Uteck Bowl: Rouge et Or obliterate X-Men 63-0
Hugo Richard racks up 5 TD passes to lead Laval to 3rd consecutive Vanier Cup
Quarterback Hugo Richard completed 22-of-27 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns as the Laval Rouge et Or romped to a 63-0 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men on Saturday in the Uteck Bowl.
Laval advances to the Vanier Cup, Canada's university football championship, for the third consecutive year.
Running back Alexis Cote rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns for the undefeated Rouge et Or.
Laval will try to capture its record 10th Vanier at home, after losing last year to Western in a 39-17 game played in Hamilton.
Watch highlights of Laval's rout of St. FX:
The Rouge et Or have won a record nine Canadian championships in the program's 23-year history. The team lost twice in the final.
Big hole
Bailey Wasdal connected on 7-of-16 pass attempts for 68 yards for the Atlantic University Sport champion X-Men.
St. F.X. found itself in a deep hole early into the game, with Laval scoring two touchdowns within three minutes of each other in the first quarter. Richard hit rookie receiver Vincent Forbes-Mombleau with a 15-yard pass, then threw a 28-yarder to second-year receiver Mathieu Robitaille, both converted by kicker David Cote.
The X-Men conceded a safety to leave the score at the end of the quarter at 16-0.
Richard struck again early in the second quarter on a 14-yard pass and run to Forbes-Mombleau. The X-Men saw some hope when linebacker Gordon Whyte picked off a pass. Laval quickly returned the favour on the X-Men's drive when Zack Fitzpatrick stole a Wasdal pass and ran it deep into the visitor's zone.
Richard fumbled the snap on a first and goal and the visitors recovered the ball. St. F.X. conceded another safety on a punt. Laval put another touchdown on the board late in the quarter, with Richard finding Forbes-Mombleau with a 15-yard pass for the receiver's third TD of the game.
Onslaught
Following a blocked X-Men kick with 48 seconds remaining in the half, Richard found Benoit Gagnon-Brousseau alone deep in the end zone for another Laval TD to boost the lead to 39-0.
The Rouge et Or onslaught continued early in the first half with running back Alexis Cote powering 12 yards into the end zone. Laval backup QB Samuel Chenard took over from Richard, and promptly set up kicker David Cote for a 10-yard run and another six-points.
Both teams geared down in the final quarter because of the lopsided score of 63-0.
The last AUS team to make it to the Vanier Cup was Saint Mary's, losing to the University of Manitoba in 2007. Saint Mary's is also the last AUS team to win the championship, in 2002, beating the University of Saskatchewan.
Laval will also host the Vanier Cup in 2019, which will be the sixth time the city has welcomed the championship game.