Panthers perfect as they roll to undefeated regular season, at 8 wins, no losses

But as much as they openly expressed their belief in the Panthers' ability and desire to come all the way back from the rather formidable deficit, there must have been a twinge of doubt in some of the adults who had guided the team to wins in the first seven games of the regular season.

Asked, just after the second half was underway, whether the boys had it in them to mount an attack good enough to snatch victory out of the jaws of apparent defeat, Tom Mouhteros gave a philosophical answer, stating "They certainly have the talent and the willingness, but do they have enough left in the tank to pull out a win, I think they do, but it's up to them isn't it?" Then, with a twinkle in his eye and a wink that suggested, 'just watch them go', the man who was a major factor in the revival of English high school football in Laval (and a member of the Chomedey High School Chiefs of the 1970s), turned away smiling.

And that, really became the recurring theme of the second half, as the Panthers put plenty of smiles on the faces of their coaches, their families, their friends, their teachers, and their fans as they engineered a stirring comeback, scoring 35 unanswered points to walk away with their eighth straight win, making history in the process as they suffered no losses.

Holding his young son, Antoine Louis Roy-Alexandre in his arms as the toddler's mother Andreanne Roy looked on, the coach, who has played professionally in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger Cats, appeared quite restrained in his enthusiasm. "It's not over yet, we still have to win two more games before we can truly call ourselves champions, but I'm really proud of these boys who could have given up but didn't, the sign of a true winner," said the man who is into his second season at the helm of the Panthers, and is also an assistant coach with the Cegep Vieux Montreéal Spartiates.

And winners the Panthers turned out to be, at least in regular-season action, thanks in large part to what the coach called a 'total team effort' spiced up by some great individual feats that finished off the 'Empereurs' de Collège Letendre.

"Near the end of the third quarter, they decided to play at their best and they executed the way they had all season long," said the coach, adding that when a good team plays at its peak, it usually wins, an impression confirmed by the 7-0 record the Panthers brought into this final game, before making it a perfect season at 8-0 with their late comeback against Letendre.

Grant scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, giving his team the lead (20-18) for the first time, after running back Stanislas Marino had pulled the Panthers within a touchdown with a score of his own early in the fourth quarter. It helped that the Panthers special teams recovered a couple of short kickoffs and the defense forced turnovers, all of which allowed them to control the ball for most of the fourth quarter.

Running back Stathi Papadopoulos took the ball into the end zone for the last two Panther touchdowns, but the second effort cost him dearly as he was taken to hospital with a knee injury that puts an end to his season. "The boys will have to regroup," coach Alexandre suggested, adding that the Panthers have an able replacement for Papadopoulos in Theodore Bekelis, who the coach cited as having played an outstanding game on defense in the Panther win against Letendre. The coach also cited the stellar defensive effort of linebacker Nicholas Sfetsios as a major factor in the Panther comeback.

Jimmy Mouhteros capped off the win with a two-point conversion, taking the ball across the line on an improvised run, following a broken play on the attempted try at kicking the extra point after the fifth and final touchdown.

Nicolas Radoros scored two of the three Letendre touchdowns, with the third coming from Marc-Antoine Thiboudeau. The 'Empereurs', despite several injured players who missed the game, led 18-0 at the half.