Vanier Cup, the player of the game award was presented to the Carabins’ Gonzalez, the first rookie quarterback in USports to lead his team to the Vanier Cup. He also won the Rookie of the Year award at the USports Gala.
Although his season was extremely impressive, Gonzalez credited all of the season successes to his teammates. “The Brotherhood here is so good. We’re so tight. I mean, when it’s going down, you have brothers everywhere to lift you up. Our culture comes from brotherhood first, and we play for each other, and that’s a key.”
Gonzalez also mentioned how excited he was to see his teammates celebrate the win. “It’s amazing just to see everybody so happy, to see the veterans so happy, and just, like, the reward of the hard work we put in. It’s amazing.”
Gonzalez was overcome with joy following the win. He was seen jumping into the arms of his parents who were in the stands before the award presentations. Some families of players chartered out to the game, making the 2,851 km trip to cheer on the Carabins players. Situated behind the Carabins bench was a sea of blue to cheer them on.
This year was the first time in the 60 year history that Regina hosted the Vanier Cup. In that six decade period, the big game has only been held in the prairies four times, including this season. Although the championship is back out east for the next two seasons at least, the city and the university put on a great event and they look forward to potentially hosting again in the future.
