PREVIEW (OUA 4x): Pedro takes centre stage, Homecomings at Western, Guelph & York (VIDEO)

Western faces Toronto in Homecoming matchup

After kicking off the 2014 campaign with a bye week and spending the past two games on the road, the CIS No. 3 Western Mustangs will be looking to extend their 2-0 winning streak this weekend as they return home to TD Stadium on Saturday, September 20th to face-off against the Toronto Varsity Blues in front of a packed house on Homecoming Weekend.

Both the Mustangs and Varsity Blues enter Saturday’s contest coming off of big wins as Western dispatched the Queen’s Gaels 43-12, while Toronto won the 45th Red & Blue Bowl with a 70-0 win over the York Lions. For Western, the win marked the first time since 2007 that the Mustangs walked away from Richardson Stadium with a ‘W’, while Toronto’s 70 points were the most the team has scored in a single game since they defeated McMaster 71-24 in 1992.

Leading the way for the purple and white in Kingston last weekend was third-year quarterback Will Finch. The Burlington native threw for 319 yards passing and one touchdown, while also rushing for another score and recording 112 yards on the ground to lead all players in both categories.

Also adding to the Mustangs offensive pressure in last Saturday’s contest were receivers Brian Marshall and Justin Sanvido, who tallied 116 and 100 yards receiving, respectively. Matt Uren also impressed in Kingston, racking up 90 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving for 120 total yards and one touchdown on the day.

On the other side of the ball, it was first-year linebacker Jean-Gabriel Poulin and second-year defensive back Jesse McNair who led the Mustangs defence as Poulin completed 7.5 tackles, including six solo stops, while McNair added six tackles and a sack.
Last week’s offensive outburst from the Varsity Blues was powered in large part by second-year running back Lukas Gavac, who recorded 179 yards on only 18 attempts while also adding four touchdowns in Toronto’s dominant win over York. Gavac wasn’t the only running back to shine however, as rookie Divante Smith ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and second-year back Ashton Rochester ran for 100 yards and one score on only eight attempts.

Lineback Hussein Hazime topped the Varsity Blues defensive score sheet with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks against the Lions, followed closely by Josh Small and Cole Austen with 6.5 and six tackles respectively.

With both the Mustangs and the Blues coming off of strong wins last week, both teams will have plenty of momentum on their sides as they meet on the gridiron this Saturday, and with a sea of purple and white fans packing into the stands for Homecoming the atmosphere is sure to be electric come kickoff time.

Photo credit:  Corey Stanford

(Source:  Western Mustangs Sports Information)

Queen's loss to Ottawa Week 2 OUA 2014

This Saturday the football team heads to Guelph’s homecoming to take on the No.7 Gryphons at 1pm. Last weekend, the Gaels put up a tough fight against the No.3 Western Mustangs, but weren’t able to get the points they needed to win the game, falling 43-12. Despite poor weather conditions, Alex Carroll (Victoria, B.C.) played a strong game, scoring the Gaels only touchdown and picking up 88 receiving yards. Guelph quarterback Jazz Lindsey is once again among the top QBs in the OUA, tied for fourth in throwing touchdowns with five, plus another rushing touchdown. The Gaels strong defence, highlighted by Michael Moore (Mississauga, Ont.), who is first in the OUA in solo and total tackles, will have to keep Lindsey in check to give Billy McPhee (Burlington, Ont.) and the Queen’s offence a chance to put the Gaels in the lead. Last season, Queen’s beat Guelph 34-17 and are hoping for a repeat performance on Saturday.

(Source: Shawn MacDonald, Queen’s Golden Gaels Sports Information)

York Lions Homecoming 2014

The York University Lions football team will welcome the No. 4 McMaster Marauders to York Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 20) when the squad hosts its annual Homecoming game.
 
Kick-off is set for 1pm, and the game can also be seen live online on OUA.tv.
 
The atmosphere promises to be a good one as hundreds of York alumni will return to campus to celebrate this year’s Homecoming. The first 500 fans will receive a free York Homecoming hat, and all fans will have the chance to win a trip for two to New York City, presented by Merit Travel and WestJet Vacations.
 
On the field, the Lions will face their second nationally-ranked team of the season in the Marauders, the only 3-0 squad in the OUA and one of just three with an undefeated mark on the year (Western and Windsor are both 2-0).
 
The Lions played the Marauders tough in their meeting last year at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton, Ont., ultimately falling 41-27 despite recording the same number of first downs (26 apiece) and being outgained by just nine yards, 463-454. The Lions went on to an eighth-place finish in the OUA, while the Marauders finished in fourth place and advance to the semifinals before falling to the Mustangs.
 
The Lions have had a slow start to the season as they adjust to a young roster and a new quarterback under centre. The squad is still looking for its first win after a trio of losses to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, No. 3 Mustangs and, most recently, the Toronto Varsity Blues last weekend.
 
The Marauders, meanwhile, have had a thrilling start to their year. In Week 1 they came back from 15-point deficit in the third quarter to shock the also nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons in overtime, and in the last two weeks posted a shutout victory over the Waterloo Warriors and a 37-17 win over the Carleton Ravens.
 
The game represents the first career regular-season start for quarterback Nikko Stamatis (Toronto), who missed the home opener with an injury. He is 19-of-50 for 194 yards on the year and is still looking for his first touchdown pass.
 
His counterpart, Marshall Ferguson (Kingston, Ont.), is currently sixth in the OUA with an average of 231 passing yards per game and for the year is 59-of-98 for 693 yards and five touchdowns.
 
On defence, linebacker/defensive end Hussein Hazime (Toronto) is ranked second in the OUA with 25 tackles and 4.5 sacks this season. McMaster’s leader is rookie linebacker Jacob Heathcote (Aldergrove, B.C.) with 13 tackles as well as one sack.

 
(Source:  Alyson Fisher, York Lions Sports Information)

Ottawa Gee Gees Panda Preview 2014
 
Pedro takes centre stage as Panda Game returns to Lansdowne

 

 

Pedro will be on the line again as the cross-town rival Carleton Ravens look to make amends for last year’s Panda Game defeat while the Gee-Gees will look to return Pedro to their trophy case. This time the teams take to the newly renovated TD Place at Landsdowne Park. Kickoff is 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The Panda game returned last season after a 15-year absence and saw the Gee-Gees dominate a fresh Carleton team, winning 35-10. The Ravens have certainly made strides since last year’s winless season. They hold a 1-1 record with a victory over Waterloo and a defeat to conference leader, McMaster.

 “I’ve watched them (Carleton) a lot, in all facets of their game. They’re a great team. They’ve got a lot of talent and we’ve really got our work cut out for us,” says Gee-Gees head coach, Jamie Barresi.

So far this season Carleton has showed a balanced offensive play distribution between rushing and passing. That may be due to the fact they’ve found some success in running the ball with 7.3 yards per carry, good enough for fourth best in the CIS. However, they like to stretch out the defence on pass plays where they average 16.8 yards per completion, third best in the CIS.

The Gee-Gees are coming off a demoralizing loss to the Guelph Gryphons in which their high-powered offence that averaged 500 yards over the first two game could not generate any sort of rhythm.

 “Just playing our game would be the biggest thing coming off last week,” adds Barresi. “I don’t think we played nearly as well as we could have. We’ve been making a lot of good progress since we started and that game was a bit of a dip. I’d love to have that game back. Our guys would love to have that game back.”

Always coming with the territory are injuries. A few Gee-Gees are banged up this week but Barresi is optimistic they will be healthy enough to play on Saturday.

 “The thing that I tell the team is that every week is the biggest game you’re going to play. So whether you’re playing in the Grey Cup or in the Super Bowl. It could be a preseason game. That’s what’s in front of us. Next week it’ll be the next team and next week after that, it’ll be a different team. So that’s how you have to look at this.”

While the Gee-Gees have struggled with keeping the referees’ flags off the ground in their first three games, they may be the beneficiary of an undisciplined Carleton team who leads the OUA with an average of 173 yards lost per game. Carleton has also struggled in the red zone, turning eight trips into just three majors.

A Gee-Gees’ defensive front led by Ettore Lattanzio has brought pressure on opposing quarterbacks, recording nine sacks in three games. This could be key to forcing the Carleton quarterbacks into hurried throws and an even worse completion percentage already at 55 per cent.

 “I’m looking forward to the game. I really am anxious to see our guys play. I know they’re going to bounce back. I know they’re all [ticked] off after last week’s loss. You ought to be after a game like that. There’s a lot of pride on our team and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we expect to do better than we did.”

Photo credit:  Richard Whittaker

(Source:  Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information)

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