|
Ameet Pall |
Vanier's
Pall strikes terror into opposition QBs
Small defensive end set season sack mark
By
Arpon Basu, Freelance / Published: Montreal Gazette
As Pierrefonds native
Ameet Pall began his assault this year on Quebec's collegiate
Triple-A football league single-season sack record, he was blissfully
unaware there was even a record for him to chase.
|
|
But that didn't stop
the standout defensive end for the Bol d'Or champion Vanier College
Cheetahs from setting a record with 14 sacks in 10 regular-season
games, breaking the mark of 12 set by three players, including
current Canadian Football League players Miguel Robede and Alain
Kashama.
Pall's efforts earned
him the league defensive MVP award, and the frightening thing
for opposing coaches is that he'll be back hunting quarterbacks
for Vanier again next year.
"At
the beginning, I had no idea they even kept records like that,"
said Pall, 19. "I really couldn't have asked for a better
season.
Pall's success at the defensive-
end position flies in the face of conventional football wisdom.
At 6 feet and 230 pounds, he has a linebacker's build, but Pall's
tremendous quickness allows him to beat bigger offensive linemen
to the outside. He draws his inspiration from Indianapolis Colts
All-Pro defensive-end Dwight Freeney, who stands a modest 6-foot-1,
but still manages to dominate with his speed.
|
Ameet
Pall draws a bead on Beauce quarterback James Goulet. |
|
Ameet
holds the Bol d'Or that he played
such a large role in helping bring to Vanier
|
"He paved the
way for us little guys," Pall said. "I like causing
havoc in the backfield. As soon as that ball hikes, I just unleash."
Vanier head coach
Peter Chryssomalis said Pall's burst off the snap is what sets
him apart.
"I've coached
a lot of years at both the university and college levels, and
I've never seen a guy get off the ball as quick as Ameet,"
Chryssomalis said. "He has a motor and he just goes and
goes."
That motor was running
on all cylinders in the second half of Vanier's 14-0 victory
over Champlain-Lennoxville in the Bol D'Or final, as Pall had
21/2 sacks. On one series, he single-handedly stuffed the Champlain
offence three times in a row to force a punt.
|
|
Pall is a lock to set
a record for career sacks next season, as he sits three short
of Robede's mark of 23. But he will probably need an even better
performance if he wants to receive interest as a defensive end
from American college coaches.
Both Robede (6-foot-4)
and Kashama (6-foot-5) parlayed their record seasons into scholarships
at the universities of Miami and Michigan, respectively, although
Robede eventually played for the Laval Rouge et Or. Even though
Pall may have a better shot at a U.S. scholarship by switching
to linebacker, he's determined to prove he can play on the line
with the big boys.
|
Ameet
(right) with his Bol d'Or Defensive Player of the Game Award
next to QB Liam Mahoney (left), the Offensive Player of the
Game.
|
"If I see I really can't
play defensive end anymore, then maybe I'll try switching positions,
but if I train hard, I know I can play defensive end anywhere,"
Pall said. "I've had a lot of coaches already tell me I'm too short,
but guess what? I'm still doing my thing."
And he's doing it better
than anyone in Quebec CEGEP football history.
© The Gazette (Montreal)
2006
Ameet
celebrates
the Bol d'Or championship after the completion of the game.
MORE
VANIER STUDENTS IN THE NEWS VANIER
ATHLETICS HOME PAGE
|
VANIER CHEETAHS
IN THE NEWS 