A field goal with 24 seconds left to play gave the Bishop’s Gaiters an 18-17 victory over the Concordia Stingers at the 24th annual Shrine Bowl at Concordia stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Gaiters’ Josh Maveety made the game-winning field goal of 22 yards to cap off a day that was dominated by the kickers. The Kingston, Ont. native kept Bishop’s in the game throughout the day with three field goals (15, 19 and 22 yards) and two singles.
The Stingers controlled the game and had the advantage until the dying minutes when Maveety booted an 85-yard single with 2:43 left to narrow Concordia’s advantage to 17-15. Then with 24 seconds to play he connected on the 22-yard field goal to seal the victory.
With five field goals, Concordia kicker Rene Paredes (Pierrefonds, Que.) accounted for 15 of his team’s 17 points. He scored from 20, 31, 34, 35 and 48 yards.
The competition was also Concordia’s annual Homecoming game. Paredes was awarded the Homecoming Cup as the outstanding Stinger in the game.
Paredes opened the scoring with his longest field goal of the day at 3:12 of the first quarter. The 3-0 lead stood through the first quarter. He connected for two more three-pointers in the second, while Maveety chipped in with one field goal and a single, making the score 9-4 for the Stingers at halftime.
In the third quarter, Concordia pulled ahead 14-4 on another field goal and a safety.
In the final 15 minutes, Maveety narrowed the score to 14-7. Then Paredes put the Stingers up 17-7. Bishop’s quarterback Jesse Andrews hit David Haddrall with a seven-yard touchdown strike to make the score 17-14 with 2:43 left to play.
On paper, Concordia looked better, rolling up 402 yards of offence and 21 first downs. Bishop’s had 311 yards of offence and 18 first downs.
Stingers second-year quarterback Terrance Morsink completed 25 of 41 passes for 326 yards. He threw one interception. Morsink has replaced injured starting quarterback Rob Mackay for three games. He is now second in the CIS in passing yards per game with a 293 average.
His favorite targets were Dan Rodrigues who had seven catches for 108 yards and Liam Mahoney who caught six passes for 60 yards.
The Shriners presented a number of awards for exceptional play after the game. The offensive MVPs went to Morsink and to receiver Geoff Coventry of the Gaiters. The outstanding defensive players were Concordia defensive tackle Maurice Forbes and Bishop’s lineman Mathieu Boulay.
Forbes and Boulay were also recognized by the Montreal Alouettes Alumni Association who presented them with Ted Elsby Memorial Awards. Elsby was an outstanding CFL defensive lineman and a Shriner. It is tradition to honor the top defensive linemen in the Shrine Bowl with the Elsby awards.
The Stingers’ win-loss record falls to 2-2, while the Gaiters improve to 3-1. However, Concordia owns the tiebreaker between the two teams, having won 17-14 on Sept. 4 in Lennonxville, Que.
