Rookie wide receiver Sanchez Deschamps hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Liam Mahoney as time expired, giving the Concordia Stingers a dramatic 19-18 come-from-behind victory over the Montréal Carabins on Saturday afternoon.
With 1.8 seconds left to play, Mahoney took the snap at centrefield and rolled left where he found his target 25 yards away. Sanchez grabbed the ball and cut right, running 30 yards diagonally through the Montreal backfield. Kicker Rene Paredes connected on the convert to put away the victory.
(The game highlights, including the Sanchez touchdown, can be found on RDS at http://www.rds.ca/video/visionneuse.html)
The victory gives the Stingers a 3-2 win-loss record and the tie-breaker with Montreal in the event of a tie in the standings heading into playoffs in a few weeks. The Carabins’ record falls to 2-3.
The game was a defensive battle with the Stingers holding the early advantage. Six minutes into the game, Concordia cornerback Mark Deslauriers snagged an interception and ran it back 48 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
The Stingers held a 10-2 lead at halftime, but found themselves down 16-10 after three quarters.
Mahoney led an offence that rolled up 267yards on the day. The quarterback completed nine of 13 passes for 123 yards and the winning TD. Sanchez finished the game with two catches for 70 yards. Running back Cedric Ferdinand had 99 yards on 23 carries.
Montreal collected 315 yards of offence. The top performer for the Carabins was quarterback Marc-Olivier Brouillette who completed 20 of 33 passes for 231 yards, two majors and one interception.
Next, the Stingers host the 2-3 Mount Allison Mounties at Concordia Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
