Photos courtesy of Louis Christ (Andreychuck and Gary Ahuja (McCarty)

When comparing the two starting quarterbacks in the 2014 Canadian Bowl its like comparing apples to oranges.

Jared Andreychuck of the Saskatoon Hilltops is extremely mobile and isn’t shy to use his feet to extend a play or a drive.  Once again this season the Hilltops are made to run the ball, which no doubt works in the favour of Andreychuck.  They use the running attack to set up the passing game which has almost worked to perfection.

During the regular season he rushed 42 times for 342 yards, collecting an average of 8.1 yards a carry.  He was the Hilltops second leading rusher and the PFC’s fifth.  However in the playoffs he’s only taken off twice for 22 yards. 

November 8th will be Andreychuck’s second Canadian Bowl in three years.  In 2012 he was the back up to Matt Karpinka, but did see action.  As a matter of fact he rushed six times that afternoon for 47 yards and scored the Hilltops first touchdown.  He was four of 11 for 69 yards and threw an interception.

In 2014 the Saskatoon native, now his first full year as the starter, completed 99 of 201 passes for 1,624 yards and threw 11 touchdowns over the course of the regular season. Comparing his numbers to other starting QBs in the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) his stats are just okay.  His completion percentage is the lowest of any starter in the PFC at 49.3% and his 99 completions are fifth most.  All that said his passer efficiency rating was the second highest at 84.7%.

Here is the post season Andreychuck has been terrific completing 62% of his passes, completing 31 of 50 for 539 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Langley Rams will have to be aware of Andreychuck’s ability to scramble if they can close the pocket.    In the Cullen Cup the Rams did a great job containing Okanagan Sun quarterback Cam Bedore who likes to move around to buy more time for receivers, sacking him twice.  The difference with Andreychuck is the Hilltops have designed running plays for him in all kinds of different situations.

On the other side of the field, Jordan McCarty of the Rams is a pocket passer with a quick drop back, looking for his targets quickly.

In the two BCFC playoff games McCarty has been behind the centre in the I formation and takes a quick three step drop more often than not.  He has completed 22 of 43 passes for 462 yards, completing 51% of his passes and three touchdowns.

The Vancouver native took over the starting role on September 6th in Week 7 of the BCFC season after starter Dylan Tucker was injured.  McCarty has been great since taking over.

In four and a half games of the regular season the 22 year old completed 62 of 118 passes for 1,021 yards and threw 10 touchdowns.  His completion percentage was third highest among BCFC starters at 52.5% and had the second highest passer efficiency rating of 89%.

The main difference between McCarty and Andreycheck is their mobility.  In his four and a half regular season games, McCarty ran once for three yards.  In playoffs he has also ran just once for a one yard touchdown plunge.

The Hilltops defense will no doubt focus on the combination of Malcolm Williams and Dan English, maybe the best 1-2 combination in junior football.   In the post season these two receivers have accounted for 13 receptions for 340 yards and two majors.

Two styles of quarterbacks will take to the field at the Canadian Bowl on November 8th, their only similarity is the fact they win football games.

McCarty is 3-0 as a starter while Andreychuck is on a seven game winning streak and hasn’t lost since September 6…oddly enough the same date McCarty became the Rams starter.

The 2014 Canadian Bowl kicks off Saturday November 8 at 1:00pm at McLeod Stadium in Langley.