Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell short in their quest for the 2025 Vanier Cup.
In the U Sports national football championship played inside Regina’s Mosaic Stadium in front of 8,896 spectators on Saturday, the Huskies lost 30-16 to the Montreal Carabins in the 60th edition of the championship. The loss is Saskatchewan’s seventh straight defeat in their last seven Vanier Cup appearances dating back to 2002. The Huskies last won in 1998, which was their third title in the decade.
“My immediate thoughts obviously go to the fifth-year athletes,” Huskies head coach Scott Flory said after the game. “It’s the hard part about college football. There’s a time clock on it, and those guys don’t get to play college football again. They’ve got great careers ahead of them, but my thoughts immediately go to that.
“(Montreal’s) a good football team, and they just made more plays than us in the end, and that’s just kind of the way it goes sometimes.
“So proud of our guys. We fought, we didn’t quit, we just kept playing. Just came up short today.”
“I’m really grateful for how many games I got to play with this group,” added fifth-year linebacker Seth Hundeby. “I’m super happy that we fought to the bitter end.
“It’s a tough one.”
Making their third trip to the national championship in the last five years, with losses coming in 2022 and 2021, the Huskies kept it close on Saturday but couldn’t top the Carabins, who won for the second time in three years.
After Hec Crighton Trophy winner Jonathan Senecal led the Carabins to the title in 2023, it was first-year quarterback and U Sports rookie of the year Pepe Gonzalez guiding the team this season as he threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
“We knew what kind of team we had in the training camp,” said Gonzalez .”We knew if everybody was on the same page and we worked hard, we could be on this stage right now.”
“We were hoping he’d have his best game in the season today, and I actually think he did,” added Carabins head coach Marco Iadeluca. “The kid’s been outstanding. He’s got ice in his veins. Our defence is our DNA, and we shut them down in the second half to help us get a little bit of rhythm there.
“I’m extremely proud of this group. A lot of people counted us out this year, because we lost our quarterback, obviously Hec Crighton winner, but we knew what we were about. We knew what we had in the locker room, and I think these guys had a chip on your shoulder.
“They wanted to prove that we were a team and not just a few individuals.”
As for how 2025 edition of the Vanier Cup played out, which was being played for the first time ever in Regina and just second time in the province in its history, after the Carabins opened up a 4-0 lead following an opening kickoff rouge and a field goal, the Huskies got on the board later in the first quarter as Lukas Scott nailed a 20-yard field goal to make it 4-3.
In the second quarter, the Carabins extended their lead to 11-3 on a highlight-reel 41-yard touchdown catch by receiver Brandon Gourgon from the arm of Gonzalez.
The Huskies responded with an efficient touchdown drive of their own as quarterback Jake Farrell marched the squad down to the Montreal four-yard line before running back Ryker Frank powered into the end zone to tie the game 11-11 after the convert and rouge on the ensuing kickoff.
The Carabins added a rouge and a field goal as the first half expired to take a 15-11 lead into the break.
In the second half, Farrell connected with Liam Piccinin for a 46-yard gain before Scott made a 32-yard field goal to make it 15-14.
After the Carabins added another rouge, Gonzalez then threw his second touchdown pass of the day as he found Hassane Dosso for a 32-yard major to put Montreal up 23-14 after the third quarter.
The Carabins conceded a safety in the fourth quarter to make it 23-16 but they got those points right back and more as Gonzalez marched down the field before tossing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Simon Larose to put Montreal up 30-16 with 2:22 to go.
As the Huskies tried to mount a late comeback, Farrell was sacked on third down resulting in a turnover on downs with 1:14 to go. Saskatchewan got the ball back with less than 30 seconds to go but the drive once again resulted in a turnover on downs as Montreal was able to get the ball back with 16 seconds left to seal the victory.
