Vanier spring camp: Cheetahs look to extend championship reign

"When it comes to where we're at right now, even with all the changes we've had from last year, there's a solid nucleus returning, and I feel very strongly the road to the Bol d'Or is going to run through our home field. Come playoff time, I don't think there's a whole lot of teams out there that want a piece of us."

Starting quarterback Myles Gibbon, who set a CEGEP AAA league record with 25 touchdown passes in eight regular-season games, will return, as will the team's individual receiving leader (Duraney White, 517 yards and nine touchdowns in 2007) and rushing leader (Remi Biakabutuka, 490 yards and five touchdowns last season in '07). The Cheetahs lost three out of five starters from last season's line, but Chryssomalis feels some new additions will be able to fill the void left by the departures of all-stars Matt Norman and Daryl Rankin.

"We've recruited really well. We may be in a situation where we're going to start three first-year guys up front, but even in that situation, I think we'll be just fine." Chryssomalis said.

The Cheetahs will also lose stalwarts Samael Lavaud and Ameet Pall from the defensive side of the football, but Chryssomalis expects some of the young talent coming in will be able to replace some of what Pall and Lavaud did for the Cheetahs.

"David Francique, at the defensive line, is going to be an impact player for us, as well as Jean-Samuel Blanc, Jesse St. James and Jesse Briggs."

Starting cornerbacks Nathan Taylor and Jamie Symianick are both back for their final seasons and starting safety Matt Bond and halfback Stephan Osman return after solid 2007 campaigns. The linebacking corps should be solid with veteran Nick Sapone moving to the outside and returning veterans Julien Papineau and Steven Filice reday to step in.

"At the defensive line position, we need a guy like Jesse Joseph to show the whole league exactly how special a player he is," Chryssomalis added.

On offense, a stellar receiving corps was bolstered by the addition of top prospects Vincent Cleroux-Gaudreau, Alexandre Piche and Matthew Norzil while Ontario rookies Matt Fisher (OG) and running back Tareq Dufour, complement solid local recruits like guard Antoine Pageau and running backs Jerome Stewart and James Tsifakis.

The CEGEP AAA schedule has not yet been finalized, but Chryssomalis expects the Cheetahs to have a bye in the first week of the season and take on the Edouard-Montpetit Lynx in both teams' opener in week two. The Cheetahs start fall training camp on Aug. 15.