The 2014-15 was a year of growth for Steve Sumarah’s Carleton Ravens football program, and the offseason is proving to be productive after the team announced the commitment of several highly-touted recruits.
Defensive lineman Frederik Robitaille joins linebacker Jack Cassar and running back Jonathan Muamaba as the three players ranked on the CanadaFootballChat 100 list signed by the Ravens this offseason.
The six-foot-three and 259 lb. Robitaille drew the attention of multiple programs in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference, but Sumarah said he believes Carleton won the recruiting battle because of the unique opportunity his program at Carleton offered him.
“He’s a kid from Montreal, but he went away to an English CEGEP in Champlain and I think the opportunity to study in English was appealing for him,” Sumarah said.
Robitaille comes to Carleton from the Champlain-Lennoxville Cougars of CEGEP, a publicly funded pre-university Quebec college system.
“He’s definitely one of the better defensive lineman in the country coming into CIS this year,” Sumarah said.
In 2014, the Ravens gave up on average 33.3 points per game, which put them 18th in Canada and fourth-last in the Ontario University Athletics.
In the air, Carleton also ranked 18th in yards against, giving up 280 yards per game.
Sumarah said Robitaille should provide some immediate help for the defensive core this upcoming season.
“His ability to rush the passer is unbelievable,” said Sumarah, whose team gave up an average of 499 yards last season. “He’s going to be one of those guys who will cause havoc on any offensive line.”
Havoc in the pass rush is something that Carleton lacked at times last season, most notably against University of Toronto Varsity Blues when quarterback Simon Nassar threw for a record-breaking 548 yards in a losing effort at Keith Harris Stadium.
“He’s a guy that’s going to come in and challenge right away,” Sumarah said. “That was one of the main reasons why we wanted him—he’s going to come in and push our guys.”
Sumarah told Ameeta Vohra of CanadaFootballChat that Robitaille is “a great guy from a great family.”
“I really can’t say enough about his ability. He’s a fantastic player,” Sumarah said.
