And then there were eight.
All four U Sports football conference championship games are now set across the country following a round of collegiate weekend playoff action. There are familiar rivalry games brewing in Canada West and the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), while new matchups are set for Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and Atlantic University Sport (AUS).
Around U Sports is a weekly feature on 3DownNation that takes readers across the country to summarize collegiate football action, highlighting standout performances all the way through the playoffs. This is its final edition of the year, as next week 3DownNation will start producing standalone articles for each game.
Concordia Stingers, 2 — Montreal Carabins, 51
This was an absolute beatdown as the Carabins held a 44-0 lead at halftime before calling off the dogs in the third and fourth quarters. Pepe Gonzalez threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns in the victory, while Redval Keita, Gregory Mulenda-St-Pierre, and Mathieu Barsalou combined for four rushing scores. Defensive back Louis-Philippe Gauthier intercepted Concordia quarterback Antoine Ouimet, who combined with Glenn Valentine to throw for only 150 yards on the day.
Acadia Axemen, 0 — Saint Mary’s Huskies, 37
Saint Mary’s won another game on the strength of their dominant defence, which allowed only 91 yards of net offence, recorded two interceptions and one fumble recovery, and secured its first shutout of the year. Malik Williams ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns for the Huskies, while Matthew Schill led the way on defence with 5.5 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack. Saint Mary’s will host the Loney Bowl for the first time since 2018 next week when the St. FX X-Men come to campus.
Queen’s Gaels, 36 — Windsor Lancers, 25
The Gaels outscored the home side 16-0 in the fourth quarter to complete the upset and qualify for the Yates Cup for the first time since 2022. Jared Chisari dominated along the ground for Queen’s, rushing 16 times for 166 yards and two touchdowns, while Alex Vreeken threw for two scores and zero interceptions. Tyriq Quayson, Liam Talbot, and Weagbe Mombo combined for 198 yards along the ground, though the Lancers were unable to get much going through the air as Nick Dimovski and Josh Foulis threw for 100 yards and two interceptions.
Guelph Gryphons, 30 — Laurier Golden Hawks, 37
Laurier led 27-0 at halftime but the Gryphons never gave up, eventually making this a one-score game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Marshall McCray to Harry Varty. Cal Wither threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns in the victory, while Tayshaun Jackson and William Russell both scored rushing touchdowns. McCray not only threw three touchdown passes in the loss but also rushed for 108 yards and one score. Laurier will host Queen’s for the Yates Cup and the OUA title next week.
Bishop’s Gaiters, 24 — St. FX X-Men, 26
The X-Men led 23-3 in the third quarter but needed a 17-yard field goal from Tyson Heather with no time remaining to secure the win after Bishop’s scored 21 unanswered points. Silas Fagnan threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns, while Malcolm Bussey ran for 93 yards and a score. O’Shae Ho-Sang ran for 125 yards for the Gaiters, while Mathieu Bellavance added two rushing scores. The X-Men will visit the Saint Mary’s Huskies in next week’s Loney Bowl — the same team that upset them in the first round of the AUS playoffs last season.
McGill Redbirds, 25 — Laval Rouge et Or, 47
This game momentarily looked destined to be a massive upset as the Redbirds held a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, though it was all Laval after that. Arnaud Desjardins and Jérémy Ouellette combined for 431 passing yards and six touchdowns, four of which went to RSEQ all-star Olivier Cool. McGill dual-threat quarterback Eloa Latendresse-Regimbald threw for 247 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the loss, while also rushing nine times for 106 yards and one score. Laval will host Montréal in next week’s Jacques Dussault Cup, formerly known as the Dunsmore Cup, for the RSEQ title.
UBC Thunderbirds, 7 — Saskatchewan Huskies, 26
Ryker Frank dominated this one, rushing 30 times for 192 yards and catching four passes for 23 yards to lead Saskatchewan to victory. Jake Farrell threw for 216 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in place of the injured Anton Amundrud for the Huskies, while UBC quarterback Drew Viotto was intercepted three times, including twice by Ethan Laing. The Huskies will host the Regina Rams for the Canada West title in next week’s Hardy Cup, a repeat of last year’s all-Saskatchewan matchup.
Manitoba Bisons, 29 — Regina Rams, 32
Both teams booted field goals in the final minute of the game to send this one to overtime, where they exchanged field goals on their first respective possessions. Ty Gorniak made a 38-yard field goal on Regina second overtime possession, though Maya Turner doinked a 23-yard field goal attempt off the upright on Manitoba’s ensuing possession to end the game. Marshall Erichsen and Christian Katende rushed for a combined 162 yards and one touchdown for the Rams, while Jackson Tachinski threw for 297 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, and ran for 34 yards and a score in his final game with the Bisons.
John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.
