Photo courtesy of Bob Davies

Sault Ste. Marie Cougars @ St. Clair Saints – Saturday October 11, 1:00pm – Acumen Stadium | WATCH HERE

The defending champion Saints open the playoffs when they host the fourth seeded Cougars who are making their postseason debut in their inaugural season.  They met just once during the regular season with the Saints winning 66-25 at Sault Ste. Marie on September 13th.

For the second straight year the Saints completed an undefeated regular season and rolled through the Conference dominating teams.  Their closest margin of victory was an eye-popping 35 points.  Their lone meeting with the Cougars turned into a blowout with 609 total offensive yards scoring 31-points in the third quarter to pull away for good in their 41-point victory.

This team can beat their opponents in several different ways.  On the offensive side they averaged over 66 points led by quarterback Matthew Guenette who set a new Ontario Conference record with 35 passing touchdowns, four of which came against the Cougars.  He has a plethora of receivers to throw to but his favourite two are Cameron St. Kitts-Park and Marselio Mendez, combining for 86 receptions, 1371 yards and 20 touchdowns.  They torched the Cougars secondary last month for 184 yards and a major.

If the Cougars can find a way to slow the passing game the Saints have no issues handing the ball to MJ Doyle-Marshall who can chew up yards behind a massive offensive line.  This season he rushed 640 yards and scored a Conference high nine touchdowns.

Defensively the Saints are loaded with talent led by Jaylin Burnett who led the Conference with 11 sacks, two of which came against the Cougars.   Whether its Burnett or Chris Rivero on the line, Carl Fabre or Mo Ibraheem at the linebacker position or Brandon Vecchio or Tylin Davis in the secondary, this Saints defence does not give up much and can shutdown the opposition from moving the ball.

The Cougars know this and will no doubt try and methodically move the ball by using quick developing plays and a good balance of run and pass if they can find time.  Their bread and butter this year has been the running attack led by Sam Mustapha and his Conference leading 854 yards, averaging over 11 yards a carry and he scored eight touchdowns.   He didn’t play against the Saints in their only meeting which could become a factor.  Their quarterback Grayson Weber did throw for 256 yards and a touchdown last month which will give them confidence to throw early on, but establishing their run game is paramount.

Defensively they did give up 24 points a game and will need to lock that down for any hope of beating the Saints.  Their secondary will need to do a much better job this Saturday then they did against the Saints last month when Guenette threw for 403 yards and four majors.  Daikaden Gauthier leads the Cougars with two interceptions this season, one of them against Guenette and will need to play his best game of the season   Their front seven will need to get pressure on the Saints or it could be a long game for their defence. 

The winner of this semi-final advances to the Conference Teddy Morris championship game next weekend and will face the winner of the other semi between the London Beefeaters and Hamilton Hurricanes.

Head-to-Head

Records: Cougars 4-4 – Saints 8-0
Avg Points For: Cougars 37.5 – Saints 66.2
Avg Points Allowed: Cougars 24 - Saints 9.7

Passing Leaders: Grayson Weber – 58 of 121 for 775 yards and 5 touchdowns (Cougars) – Matthew Guenette – 145 of 191 for 2299 yards and 35 touchdowns (Saints)

Rushing Leaders: Sam Mustapha – 76 carries for 854 yards and 8 touchdowns (Cougars) - MJ Doyle-Marshall – 82 carries for 640 yards and 9 touchdowns (Saints)

Receiving Leaders: Jaidan Trudeau – 31 receptions for 411 yards and 2 touchdowns (Cougars) – Cameron St. Kitts-Park – 56 receptions for 760 yards and 9 touchdowns (Saints)

Leading Tacklers: Grant Mathewson – 26 tackles (Cougars) – Jaylin Burnett – 28 tackles (Saints)