Queen’s Gaels begin title defense tonight against McMaster

After capturing their fourth Vanier Cup in team history, the Queen’s Gaels open defence of
their national championship on the road against the McMaster Marauders.

The game marks the first time that the Gaels have played in Ron Joyce stadium and the first
time the team has played in Hamilton since 2006 when they lost 37-5 to the then-ranked #3
Marauders.

The matchup is a rematch of last year’s OUA Semifinal that saw the Gaels defeat the Marauders
32-6. In that contest, the Gaels ran for three touchdowns and the defence intercepted
McMaster QB Kyle Quinlan three times as Queen’s defeated the Marauders for the fifth
straight time. Queen’s also hung on for an 8-7 victory over the McMaster in their Week 2
regular season contest. Gaels’ running back Jimmy Therrien of Montreal, Que., racked up 181
yards in the contest and fifth year receiver Chris Ioannides of Toronto, Ont., caught the lone
touchdown of the game.

This year’s matchup features a very different Queen’s squad than the one that hoisted the
Vanier Cup back in November. Gone are stars such as Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont.,
Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont., Shomari Williams of Brampton, Ont., and Scott Valberg of
Kingston, Ont. Replacing them are talented, young players in the form of Justin Chapdelaine
of Abbotsford, B.C., Frank Pankewich of Thunder Bay, Ont., Stephen Laporte of Ottawa, Ont.,
and Matt O’Donnell of Kingston, Ont. If the Gaels are to repeat the successes of last season,
they will need these players to step up and fill the role that has been created by the departure
of the stars of 2009.

PICTURE: Head Coach Queens Pat Sheahan

GAELS To Watch

Offence
#11 Jimmy Therrien
Running Back
Montreal, Que.
Therrien finished the 2009 regular season averaging 101.6 yards per game, good for seventh best in the CIS. In last season’s Week 2 matchup against McMaster, the 5’10” running back racked up 181 yards, a career high for the native of Montreal. This season, Therrien will be the
number one back for Queen’s after sharing the duties with current running back coach Marty Gordon last season.

#1 Justin Chapdelaine
Quarterback
Abbotsford, B.C.
With the departure of Danny Brannagan to the Toronto Argonauts, Chapdelaine becomes the centre of the Gaels offence for 2010. However, this will be Chapdelaine’s second appearance
against the Marauders after coming into the game last year after Brannagan left with an injury. In that contest, 6’0” pivot finished six for 11 for 36 yards and scrambled for an additional
25 yards on the ground.

#98 John Miniaci
Defensive Lineman
Toronto, Ont.
Week 2 against the Marauders last year was the coming out party for Miniaci in his rookie season. The 6’1”, 302 lbs. defensive lineman recorded 4.5 tackles in the Gaels 8-7 victory. He would go on to finish the regular season with 19.5 tackles overall. This season, Miniaci will be
anchoring a young defensive line and will be looked upon to help the Gaels stop the opposing team’s inside running game.

#28 Alex Daprato
Defensive Back
Toronto, Ont.
After the departure of seven defensive starters from last year, Daprato is now the leader of this year’s defence. He made 3.5 tackles in the Gaels playoff victory over McMaster in the OUA
Semifinal after missing the regular season contest due to injury. The 6’4” defensive back will play a key role for the Gaels as he takes over for Chris

PLAYOFF GAME 2009 GAME STATS
Queens v. McMaster
McMASTER 6 @ QUEEN ’S 32
Nov. 7, 2009 (OUA Semi-Final)
Kingston, Ont. – Richardson Stadium

SCOREBOARD 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
McMaster (6-2, 1-1) 0 3 3 0 6
Queen’s (7-1, 1-0) 13 7 9 3 32

TEAM STATISTICS
McMaster Queen’s
First Downs 19 21
Rushes-Yards (Net) 32-45 35-153
Passing Yds (Net) 218 161
Passes Comp-Att-Int 15-40-3 12-25-0
Net Offense 258 314
Kick Returns-Yards 5-88 3-31
Punt Returns-Yards 4-41 1-19
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 3-17
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Punts (Number-Avg) 2-33.0 8-34.4
Penalties-Yards 9-50 6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING Att Y ds TD LG
McMaster
Joseph Nemet 12 54 0 13
Jordan Kozina 5 26 0 10
Kyle Quinlan 7 25 0 9
Bryan Dowd 2 18 0 13
Michael Dicroce 1 7 0 7
Queen’s
Jimmy Therrien 20 89 1 15
Marty Gordon 10 57 1 15
Danny Brannagan 2 7 1 6
Scott Valberg 1 3 0 3

PASSING Comp Att Y ds TD Int
McMaster
Kyle Quinlan 12 36 185 0 3
Michael DiCroce 2 3 25 0 0
Bryan Dowd 1 1 8 0 0
Ryan Fantham 0 0 0 0 0
Queen’s
Danny Brannagan 12 25 161 0 0

RECEIVING No Y ds TD
McMaster
Michael DiCroce 5 80 0
Matthew Peressini 2 44 0
Jordan Kozina 4 44 0
Matthew Giordano 2 25 0
Joseph Nemet 1 14 0
Kevin D’Hollander 1 11 0
Queen’s
Devan Sheahan 4 65 0
Scott Valberg 4 50 0
Christopher Ioannides 3 30 0
Blaise Morrison 1 16 0

LEADING TACKLERS (Solo, Ast, Tot)
McMaster: Andrew Surya 4-1-4.5, Stephen Dennis
3-2-4, Ryan Chmielewski 3-1-3.5, Roberto Filice 3-1-
3.5, Shane Beaton 3-0-3
Queen’s: T.J. Leeper 5-4-7, Osie Ukwuoma 6-1-6.5,
Frank Pankewich 5-1-5.5, Shomari Williams 4-3-5.5,
Chris Smith 4-2-5

Game 2 2009 stats
McMASTER 7 @ QUEENS 8
Sept. 12, 2009
Kingston, Ont. – Richardson Stadium

SCOREBOARD 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
McMaster (1-1) 0 6 0 1 7
Queen’s (2-0) 7 0 1 0 8

TEAM STATISTICS
McMaster Queen’s
First Downs 7 25
Rushes-Yards (Net) 18-75 39-216
Passing Yds (Net) 83 140 Passes Comp-Att-Int 10-28-1 19-30-2
Net Offense 154 348
Kick Returns-Yards 3-60 0-0 Punt Returns-Yards 7-104 10-49
Interception Returns-Yards 2-10 1-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2 Punts (Number-Avg) 13-33.9 6-38.7
Penalties-Yards 7-61 8-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING Att Y Yds TD LG
McMaster
Jordan Kozina 12 40 0 7
Joseph Nemet 4 28 0 11
Matthew Peressini 2 7 0 4
Queen’s
Jimmy Therrien 29 181 0 38
Justin Chapdelaine 2 25 0 19
Danny Brannagan 3 15 0 7
Thomas Howes 1 3 0 3
Grant Schelske 2 -1 0 0

PASSING Comp Att Y Yds TD Int
McMaster
Ryan Fantham 10 28 83 0 1
Queen’s
Danny Brannagan 8 13 64 1 1
Thomas Howes 5 6 40 0 0
Justin Chapdelaine 6 11 36 0 1

RECEIVING No Y Yds TD
McMaster
Matthew Peressini 4 40 0
Kevin D’Hollander 3 23 0
Sean Fahey 3 20 0

Queen’s
Christopher Ioannides 6 36 1
Blaise Morrison 5 33 0
Mark Surya 2 27 0
Devan Sheahan 3 25 0
Scott Valberg 2 10 0
Jimmy Therrien 1 9 0

LEADING TACKLERS (Solo, Ast, Tot)
McMaster: Ryan Chmielewski 8-2-9, Daniel Baronas 7-2-8, Byron Metcalfe 4-3-5.5, Denver Brown 3-1-3.5, Shane Beaton 3-1-3.5
Queen’s: Matt Vickers 5-2-6, Chris Smith 4-1-4.5, T.J. Leeper 4-1-4.5, John Miniaci 4-1-4.5, David Rooney 2-2-3