Montreal Carabins QB Jonathan Senecal became the programs first Hec Crighton Trophy winner at the 2023 USports Award ceremony Thursday. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in Canadian University football.
The 24 year old threw for 2,215 yards with 15 TDs and 4 INT’s while completing 69.6% of his passes to lead the RSEQ in passing. The business administration student also added six scores on the ground, with none of them coming via quarterback sneak. Senecal’s play under centre helped guide Montreal to a 7-1 record and a national championship appearance vs. UBC in the Vanier Cup this weekend.
Montreal’s star QB beat out fellow nominees Silas Fagnan (StFX), Taylor Elgersma (Laurier), Matthew Peterson (Alberta) for the award.
“It’s a great honour,” Senecal said. “I don’t really care about awards, I’m not going to lie … but it is the first in Carabins history and I’m very happy about that…I’m very happy to get this award, it means I’m doing something great. We’ll just have to prove Saturday that we’re the best team.”
Senecal was amongst 8 Carabins named to the All-Canadian first team alongside guard Alassane Diouf, defensive tackle Christopher Fontenard, defensive end Jeremiah Ojo, defensive back Bruno Lagace, cornerback Kaylyn St- Cyr and Charles-Elliot Boulianne.
The standout signal caller’s on field play has also caught the attention of several CFL executives, including that of crosstown GM Danny Maciocia of the Alouettes.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he plays in the CFL one day. He’s a quality football player. He’s still got a couple of more years left. He’s got a big game coming up this week,” Maciocia said.
When asked what he still needs to work on if Senecal hopes to one day make the jump to the professional ranks the Als GM quipped “He needs to keep developing, progressing, and making quicker decisions.”
Montreal and UBC will meet in the 58th edition of the Vanier Cup at 1pm ET Saturday.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Double Blue. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.