Lakeshore Football will host five league semifinals, with the chance for all five of those teams to move onto their league championship games for the Football Quebec Ballon D’Argent. Here’s a quick game-by-game preview and viewing guide
9 a.m.: Mosquito vs. Greenfield Park
This promises to be a great showcase of the work mosquito head coach Jesse Roberts has put into his program this season, building on the success enjoyed by the mosquito roster in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The Mosquito Cougars finished their season 8-0 giving up just 19 points over the course of the season, while the Packers finished 4-3-2, getting here by upsetting the fourth-place LaSalle Warriors on the road last weekend 14-13. The Cougars played the Packers in week 6 and destroyed them 70-6.
On defence, Roberts leans on a defence by committee to handle the opposition.
“It’s more of a team game and we’re focused on getting all of our kids focused on one thing and one thing only, and that's winning the championship," he said, adding it's important to stay humble come playoff time.
“We can’t think that we’re going to just step on the field and beat these guys,” said Roberts. “We know that Greenfield Park is a proud team and they will come to play. We have to be sharp, and if we’re not our season could come to an end,” he said.
At 11 a.m., the Peewee Cougars will also take on Greenfield Park. The 8-0 Cougars are coming off a sloppy 56-13 win over Saint-Lazare and have their sights set on a revenge game of sorts against the Packers who gave them all they could handle in a 47-32 loss on Sept. 25. The Packers (5-3) will try to move the ball against a Cougars defence featuring Zack Belval, Louis Mari, Lois Thibault, Jeremy St-Vil, Jackson Stote, Chase Del Grosso, Justin Labbe, Niron Sexton and Liam Dunn. On offence, the Cougars will ride their running game, with Sebastien Mari, Troy Dottin, Zack Sebestyen running behind an offensive line made up of Cole Lalonde, Jeremy Tshilamba, Logan Horn, Mady Van Rees, Ben Devine and Alexandria Gallo. Receivers Julian Bibeaud Wentink, Marcus Rafla, James Harrison and Tristan Carrier also add blocking and catching prowess on the outside.
At 1 p.m. the atoms will play the Sunnybrooke Chiefs, with head coach Adrian Kerr’s squad looking to avenge a week 5 loss to Greenfield Park. The 7-1 atoms will feature a plethora of talented young football players in their first semifinal action. Quarterback Malcom McLaren and running backs Oliver Lin, William Lavoie, Nathan St-Vil, Aiden Conroy, and Shaka Storm Iseghohi will run behind an offensive line featuring road graders Michael Kerr, Luis Gutierrez-Avila, Emma Rokas, Harrison Papachronis and the Zaks -- Zakery Notargiovanni Zachary Delice. On defence, they’ll lean on Griffin Devine, Garrett Laberge, George Thompson, Charles Melki, Danylo Martin, Samuel Stephan, Jacob Cervinka, Adam Mantagaris, Michael Brisebois, Sydney Seto Pronovost, Yuxi (Lucas) Yang, Noah Dunn, Alex Parent and Maximillian Ciambella, Jayden Sharma and Mason Velenosi.
At 4 p.m., the bantams will take on the Saint-Leonard Cougars and attempt to get back on the win side after falling to North Shore in their regular-season finale last week. Head coach Ted Stote’s squad is focused and beat St. Leo 7— 6 in a tight affair earlier this season. Today, the Cougars will depend on quarterback George Koutsokos , #1 George Koutsoukos and receivers Massimo Moufrage and Princeton Cruickshank – who also plays safety on D – as well as nose tackle Lance Von Borstel, DB Ryan Whitehouse and linebacker Felipe De Loureiro Mamede as well as safety Louis Cote.
The nightcap will feature the Cougars’ Midget AAA expansion team playing the LaSalle Warriors in their Quebec Midget Football League (QMFL) semi-final at 7:30 p.m. These two teams played just a few weeks ago, with Lakeshore winning 21-10 at Parc des Benevoles. Cougars head coach Stef Fiore and offensive coordinator George Caperis will lean heavily on their passing game, featuring quarterback Glenn Valentine and receivers Tyler Pazin and Xander Caperis. In the running game, the Cougars will lean on Zach Pipe – whose uncle Kris was also once a Lakeshore midget standout – with help from Luke Levesque and Raph Dunn, who frequently plays BOTH offense and defense. On D, Dunn will line up at safety, while defensive linemen Quincy Logan, Tobi Cheukwuekezie and Nolan Howard, with linebacker Ryan Quesnel, will look to put pressure on LaSalle’s quarterback. Dunn’s fellow defensive back Adam Perks is also tasked with patrolling the defensive backfield – look for the ballhawk to put his hands on at least one pass.