2014 Gee-Gees recruits

The University of Ottawa released a list of their 2014 on Tuesday, 53 strong.

Name                Pos.  Hometown (last team)
Matt Amey            DL   Napanee, Ont. (Napanee H.S.)
Brad Angevaare       OL   Port Hope, Ont. (Trinity College)
Connor Ayre         K/P   Ottawa (Mother Theresa)
Kalem Beaver         WR   Cole Harbour, N.S. (Auburn Drive H.S.)
Jackson Bennett      RB   Ottawa (Wilfrid Laurier S.S.)
Colin Bonsall        OL   Belleville, Ont. (Moira S.S.)
Arnold Bossa         DL   Ottawa (St. Matthew)
Matt Bruder          OL   Dundas, Ont. (Westdale)
Greg Cherniak        RB   London, Ont. (Central S.S.)
Alain Cimankinda     DL   Ottawa (Franco-Cite)
Felix Daigneault    K/P   Gatineau (CEGEP Outaouais)

Wilson Decayette     DL   Gatineau (Vieux Montreal)
S. Delva Williamson  DL   Montreal (Vieux-Montreal)
Marcus Diamante      OL   London, Ont. (Central S.S.)
Ryan Duperron        DB   Ottawa (St. Joseph)
James Flemming     DB/WR  Belleville, Ont. (Moira S.S.)
Cody Fownes          OL   North Bay, Ont. (CEGEP de Rimouski)
Joel Ferland         DL   Kingston, Ont. (Frontenac)
Luke French          WR   Gatineau (Champlain)
Francis Gagnon       DB   Lac-Beauport, Que. (La Pocatiere)
Curtis Gravelle      DL   Welland, Ont. (Calgary Colts)
Adam Guarisco        WR   Ottawa (Ashbury College)
David Hron           LB   Kingston, Ont. (Regiopolis-Notre Dame)
George Jean-Louis    DB   Montreal (Vieux-Montreal)
Tomo Juratovec       OL   Hamilton, Ont. (Cardinal Newman)
Stephan Kukkonen     QB   Ottawa (Wilfrid Laurier S.S.)
Cedric Kye                Ottawa (Wilfrid Laurier S.S.)
Alex Lacelle         LB   Guelph, Ont. (John F. Ross)
Raphaël Laurin       WR   Saguenay, Que. (Cégep de Jonquière)
Kyle Lasota          WR   Newmarket, Ont. (Huron Heights S.S.)
Alex Levesque        LB   Ottawa (Holy Trinity)
Tyler Ling           DB   Kingston, Ont. (Regiopolis-Notre Dame)
Harris MacEachern    WR   Kingston, Ont. (Regiopolis-Notre Dame)
Garcia Machli        DB   Montreal (Vieux-Montreal)
Connor Mackey        DL   Ottawa (St. Joseph)
Liam McCowell        DL   Hamilton, Ont. (Cardinal Newman)
Reginald Monestine   WR   Montreal (Ahuntsic)
Brett Murray         OL   Newmarket, Ont. (Huron Heights S.S.)
Ibra Ndaiye          OL   Montreal (Vieux-Montreal)
Osas Obas            DL   Montreal (Vieux-Montreal)
Jacob Pardy          DL   Ganonoque, Ont. (Ganonoque S.S.)
Justin Poitras     QB/WR  Ottawa (St. Mark)
Jeff Radford       DL/LB  Belleville, Ont. (Moira S.S.)
Luke Rawling         WR   Perth, Ont. (P.D.C.I.)
Jesse Skucas         WR   Ottawa (St. Joseph)
Matt Smith           OL   Cornwall, Ont. (St. Joseph)
Keenan Tanti         FB   Ottawa (Holy Trinity)
Mathieu Tremblay     RB   Saint-Felicien, Que. (Jonquière)
Cody Ullett          DL   Ottawa (CEGEP Outaouais)
Tony Van Hooser      DL   Kingston, Ont. (Frontenac)
Bryce Vierra         RB   Ste Anne-de-Belleville, Que. (Vanier)
Taylor Webb          RB   St. Catherines, Ont. (West Park)
Nick Weiszhaar       WR   Sturgeon Falls, Ont. (Northern S.S.)
Nick Zanet         DL/LB  Kingston, Ont. (Regiopolis-Notre Dame)

I'm not going to pretend to know all these guys, but former Cegep de l'Outaouais Griffon defensive lineman Cody Ullett's name caught my eye.  I noticed his stats line while looking up the RSEQ all-star team last year.  Ullett collected 18 tackles, 23 assists and five quarterback sacks in 2013.

The Gee-Gees released their season ticket package information recently, in case you missed it. You can check those out here.

Two "Locals" on Junior National Team

Football Canada released the roster that will compete against Team USA at the International Bowl in February.  Two of the players on the team have local connections.

The first is Samuel Thomassin, seen at right (photo credit to Charles Daigneault).  He is an offensive linemen for the Cegep de l'Outaouais Griffons and was previously mentioned here for having been named to the all-star team in 2013.  He was on the Team Québec gold-medal winning squad at the 2012 Football Canada Cup.  The Junior National Team roster lists his home town as Gatineau, but I believe he's actually from the Québec City area.

The other is not a local product as such either; his home town is listed as being Dehli, Ontario.  But receiver Kyle Van Wynsberghe was a standout for the Carleton University Ravens in their first year back into the OUA.  He recorded 37 receptions for 501 yards and three scores, including the team's first. He was a nominee for the OUA's rookie of the year award.  Prior to joining the Ravens, Van Wynsberghe was a quarterback for the Dehli Raiders.

We'll track the results of both men when the Team Canada vs Team USA junior game kicks in February.

RedBlacks sign WR Simon Le Marquand

This signing came as a bit of a (pleasant) surprise to me.

Because the signing was being announced in Gatineau, and the media there had been beating the Etienne Boulay drum for a while, I thought there was a decent chance that his signing would be made official.  That struck as a bit fast, because Boulay had said just a couple of weeks ago that he wanted to get in shape first, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

The signings of Le Marquand and the acquisition of former Ottawa Sooner John Delahunt in the expansion draft underscore why I find following local amateur football so much fun.  I have been folowing their careers for many years already and it's a pleasure to see them get this opportunity.

Most media will refer to his UOttawa career, but Le Marquand had already begun to make his mark (no lame pun attempted there) at the Cegep de l'Outaouais.  In 2008, he recorded 26 receptions for 541 yards and eight scores.  Those numbers placed him on the all-star team.

He was not called upon quite as much in first couple of seasons with UOttawa, but once given the opportunity in 2011, he embraced it to the tune of 57 receptions, 867 yards and six touchdowns, all team-leading receiving numbers and good enough to gather second-team conference all-star recognition.  He was also honoured as team MVP that year, the first time a non-QB had been given the award since 2002.

When Gary Etcheverry took over as head coach the following year and brought the team back to 1942, Le Marquand's numbers suffered accordingly.  Le Marquand recorded 28 catches for 464 yards and two scores.  After his release from Hamilton's training camp this past summer, after being chosen in the 4th round of the collegiate draft by the Ti-Cats, Le Marquand returned to the Gee-Gees and added 25 receptions, 374 yards and another four TD's to his resumé.

On a general note, something else struck me about this signing.  We now have on our roster...

• Three wide receivers
• Two slotbacks
• Two fullbacks capable of playing inside receiver (Delahunt, as well as Patrick Lavoie)

...and not a single one of them is UNDER six feet.

I felt throughout the Renegades years that a lack of size at the position was a major drawback.  They say you can't coach speed, which I think is nonsense.  Of course you can make yourself faster.  But you can't make yourself taller.

Here are the guys currently listed on Calgary's roster for the sake of comparison.

31  Fuller, Jeff          WR     6.04
84  Hawthorne, Tim        WR     6.03
 3  Sinopoli, Brad        WR     6.04
80  Forzani, Johnny       WR     6.01
85  West, Joe             WR     6.01
88  Stafford, Kenny       WR     6.04
17  Price, Maurice        WR     6.01
83  Morin-Plante, Yannick WR     6.00
86  Parker, Anthony       WR     6.02
87  Armstrong, Spencer    WR     6.01

No doubt there are good receivers under six feet.  But if you can get a bunch of capable guys with size, you're giving yourself an edge.  The Renegades never seemed to embrace that, and they never had a passing game to be feared, either.

Meanwhile, across the river...

Missed during the RedBlacks recent flurry of activity was Cegep de l'Outaouais Head Coach Denis Piché's resignation from his position with the club.  He was replaced shortly thereafter by defensive coordinator, and former UOttawa Gee-Gee defensive lineman, Sébastien Tétreault.

Piché took over as the team's second Head Coach for the 2011 season, replacing Alexandre Mathieu.  During that time, he recorded 14 wins and 10 losses (including a 4-4 record this past fall).

Tétreault held the defensive coordinator position during the previous two seasons.  Perhaps not coincidentally, since Tétreault also played the position, the Griffons saw defensive lineman Jérémie Rioux honoured as the top player at the position in the RSEQ's seven-team South-West Division.  Rioux has since committed to the Carleton Ravens program.  The following were also named to the league's all-star team.

Samuel Thomassin, offensive line
Julien Choquette-Daigneault, running back (74 for 593, 5 tds)
Sébastien Chénier-Dionne, linebacker (43.5 tcks, 4 sacks)
Wassim Hayder, defensive back (9 tcks, 3 INTs)

Julien Larente was recognised for his academic achievements.