The Concordia Stingers defence forced eight turnovers en route to a 21-11 victory over the McGill Redmen in Montreal on Saturday afternoon.
The Stingers were trailing 11-8 heading into the fourth quarter, but the defence stepped up forcing four turnovers – one led to the winning touchdown and one snuffed out a last-minute McGill drive.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Stinger defensive tackle Maurice Forbes hit McGill running back Taylor Kuprowski who coughed up the ball. Linebacker Alexandre Lemire recovered the ball, setting up the Stingers on the McGill 29-yard line. Shortly after rookie slotback Michael Harrington caught a 13-yard TD pass to put Concordia out in front 14-11 – a lead the team would ride to victory.
Running back Mike Donnelly scampered into the end zone on a seven-yard run to pad the Stingers’ lead with six minutes left to play.
The Redmen’s final turnover came with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Fourth-year cornerback Kyle Smith intercepted a Ryne Bondy pass on the Concordia six-yard line. It halted a nine-play, 62-yard drive that had McGill on Concordia’s 13-yard line.
Concordia’s offence rolled up 16 first downs and 158 yards on the day. McGill had 22 first downs and 350 yards of offence.
Stinger quarterback Terrance Morsink completed 14 of 31 passes for 104 yards and one touchdown. He also carried the ball four times for 49 yards and a TD on a two-yard run at 13:44 of the second quarter. He scored Concordia’s only points in the first half. The Stingers had a halftime lead of 7-5.
McGill’s only touchdown came on a one-yard run by Kuprowski at 9:11 of the third quarter. He carried the ball 27 times for 110 yards. He also had three fumbles.
With a 3-3 win-loss record, the Stingers are still in playoff contention. The Redmen fall to 0-6. Concordia travels to Sherbrooke next Saturday to face the 2-4 Vert & Or.
