QUEBEC CITY – The best passing season in Canadian university football history earned the ultimate individual prize Thursday.
University of Calgary quarterback
Adam Sinagra received the Hec Crighton Trophy as the nation's top university football player at the U SPORTS football awards gala Thursday night at Centre Videotron in Quebec City ahead of Saturday's Vanier Cup. Sinagra's teammate, receiver
Tyson Philpot, was honoured as the U SPORTS rookie of the year, while seven Dinos earned All-Canadian status after posting the program's fourth undefeated regular season.
Joining Sinagra on the first All-Canadian squad are second-year offensive lineman
Logan Bandy, sophomore defensive back
Deane Leonard, and placekicker
Niko DiFonte. Defensive lineman
Joel Van Pelt, linebacker
Boston Rowe, and receiver
Hunter Karl were named second team All-Canadians in 2018.
Sinagra's honour marks the sixth time a Dino has captured the Hec Crighton Trophy, following in the footsteps of program greats: quarterback Greg Vavra (1983), receiver Don Blair (1995), and quarterbacks Erik Glavic (2009) and
Andrew Buckley (2014, 2015). Philpot becomes the fifth University of Calgary player to take home the Peter Gorman Trophy as the nation's top rookie, an honour most recently won by pivot
Eric Dzwilewski in 2010.
The night's other major awards were dominated by the combatants in this weekend's national championship game, the Western Mustangs and the host Laval Rouge et Or. Western linebacker Fraser Sopik won the Presidents' Trophy as the top defensive player, while Mustangs defensive back Mackenzie Ferguson claimed the Russ Jackson Award for excellence in football, academics, and citizenship. Western's Greg Marshall is the U SPORTS coach of the year, while standout Laval defensive end Mathieu Betts was named the top lineman in U SPORTS for a record third straight year. Peter Regimbald of Concordia rounded out the award winners as the volunteer assistant coach of the year, selected by Football Canada.
HEC CRIGHTON TROPHY: ADAM SINAGRA, Quarterback
U SPORTS Player of the Year
After learning from CFL greats Dave Dickenson and Bo Levi Mitchell during his time in Calgary Stampeders camp this spring, Sinagra, a fourth-year arts student from Pointe Claire, Que., proceeded to have one of the best seasons in U SPORTS football history.
His 3,233 passing yards set a new U SPORTS record as he led the Dinos to a perfect 8-0 season and the most potent offence in the nation, averaging 570.9 yards per game. Sinagra ranked second in the nation in passing touchdowns this season with 23 and led the conference with a passer rating of 126.
After learning from the likes of former Hec Crighton-winning quarterbacks Erik Glavic (2007) and
Andrew Buckley (2014 and 2015) – who are now coaching with the Dinos – Sinagra has now joined his mentors as a Hec Crighton winner, marking the fifth consecutive season a CW player has taken home Canadian university's biggest individual prize.
"It's humbling, and it's a great honour," said Sinagra. "I couldn't haven't done it without the team, though, honestly – the quarterback position, you can't do it alone. You need all facets of the offence buying in and contributing. The whole team is a part of this.
"I was more comfortable this year and took more ownership, but I didn't really notice a huge difference from previous years. I just was able to make those extra few plays that I wasn't last year. We have such a good team around us, and it makes my job a lot easier."
"Adam's confidence level and his leadership have really emerged this season. It's something we didn't see a lot of in his first two years where he was more of a quiet leader. Now, he says the right things at the right time and shares the information with his receivers and line," says Dinos head coach
Wayne Harris Jr. "He learned what it's like to prepare as a professional – the way he watches film, makes notes in meetings on our systems and our opponents has significantly changed. Canada West has its share of fast guys, but it's nothing like the speed of the CFL and that experience really slowed things down for him and has helped with those reads and adjustments. Everything he has learned has helped him be a better quarterback."
PETER GORMAN TROPHY: TYSON PHILPOT, Wide Receiver
U SPORTS Rookie of the Year
A major aerial weapon this season for the Dinos, Calgary receiver
Tyson Philpot is the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year.
Philpot finished seventh in U SPORTS receiving yards with 741 and was a major deep threat for the Dinos. The Delta, B.C. product had an average target depth of 17.6 yards in 2018 and hauled in eight receptions of 30 yards or more.
Philpot posted plenty of explosive plays this season, including Week 2 when he burst onto the scene with a 107-yard touchdown reception against UBC – the longest catch in Dinos history.
Highly-touted as a recruit after being the 2017 B.C. high school player of the year, Philpot was the lone rookie named to the conference's all-star team this fall.
"It's a testament to how hard our team has worked this year," said Philpot, who joined the Dinos with twin brother Jalen prior to the 2018 season. "It's an individual award but it shows how hard all of our receivers worked. It's a great honour.
"It was a big jump from high school competition to university, but it was fun getting to work with a great receiving corps and Adam was so good at getting us blended into the offence."
"Tyson has been a great addition to our program. He has a great attitude and work ethic, and his skill set far exceeds the average freshman," says Harris Jr. "He has been able to learn our systems quickly, and has dedicated himself to being successful. He has made big catches, in big games, at big moments. He continues to work hard in practice and doesn't take anything for granted. He has been a great addition and a great teammate for everyone in the room."
ALL-CANADIANS
Offensive tackle
Logan Bandy joins Sinagra on the offensive side of the first All-Canadian team. The second-year kinesiology student out of Calgary's St. Francis High School started every game of the year at left tackle, anchoring a young offensive line and protecting Sinagra's blind side to earn Canada West all-star status before following in the tradition of so many Dinos greats with All-Canadian recognition.
Defensively, shutdown cornerback
Deane Leonard earned first team All-Canadian honours after an outstanding campaign in the defensive backfield. Often matched against the opposition's top weapons, teams just didn't throw his direction and he averaged fewer than two tackles per game as a result. A second-year Haskayne School of Business student from Calgary's Notre Dame High School and the son of former Calgary Stampeders star Kenton Leonard, Deane added two interceptions and a forced fumble on the season.
Third-year placekicker
Niko DiFonte led the nation in scoring in 2018 with 118 points, kicked a U SPORTS-leading 24 field goals on 28 attempts, and booted the longest field goal of the year across the country from 52 yards. The recordholder for the longest field goal in U SPORTS history at 59 yards, DiFonte tied the Canada West record and set a new school mark with seven three-pointers in the Dinos' final game of the regular season at Alberta. A graduate of Winnipeg's Oak Park High School, DiFonte is studying arts at the University of Calgary.
Fourth-year receiver
Hunter Karl leads a trio of Dinos on the second All-Canadian team. The Arts student out of Okotoks, Alta.'s Foothills Composite High School had a career season, finishing second in the nation with 937 receiving yards, third in yards per game with 117, and fourth in receiving touchdowns with six. Sinagra's go-to receiver, Karl finished the year third on the Dinos' all-time receptions list with 134 and second only to Don Blair in career receiving yards with 2,286.
A pair of fifth-year defensive players rounded out the Dinos' second team All-Canadian selections. Lineman
Joel Van Pelt was the Canada West nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy. The Lethbridge, Alta. product racked up nine tackles for loss in 2018, with six of those being sacks. Van Pelt played a key role for the Dinos defence, which finished first in the conference in terms of yards allowed, averaging 388 per game. And he got involved on the offence too, scoring a receiving touchdown.
Finally, linebacker
Boston Rowe wraps up his university career with national honours for the second straight season. A Calgary Stampeders selection in the 2018 CFL Draft, the St. Francis High School product returned to the Dinos for a fifth year where he led the Dinos with 35.5 tackles, chipping in a sack along with a pair of fumble return touchdowns to go with a receiving TD as well.
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