The Concordia Stingers defeated the Guelph Gryphons with a 23-21 final score this afternoon (Aug. 27) at Alumni Stadium in pre-season exhibition action.
It was noticeable that it was the first action of the season for the Gryphons as they substituted often throughout the game to give everyone a chance to hit the field. The Gryphons dressed and played their rookies liberally all afternoon. Guelphās line-up was over 100 players deep, giving the coaching staff a good chance to evaluate their first-year players.
Guelph used five different quarterbacks in the game including Chris Rossettii (Mississauga, Ont.), Luke Nangle (London, Ont.), Jamie Cook (Collingwood, Ont.), Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) and Matt Woehl (Ridgeway, Ont.)
Despite coming up on the wrong end of the score, the Gryphons gave their fans plenty of reason for optimism for the season ahead.
āIām very pleased with the game today,ā said University of Guelph head coach Stu Lang. āIn exhibition games you always want to win, but really itās about what your incoming guys do and weāre really happy with their performances and think itās one of our best recruiting classes weāve seen.ā
Each of the four player-of-the game awards went to Gryphon rookies. Wide receiver Alex Charette (St. Catharineās, Ont.) was named the special forces player of the game, Mike Ullerick (London, Ont.) earned the award for best hit of the game. Offensive player of the game went to first-year quarterback Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) for getting the Gryphons back into the game in the third quarter. And defensive player of the game was defensive back Keaton Spratt (Fort Erie, Ont.).
A 38-yard field goal from Concordiaās Keegan Treloar for the Stingers was the lone scoring play of the first quarter. The two teams shifted momentum through the second and third quarters with some solid minutes but it was the Stingers who stayed ahead for the first three quarters. Guelph continued to push and ultimately scored two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter. First year quarterback Jazz Lindsey threw a scoring pass to first-year Mike Ullerick with six-minutes left in the game to get within eight (23-15). The Gryphons trimmed it to 23-21 when first-year quarterback Matt Woehl hit first year receiver Jordan Boutilier, who ran it in for a touchdown with two minutes remaining in the game. But the Gryphons couldnāt get any closer as the Stingers closed out the game for the win.
Kicking duties were shared today between third-year Julian Troppea (Niagara Falls, Ont.), second-year Matt Santos (Sault Ste. Marie) and first-year Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont.).
The season opens next week, when the Gryphons host the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Monday, September 5 with kickoff at 1:00 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
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