Sure, the Laval Rouge et Or have only been suiting up for 17 seasons, but it’s inarguably the greatest 17-year run in CIS football history. Those 17 years have translated into 11 conference championships and an all-time CIS record seven Vanier Cups, bettering the totals of teams playing since the pre-helmet era.
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Oh, and it’s also translated into the following five incredible moments:
1. Sept. 29, 1996: Less than a month into the program’s history the Rouge et Or win their first CIS game, a 10–2 stifling of the McGill Redmen, foreshadowing the many years of stout defensive play ahead.
2. Nov. 27, 1999: Led by second-year QB Mathieu Bertrand, Laval lays claim to its first championship with a 14–10 win over the St. Mary’s Huskies in Toronto. Laval concludes the year with an overall record of 10-2.
3. Nov. 25, 2006: With a freezing temperature of minus-20 degrees Celsius, the Rouge et Or take their fourth national title in eight years by defeating the host Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon by a score of 13–8. Laval avenged a 29–27 loss in the Mitchell Bowl against the same Huskies in the same stadium a year earlier, which prevented them from becoming the first team to win three consecutive Vanier Cups.
4. Nov. 22, 2008: The Rouge et Or win a fifth Vanier Cup by beating the Western Mustangs 44–21 in Hamilton. Laval became only the third team to finish a season with a perfect 12-0 record, after Wilfrid Laurier in 2005 and Manitoba in 2007. Fourth-year QB Benoit Groulx also became the first and only Laval player to win the Hec Crighton Trophy.
5. Nov. 23, 2012: Facing McMaster in the Vanier Cup for the second year in a row, Laval wins its CIS-record seventh national title 37–14 in Toronto. Laval’s golden boys also established two single-game Vanier records: 373 rushing yards and seven QB sacks.
What did we miss? Fill in your favourite Laval football moments in the comments section below.