Mitchell Bowl preview

A win Saturday in the Mitchell Bowl and the maroon will advance to their 3rd Vanier Cup championship game in 4 years. The Marauders, who are 9-1 on the season, host the Atlantic Conference champion, the 9-0 Mount Allison Mounties Saturday afternoon at Ron Joyce Stadium.

Mount Allison has an undefeated record and may be is ranked 6th in the CIS, but they did not face a single opponent who finished among the top ten in the country. That said, head coach Kelly Jeffery believes the Mounties should not be overlooked: “When you watch another team and you see maybe they’re not the most talented team, but they can win games, smart, hang on to the ball, you get a lot of respect for that.”

While Stefan Ptaszek respects the Mounties’ program, he believes his team had a tougher challenge getting to the Mitchell Bowl: “Putting up with Western’s line of scrimmage. Ottawa’s vertical pass game. Guelph’s special teams, if you get out of Ontario, you’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations and very prepared for whatever the country offers you.”

Here’s what you need to know about Mount Allison: They never allowed a single rushing touchdown all season. Running Back Chris Reid is 3rd in the CIS with an average of 123 yards per game. And they lead the CIS with 13 fumble recoveries, are second in sacks with 27, and fourth in interceptions with 14.

McMaster has a pretty dangerous defense of their own. But offensively, quarterback Marshall Ferguson says he’s yet to play his best game: “I don’t think I’ve played very well lately. We’ve cruised on the back of our defense and special teams. It’s time for us to play as an offense completely. I want to play well for the guys.”

He’ll get his chance Saturday at 4 pm.