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For the second time in program history, the Lycoming College football team will get a taste of international football when it heads to Vanier College in Montreal, Quebec for a 2 p.m. exhibition game on Sunday at the college's turf field.
A live stream of the game will be available at: https://www.youtube.com/@VanierCheetahs/streams.
The game will be an unusual affair for the Warriors, as they will play in the primarily French-speaking city and outside the United States for just the second time in program history. The game will be played under Canadian football rules -- complete with a longer and wider field (110 by 65 yards to America's 100 by 52), deeper endzones (20 yards to America's 10), 12 players on each side of the ball, the allowing of any non-lineman to move before the ball is snapped and a point will be awarded each time a kicked ball goes out of the end zone.
Lycoming has made the trip with 65 players, having departed Thurs. The team will return to the United States following the game on Sunday afternoon.
The Warriors are coming off a 4-6 season, in which five of their games were decided by 14 points or less. The game will give a chance for junior Will Fish, senior Noah Vogeler and sophomore Vaughn Belford to audition for the open quarterback job after the graduation of five-year starter Elijah Shemory. Junior Brandon Timothy will lead the receiving corps after catching 30 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore Heath Jones, a Montoursville graduate, leads the rushing attack after posting 462 yards and two touchdowns in 2022.
Seniors Hunter Campbell and Austin Rowley lead the defense, as both are all-region safeties, while junior Jake Welch, a Central Mountain graduate, will pace the team at the line after posting 63 tackles as a sophomore.
Competing in the RSEQ's College Football Division 1, Vanier posted a 5-4 record during the 2022 campaign, reaching the provincial quarterfinals before falling to Notre Dame-de-Foy, 31-17.
The Cheetahs were led by receiver Mamadou Ba, who posted 28 receptions for 480 yards and six touchdowns. Nathan Essomba-Alex posted 58.5 tackles and eight pass breakups and Michael Aoun notched 48.5 tackles, four sacks and 10 tackles for loss to lead the defense.