Huskies take bite out of Redmen, feast on seven turnovers

SMU 39 McGill 23

McGill Sports Information

October 28, 2009

MONTREAL – Sophomore running back Devon Jones of St. Albert, Alta., scored a pair of touchdowns and kicker Justin Palardy, a senior from Truro, N.S., contributed 13 points as No.8-ranked Saint Mary’s outlasted McGill 39-23 before a Homecoming crowd of 1,110 at Molson Stadium
 
It was the fifth straight win for the Huskies (5-1), who capitalized on seven McGill turnovers in a penalty-infested game that featured a combined total of 32 infractions for 275 yards of real estate. Despite the high score, neither team generated big numbers in offensive yardage, with Saint Mary’s registering 286 compared to 272 by McGill.
 
The Redmen, who evened their record at 3-3, led 9-4 after the opening quarter but committed a number of blunders to find themselves trailing 29-9 at halftime. McGill then rallied in the third stanza. Bobby Mikelberg, a third-year receiver from Montreal, returned a blocked punt 10 yards for a TD and kicker Austin Anderson added field goals from 26 and 43 yards, narrowing the gap to 29-23.
 
McGill rookie quarterback Jonathan Collin of Longueuil, Que., tossed a costly fourth-quarter interception – his third of the day – that was picked off by Quinton Meaders on the SMU 30-yard line early in the final stanza to smother an eight-play Redmen drive that resulted in Palardy’s third field goal of the game – a 10-yard chip shot – and a 32-23 lead for the Huskies. Palardy, who was 3-for-4 on the day, had earlier connected from distances of 43 and 33 yards, respectively. He also averaged 40.1 yards on nine punts and 53.4 yards on five kickoffs.
 
Collin, making his fifth career start, completed just 9-of-27 pass attempts for 144 yards. He did, however, score McGill’s lone offensive touchdown with a one-yard plunge to put the Redmen ahead 9-5 late in the opening quarter. It was his sixth TD of the season, the highest single-season rushing total by any McGill quarterback.
 
SMU senior Carl Hardwick, a native of Chicago, put the game out of reach when he hauled in a six-yard TD toss from fellow American Jack Creighton with less than three minutes remaining. Hardwick finished with three receptions for 30 yards. Creighton was 11-for-25 and 171 passing yards. He also rushed for a one-yard TD plunge.
 
For the Redmen, running back Andrew Hamilton rushed for 96 yards on 21 carries, marking the first time that had been held below the century mark this season. Hamilton, a Montreal native who was raised in Miami, is second among the Quebec conference rushing leaders with 822 yards in just five games and a healthy 7.8 average per carry.
 
Charles-Antoine Sinotte caught a game-high five passes for 80 yards. He is now tied for fourth place among the CIS all-time reception leaders with 185 and needs 10 more over his final two games to break the CIS career record of 194 by former teammate Erik Galas.
 
Standing out defensively was McGill lineman Ben Thompson, who had seven total tackles, including 1.5 quarterback sacks. Devon Hicks led the SMU defence with six tackles, one knockdown and a fumble recovery.
 
McGill (3-3) plays at Concordia (3-3) in the 41st annual Shaughnessy Cup game next Saturday in a nationally-televised game (SRC) that should decide a playoff spot in the Quebec conference. The Huskies (5-1) will host St.FX (5-1) in a first-place showdown on Oct. 23. The X-men upset SMU 24-19 in the AUS season opener on Sept. 12.