CIS football record watch #3: Heather shooting for Finch’s week-old passing record

Photo credit Andrew Dobrowolskyj

OTTAWA (CIS) – Bishop’s quarterback Jordan Heather will have a chance to break a prestigious CIS football record Saturday afternoon when the Gaiters host McGill in their regular season finale, a mark that has stood for... less than a week.

The fifth-year senior from Oromocto, N.B., goes into Bishop’s eighth and final RSEQ contest with 2,648 passing yards on the season, already a school record. He needs 92 more to shatter the Quebec conference mark of 2,739 set in 2009 by Concordia’s Rob Mackay and, more importantly, an even 400 to surpass the new CIS standard of 3,047 established last Saturday by Western’s Will Finch.

Finch, a sophomore from Burlington, Ont., wrapped up his OUA regular campaign last weekend with a 547-yard performance to move past Michael Faulds, also of Western, who had racked up 3,033 yards through the air in 2009.

Heather, whose average of 378.3 yards per game this fall ranks second in the country behind Finch’s 380.9, has reached the 400-yard plateau in each of his last three outings, including a personal-best 538 against Laval (Sept. 28), 438 versus McGill (Oct. 4) and 465 against Concordia last Saturday.

With 173 completions entering tomorrow’s game, the veteran pivot also has an outside shot at the CIS season record in that category (209, Matt Connell, McGill, 2008). Heather completed a career-best 38 passes last month as part of his remarkable effort against Laval.

Thanks in large part to Heather’s exceptional play, the Gaiters could become the first team in CIS history to have four players finish the campaign with at least 500 receiving yards. Alexander Fox (753) and Stephen Adekolu (505) have already accomplished the feat, while Geoff Coventry (434) and Yaata Nyantakyi (433) are within striking distance. 

Meanwhile in the Canada West conference, Calgary running back Mercer Timmis could also enter the record book when the Dinos close out league play at home against UBC, on Friday night.

The sophomore from Burlington leads CIS this fall with a whopping 18 all-purpose touchdowns and 17 rushing majors, both single-season Canada West records. While the CIS all-purpose mark of 25 seems out of reach, Timmis has a realistic shot at the national record of 21 rushing TDs co-owned by StFX’s Paul Brule (1967) and McMaster’s Jesse Lumsden (2004).

Timmis has already rushed for four or more scores in a game twice in his young university career, running across the goal line five times in a contest against Manitoba in 2012 and four times versus Alberta a month ago (Sept. 28). 

Other players to keep an eye on this weekend as conference action comes to an end in CIS football include:

Rob Jubenville (Saint Mary’s), Jesse St. James (Acadia), Martin Pesek (Acadia): Jubenville and St. James enter their league finale with nine quarterback sacks apiece, while Pesek is not far behind with eight. The single-season CIS mark of 12.5 was set a year ago by McMaster’s Ben D’Aguilar and Montreal Jean-Samuel Blanc, while Karim Grant of Acadia holds the AUS record with 11.0 sacks in 2001. Saint Mary’s closes out its AUS schedule at StFX on Saturday, while Acadia visits Mount Allison.

Guillaume Rioux (Laval): Going into his final conference game, Saturday against Montreal, Rioux ranks fifth in CIS history with 1,983 punt return yards. The fifth-year senior should become only the fifth CIS player to reach the 2,000-yard plateau and needs 89 more to move into fourth place on the all-time list.

NOTE: In addition to Finch, Western kicker Lirim Hajrullahu (422 career points) and Waterloo receiver Nick Anapolsky (74 catches in a season) set CIS records last Saturday.

CIS FOOTBALL RECORD BOOK

CIS SINGLE-SEASON LEADERS:

Passing yards
3047 Will Finch, Western (2013)
3033 Michael Faulds, Western (2009)
3001  Tommy Denison, Queen’s (2002)
2907 Tommy Denison, Queen’s (2003)
2823  Greg Vavra, Calgary (1983)

2648  Jordan Heather, Bishop’s (2013)

Passing completions
209 Matt Connell, McGill (2008)
204 Jérémi Roch, Sherbrooke (2012)
203  Tommy Denison, Queen’s (2003)
201 Michael Faulds, Western (2009)
201 Rob Mackay, Concordia  (2009)

173 Jordan Heather, Bishop’s (2013)

All-purpose touchdowns
25 Paul Brule, StFX (1967)
21 Jesse Lumsden, McMaster (2004)
20 Paul Brule, StFX (1966) 
20  Kojo Aidoo, McMaster (2000)
20 Jesse Lumsden, McMaster (2003)
18 Mercer Timmis, Calgary (2013)

Rushing touchdowns
21 Paul Brule, StFX (1967)
21 Jesse Lumsden, McMaster (2004)
20 Paul Brule, StFX (1966) 
20  Kojo Aidoo, McMaster (2000)
17 Mercer Timmis, Calgary (2013)

Quarterback sacks
12.5 Ben D’Aguilar, McMaster (2012)
12.5 Jean-Samuel Blanc, Montreal (2012)
12.0 Leroy Blugh, Bishop’s (1988)
12.0 Jim Aru, Queen’s (1996)

9.0 Rob Jubenville, Saint Mary’s (2013)
9.0 Jesse St. James, Acadia (2013)
8.0 Martin Pesek, Acadia (2013)

CIS CAREER LEADERS:

Punt return yards
2517  Chris Evraire, Ottawa (1994-98)
2279  Eric Duchene, Saskatchewan (1999-03)
2166 Jahmeek Taylor, Saint Mary’s (2008-12)
2071 Dillon Heap, Laurier (2005 / 2008-11)
1983 Guillaume Rioux, Laval  (2009-)

WEEK 10 SCHEDULE (all times local)

October 25

18:00   UBC (4-3) at No. 3 Calgary (7-0) (video webcast)

October 26

13:00   OUA quarter-final: Ottawa (5-3) at No. 8 McMaster (5-3) (Sportsnet  East, Ontario and Pacific)

13:00   No. 2 Laval (7-0) at No. 6 Montreal (5-2) (Radio-Canada TV & video webcast)

13:00   McGill (3-4) at No. 7 Bishop’s (5-2) (video webcast)

13:00   No. 10 Saskatchewan (4-3) at Regina (2-5) (SHAW TV & video webcast)

14:00   Saint Mary’s (4-3) at StFX (3-4) (Eastlink TV & video webcast)

14:00   Acadia (3-4) at Mount Allison (3-4) (video webcast)

16:00   Concordia (0-7) at Sherbrooke (2-5)

17:00   No. 9 Manitoba (4-3) at Alberta (0-7) (video webcast)

20:00   OUA quarter-final: Windsor (4-4) at No. 5 Guelph (7-1) (video webcast)

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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