New faces to faceoff for berth in Vanier Cup

Powerhouses Laval and Western have been mainstays in the U Sports football final four in recent years. Both are now watching from the outside.

Instead, Acadia will host Montreal in the Loney Bowl and McMaster will visit Calgary in the Mitchell Bowl today. The Laval Rouge et Or and UWO Mustangs, who split Vanier Cup meetings the last two years, were eliminated last weekend.

The results from the conference finals created a new-look final four without a clear favourite.

“It should be some good semifinal games and we’ll see where we get to,” said Marauders head coach Stefan Ptaszek. “Parity in the country is seemingly moving in the right direction.”

The winners of today’s games will meet Nov. 23 in the Vanier Cup in Quebec City. It’s the first time since 1998 the previous year’s conference champions were all shut out of the national semifinals.

The Carabins, Laval’s only real threat in the fiveteam Quebec conference, delivered an impressive 25-10 road win last week over the Rouge et Or. Western was unbeaten in the deeper 11-team Ontario conference until dropping a 29-15 decision to the visiting Marauders.

Calgary and Acadia, meanwhile, are both coming off routs. The Dinos dumped the Saskatchewan Huskies 29-4 and Acadia whipped Bishop’s 31-1.

In Calgary, comfortable, mostly sunny conditions are expected at McMahon Stadium. The Marauders are making their first appearance in the final four since 2014 while the Dinos are returning after a oneyear break.

“They can hit you in a bunch of different ways, said Calgary head coach Wayne Harris. “You’ve got to be able to defend a balanced attack, that’s a big part of the game. I’m sure that’s why they’re in the same position as us. They’ve got some similarities there.”

Adam Sinagra, who won the Hec Crighton Trophy last year, split quarterbacking duties with Josiah Joseph in the Dinos’ win last weekend.

CBC, which provides web-only coverage today, has returned as the English-language broadcaster for the Vanier Cup for the first time since 1979.

Cummins and Carabins assistant coach Anthony Calvillo were teammates on the Las Vegas Posse in 1994, the team’s lone CFL season.

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