In the semi-final game which took place at Concordia Stadium, Vanier were able to jump out to a quick 6-0 first quarter lead on a pair of Josh MacDuffie field goals from 22 and 16 yards out. After a Cougar field goal narrowed the gap to 6-3 at the one minute mark of the second quarter, Anthony Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown to re-establish the Vanier advantage. Kicker MacDuffie added a convert and then a single later in the period. A safety gave the Cheetahs a 16-6 lead at the half.
The Cougars once again moved to within 3 points after a converted touchdown at 5:23 of the third frame. The Cheetahs then went ahead by 10 points once again as the combination of Jérémi Roch and Matthew Norzil went to work as Norzil hauled in a 17-yard pass for a major. MacDuffie booted the extra point and the Cheetahs were in front 23-13 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter.
MacDuffie kicked his third field goal of the day 11 seconds in to the fourth period before a late Champlain safety rounded out the scoring in this semi-final tilt.
The Cheetahs were led on the offense by quarterback Jérémi Roch and receivers Vincent Cléroux and Alexandre Piché, who notched 6 catches for 86 yards and 4 receptions for 74 yards respectively. Jesse Lacle paced the Vanier running attack with 13 carries for 43 yards. The Cheetahs defense was anchored once again by Byron Perez-Archambault with 11 tackles and Chris O’Kill with 10 tackles.
(P.L.)
