Ti-Cats close out regular campaign with a party

Pointe St. Charles 46 | Verdun 6

By Mark Lidbetter

While the mosquito AAA Verdun Ti-Cats put the finishing touches on their game plan for the final match of the regular season, Annie Blanchard of the Verdun Minor Football Association was busy putting the final touches on a celebration of football for the mosquitoes to enjoy on Sunday morning at Verdun’s Arthur Therrien park. Stands filled with fans, members of the Montreal Alouette cheerleaders and post-game ceremonies made the air electric and entertaining for the players.

“I felt the team deserved something special to recognize their hard work this year,” Annie Blanchard. “

The Ti-Cats hosted the Point St. Charles Aces, with the visitors taking away a 46-6 win over Verdun but the story wasn’t about the loss, the story was about the perseverance of the Ti-Cats through a bumpy season where 16 athletes gave it their all every game.

ETS Polytechnique provided plenty of fans, including a shirtless group spelling out Ti-Cats on their bare backs, adding enthusiasm to augment the usual support of the friends and families in attendance. Teams from the engineering games, the commerce games, the concrete canoe team and the photo club Les Reflets kept the noise levels up.

On the field, the Aces built a commanding lead but there was no quit in the Cats, even with the final minute slipping away, Jeffrey D’Amour-Pigeon picked off a Hunter Devaney pass to return the ball to Verdun’s possession.

Emile Ndombasi and Marc-Deneault Gabriel propelled the Aces with a trio of TD’s each.

Verdun’s Mathieu Ferland hooked-up with Cats’ QB Olivier Quon for a 42-yard pass and run major for the Ti-Cats only tally of the day.

To commemorate the match the concrete canoe team made a trophy for each squad to take away as a souvenir.

The Montreal Alouettes sent along two pairs of tickets for The Suburban to present to their picks for offensive and defensive players of the game from the Ti-Cats. On offence Blake Benjamin was the recipient.

“Today was awesome, so much fun with all the fans cheering,” Benjamin said.

On defence Jose-Luis Castro earned the tickets. “I love playing football for the team work, everyone playing together,” Castro said.

With the event ending, Annie Blanchard shook her head in amazement. “This was so overwhelming,” Blanchard said. “I wish every game could be (atmosphere) like this because the players deserve it.”