Collège Mer Bleue burst on to the high school football scene last week with a win over perennial powerhouse St. Peter High School in their first ever game.

Led by quarterback Vincent Anderson, who scored the school’s first ever touchdown on the team’s opening drive of the game, Mer Bleue looked and played like a team that wanted to send a message to the rest of the league – “We’re here and we’re ready to compete.”

St. Peter was able to answer back with a touchdown on their opening series of the game that was set by a 60-yard kick return by Garlency Riviere.

Knights quarterback Kusa Fiji delivered the scoring blow on a 20-yard run through the middle of the Mer Bleue defence.

The game stayed tied at 7-7 until midway through the third quarter when a botched punt ricocheted off the back of a Mer Bleue player’s helmet and gave St. Peter a first down on Mer Bleue’s six-yard line.

A sack for a loss of 10 yards and an incomplete pass left the Knights with a third and goal from the 16. A second incomplete pass should have led to a change of possession, but an unnecessary roughing penalty called against Mer Bleue for a late hit gave the Knights a new set of downs on the one yard line.

St. Peter made the most of the gaff by scoring their second touchdown of the game just two plays later to take a 13-7 lead.

Mer Bleue responded immediately with an impressive drive that included a spectac-ular one-handed catch by Bryden Tandou deep in Knights territory.

Anderson and Tandou would hook up again on a nine yard pass in the end zone to even the score at 13-13.

Mer Bleue would eventually take the lead early in the fourth quarter on a one yard run by Gavin Poirier that was set up by a 24-yard pass from Anderson to Tandou

A successful two-point convert run by Poirier would give Mer Bleue a 21-13 lead.

The Knights would get a chance to potentially tie the game inside the final
three minutes, but a dropped pass in the end zone on third down nullified the threat and gave Mer Bleue the chance to run out the clock after the change of possession.

But instead of running out the clock, they took a huge gamble by going for it on third down deep in their end of the field. The gamble backfired when the Knight stopped Mer Bleue and took over possession of the ball on the 22 yard line.

Two plays later, Fiji found Tandou in the end zone to narrow the score to 21-19. All they had to do was complete a two-point conversion to tie the game.

When Fiji connected with a wide open Stephen Blais just inside the goal line it looked as though they had accomplished just that. Unfortunately, the Knights were called for having an illegal man down field and the two point convert was waived off, giving Mer Bleue the historic win.

When the final whistle blew, the Mer Bleue sideline erupted in pandemonium as what they had just accomplished sunk in.

For Anderson, who had a stellar game, it was one of the biggest wins of his football journey that has already included some big wins with the Cumberland Panthers.

“For my first high school game it was very interesting. It was back and forth but our guys, many of whom have never played football before, just played all out and gave 100 per cent,” Anderson said after the game. “Our goal now is to go for the city championship and put Mer Bleue on the map.”

Mer Bleu wouldn’t even have a football team without the effort of head coach and phys-ed teacher Jean Guillaume, who moved to Collége Mer Bleue at the beginning of last year after spending several years at St. Matthew High School where he led the football team to the city championship and a win in the 2016 Metro Bowl.

Coach Guillaume’s mission at Mer Bleue is to create a culture of excellence among his players both on and off the field.

“At the end of the day that is what coaching is all about, to help your players reach their full potential and to generate great young men in the community,” says Guillaume.

Mer Bleue’s schedule this season includes a game against Franco-Cité on Oct. 16 that is being billed as the Franco Bowl.

The St. Peter Knights, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back from their loss when they face Franco Cité on Sept. 26.

The Knights schedule also includes a renewal of the battle of the saints when they take on the St. Matthew Tigers at Millennium Park on Oct. 9.