QUEBEC CITY, QB - Fourth-year quarterback Chris Merchant threw for an incredible 358 passing yards and ran for 81 rushing yards in Western's 34-20 Vanier Cup loss to the Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City, Quebec.
Saturday afternoon was truly a championship matchup, with far and away the two best football programs in the country facing off in the first back-to-back meeting in Vanier Cup history since Western and Acadia squared off in 1976 and 1977. With a national championship on the line and redemption in the minds of a Rouge et Or team playing in front of their hometown fans, the game had all the makings of an instant classic.
And despite the Rouge et Or's victory and their dynamic display on both sides of the ball, Merchant once again put together an impressive performance with the help of his teammates. One of those teammates, Cole Majoros, led the way as Merchant's primary target on the day, racking up 155 receiving yards and a touchdown for the purple and white in the loss.
On the other side of the ball, Laval quarterback Hugo Richard propelled Laval with 348 passing yards and two touchdowns to help lift his team to their 10th Vanier Cup while capturing the game MVP award in the process, as he did in 2016 when Laval won its last Vanier Cup. Adam Auclair also had a strong game for the Rouge et Or, picking off one of three of Merchant's interceptions on the day and adding 10.5 tackles along the way.
"I turned the ball over a number of times and, like I said before the game, if you give them anything, they'll jump all over it and take advantage," said Merchant. "You always treasure a national championship, so to have the opportunity to fight for another one was an incredible feeling. It hurts to come up short, but that's football sometimes. We wish it was us again, but you have to congratulate them on a well-fought game."
"Regardless of how many hits he takes, Chris is always going to battle until the very last play, it's just who he is," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "I'm proud of the way Chris played and the way he carried himself today. I'm proud of how he played all year long. Obviously the end result isn't what we were hoping for, but I'm not at all disappointed in my team. They played with a lot of heart today."
As disheartening as a national championship loss may be, it was clear the team's respect for one another and their success this season was as high as it's ever been.
"The success we had this season was amazing, to make our way to back-to-back championship games with back-to-back perfect seasons is pretty special," said Mustangs kicker Marc Liegghio. "Obviously we came up short of our end-goal, but I'm so proud to be apart of this group of guys. We're a family. Although it didn't go our way today, we're going to be supporting each other like we have all season. It's disappointing, but I'm still so proud of everyone who was apart of this process."
Richard kicked off the Vanier Cup matchup with a pair of brilliant completions in the opening minute of the game and got the Rouge et Or on the board with a 7-0 lead just two plays into the game. Western made their way downfield and into strong scoring position on the ensuing drive, but a hard hit forced Merchant into his first interception of the game as Maxym Lavallèe picked off the pass to return possession to Laval and lead to the field goal.
Merchant continued to find his receivers on the following drive, but the relentless pressure of Laval's defensive line once again rewarded them, ending Western's drive with a sack. However, after holding the Rouge et Or scoreless on the following possession, Western's offence began to find its footing as they made their way downfield into good scoring position, heading into the second quarter facing a 10-0 deficit.
The purple and white wasted no time cutting into the Rouge et Or lead to kick off the second quarter, as running back Cedric Joseph rushed in from just yards away to trim the Western deficit to 10-7 early in the frame.
However, yet another huge completion from Richard to Benoît Gagnon-Brousseau extended the Rouge et Or's lead to 17-7 midway through the frame. Western continued to struggle to fend off the tenacity of Laval's defensive line, but a long field goal connection from Liegghio cut the Rouge et Or's lead down to 17-10 late in the half. After trading a number of scoreless possessions, Liegghio's second field goal left Western trailing just 17-13 heading into halftime.
But despite the Mustangs' late momentum heading into halftime, Richard struck once again to begin the second half, rushing in his first touchdown of the afternoon and extending the lead to 24-13. On Western's ensuing possession, Laval racked up yet another forced turnover as Auclair picked off Merchant to put the Rouge et Or in position for yet another field goal.
Merchant began to target Majoros play after play and succeeded in earning good field position midway through the frame, but a missed field goal late in the quarter saw the purple and white enter the fourth facing a 27-13 deficit.
Both teams traded a number of scoreless possessions until the Rouge et Or rushed in their final touchdown of the evening to extend their lead to 34-13. Merchant would connect with Majoros one last time for Western's second touchdown of the day to cut the lead to 34-20, but it proved to be too little too late as Laval held on to earn the 2018 Vanier Cup.
"All of our graduating guys were giving it their all tonight, just like in every game they've played for us," said Marshall. "When you look at the character of our players, that's something we can take a lot of pride in. David Brown, Alex Taylor, Michael Moore have all been mentors and role models throughout their time here and tonight was no different. We have a lot of class-acts on this team and while our ultimate goal tonight was to win a football game, we're leaving here proud of how our boys played and how they carry themselves away from the field."
"Our graduating guys are legendary and they'll go down in the history books as some of the greatest Western players ever, so it's been my privilege to play with them," said Merchant. "I'll always treasure playing with them. It's too bad it's their last season, but we're going to go back to the drawing board with the amazing guys we have and I know we'll come back strong next season."
And while many questions centred around the notion of moving on and looking ahead to next season, the general consensus throughout the Mustangs roster was to take time to enjoy the journey they had this year. Although it didn't end the way they planned, it was a season full of individual and team success, both on and off the field.
"We know Laval was motivated after last year to come in here and redeem themselves, so we'll be looking to ride that same motivation next year and find ourselves in the same game with a different outcome," said Lieggio. "But for now, I think we're just reflecting on what we've been able to accomplish as a team this season and we're proud of one another. We'll be back, but for right now we're just thinking about the team. It's easy for everybody to want us to look ahead to the next season, but we just finished a long run and it was a good one, so we just want to enjoy how far we came as a team."
Laval's win gives them a national-leading 10 Vanier Cup victories, while Western stands in second in the country with seven in their program history.
The end of each season is capped off with the celebration of the Vanier Cup, a celebration the Mustangs had the privilege of enjoying last season and the Rouge et Or have now earned. But in spite of the disappointment of falling just short this Saturday, Western can eventually rest easy knowing this season was also one marked by record-breaking wins, a Yates Cup and Mitchell Bowl victory, a slew of individual accolades, and the support of the entire Western community.
