Raul Thompson, a second-year running back from Mississauga, Ont., scored three touchdowns to lead the Concordia Stingers to a 55-9 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men at Concordia stadium in Montreal on Saturday afternoon.
Thompson scored a major in each of the first three quarters. In the first, he found the end zone on a four-yard run at 12:32. He was celebrating again after a six-yard scamper at 2:44 of the second quarter. His biggest run of the day came at 6:20 of the third quarter when he took the ball 40 yards for a TD.
Overall, he carried the ball nine times for 76 yards and the three touchdowns. He was awarded the Homecoming Cup as the outstanding player in Concordia’s annual Homecoming game.
There were a lot of big plays in the game, starting with Stinger defensive halfback Kris Robertson’s 38-yard interception return for a touchdown at 2:34 of the first quarter.
The X-Men’s only bright moment came when Damone Williams returned a kickoff 99 yards for six points in the first quarter.
At the end of 15 minutes, Concordia had a 17-9 lead.
The Stingers stretched their advantage to 38-9 at halftime. Fullback Brendan Urness scored on a four-yard reception and Nathan Taylor on a 120-yard missed field goal return.
Concordia slotback Kris Bastien had the only other major in the game. It came on a 29-yard pass from quarterback Reid Quest at 6:06 of the third quarter.
Stinger rookie kicker Keegan Treloar also got his name on the scoresheet with a couple of field goals – a 32-yarder in the first quarter and a 25-yarder with 2:31 left in the game.
Overall Concordia rolled up 26 first downs and 447 yards of offence – 222 yards rushing and 225 in the air. Terrance Morsink and Quest split the time at quarterback.
The X-Men had 15 first downs and a total offence of 231 yards.
The victory gives Concordia a 2-1 win-loss record in RSEQ football conference play and a piece of second place in the standings.
The Stingers host the Sherbrooke Vert & Or on Friday at 7 p.m. at Concordia stadium. The teams last met on Oct. 16, 2010 when the Vert & Or won an epic battle 39-36 in overtime.
