Rams come heartbreakingly close to knocking off favourite Rouge et Or in Mitchell Bowl

The upstart Regina Rams suffered a heart-breaking 17-14 loss to the heavily-favoured Laval Rouge et Or in USport's Mitchell Bowl.

The Rams, who finished fourth in the Canada West regular season, took a 14-10 lead on running back Marshall  Erichsen's 36-yard scamper to pay dirt with just 3:45 left in the game.

But the Rouge et Or offence, which had been kept in check the entire game, put together an 85-yard scoring drive in the final minutes.

It was capped off by Isaac Gaillardetz's five-yard TD pass from quarterback Arnaud Desjardins with just 1:19 left on the clock for the winning score.

"I don't really have words, just just proud of the guys," said a dejected Rams head coach Mark McConkey.

"It was a special year. We didn't want it to end today. We thought we could go one more week."

Laval returns to the Vanier Cup two years after winning the championship in 2022, and will play the Laurier Golden Hawks, who defeated the Bishop's Gaiters 48-24 earlier in the Uteck Bowl.

The Vanier Cup will take place on Saturday in Kingston, Ont., Nov. 23, available live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Gem at 1 p.m. ET.

Rams running back Christian Katende (38) runs the football against the Laval Rouge et Or during the first half of the Mitchell Bowl Saturday in Regina. (Heywood Yu/The Canadian Press)

Rams huge under-dogs

Regina came into the game not expected to give Laval much trouble.

But the Rams, who were just 3-5 in the regular season and had to beat Manitoba and Saskatchewan on the road to reach the Mitchell Bowl, gave the perennial contenders everything they could handle.

Time and again the Rams defence came up with huge plays to keep the game close late into the fourth quarter.

Rams defensive back Michael Jordan had an interception in the end zone and a fumble recovery inside the Rams 10-yard line to stop two second-half Laval drives.

And the Rouge et Or didn't do themselves any favours, racking up nine penalties for 105 yards.

The Rouge et Or had taken a 10-7 lead on a Felipe Forteza 32-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.

Rams quarterback Noah Pelletier, playing with an injured left shoulder, engineered a five-play, 75-yard drive capped by Erichsen's 36-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 14-10 lead, but they couldn't hold on in the waning moments of the game.

WATCH | Laval holds off Regina: 

"That was a great game and we went against a great team" said Pelletier, who completed 28 of 44 passes for 356 yards and one interception in a losing cause.

"There's definitely a couple places we would like to have back, but looking back on it, I mean, we're super proud to make it to this moment and be able to play such a great team."

Laval's Desjardins was 26 of 34 for 281 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

McConkey said despite the loss, this is a Cinderella season Rams players and coaches will remember forever.

"We were down, lost five straight [in the regular season]. Everyone's counting us out. And these guys, they came to work every day,: McConkey said. "They believed in each other and that's going to stick with them the rest of their life and that's something no one can take from them."

Pelletier said getting so close to the Vanier Cup is motivating, especially since the 2025 national final is being held in Regina.

"We stuck with them right till the end," Pelletier said.

"Hopefully we can continue on and take it a little bit further the next year. It would be amazing to play the Vanier here next year."

Defensive player of the game was Laval defensive lineman Jordan Lessard.

The offensive player of the game was Rouge et Or receiver Olivier Cool, who caught 11 passes for 147 yards and a TD.