Dinos battling history with Laval
Canada West champs have never beaten Quebec school in playoffs
Michael Schmidt has prepared for the Laval Rouge et Or for a long time, so what’s one more kick at ’em.
“The first time we played them, I was a redshirt back in 2011. It was my first experience with university football, so even the guys on my team I thought were these huge, crazy guys,” Schmidt, the University of Calgary fifth-year safety, said. “I knew our team, we’re just football players and we’ve been playing for a long time and not one group is necessarily going to be this crazy good team that we can’t figure out a way to handle.”
Except that’s exactly what Laval has been for the Calgary football team: a riddle they’ve been unable to solve. They get one more crack at it on Saturday (2 p.m. kickoff ) at McMahon Stadium when the Quebec champs come to town, vying for the Mitchell Bowl title.
The Dinos are 0-5 versus the juggernaut from Laval, including Vanier Cup losses in 2016, 2013 and 2010. In 2008, it was the Uteck Bowl defeat, while in 2011 it was the Mitchell Bowl.
Schmidt, who missed all of last year with an injury and thus didn’t get to play in the closest of those meetings — a crushing 31-26 loss — has nonetheless been privy to enough disappointments against Laval to want badly to erase that feeling.
“I don’t think it’s ever became psychological,” Schmidt insisted. “We always wanted to beat them. We wanted to show we could be the better team, but unfortunately, even when it was so close, we still lost, so it’s frustrating in that sense. We knew we could do it. It just came down to finishing the games.”
The Rouge et Or were the better finishers in 2016, a game that still resonates with the Dinos as they watched the opposition score late and were unable to answer. And being as they’re all studentathletes, there are lessons there to be learned.
“I think the biggest thing, especially for the guys who were playing them for the first time, Laval is not as big and scary as we all thought they were,” said receiver Hunter Karl. “I watched the 2013 game on TV and I was, like, ‘Wow, this team is really good.’ Then you go out for warm-ups and they’re the same size as you. I mean, they’re phenomenal. They’ve won, what, nine championships or whatever and they’re really well put together and they don’t make mistakes. Every team wants to be like that and that’s what our goal is, to be able to go against them and not make the mistakes we made last year.”
“I think last year we got up early in the game and it was almost a surprise, (like) this isn’t supposed to be happening,” added linebacker Boston Rowe. “I think we’ll go about it a different way. I think the biggest thing is that we can play with these guys. As much as you watch them on film and you don’t really know who they are, now we kind of know who they are. I think that familiarity will help us a lot.”
Just as the Dinos have different personnel in their lineup, so does Laval and that’s where we find head coach Wayne Harris Jr., poring over game film of this most recent Rouge et Or edition, one that captured the Dunsmore Cup by virtue of a 25-22 win over a tough Montreal squad last week.
“There are some similarities (from 2016), but they definitely have a few different wrinkles they’ve put in,” Harris said. “Some of the similar types of plays they run offensively and defensively, but little nuances that are slightly different.
“The familiarity is starting to be there,” he said. “Unknown opponents are always difficult to judge. Knowing that many of the Laval players are back especially along the lines, that’s something we’re aware of and our guys aren’t going into as big of an unknown. The confidence they gained, they were within minutes of a win and some mistakes by us and them taking advantage, they were able to capitalize and come out with the win.”
The key word, reiterated Schmidt, is finish.
“Finish every play, finish every quarter and finish the game. It’s a 60-minute game and we need to do our best.”