Gryphons secure playoff bye with victory over the Queen’s Gaels

GUELPH- The CIS No. 7 Guelph Gryphons (6-1) football team scored 30-unanswered points en route to a 33-28 win over the No. 4 Queen’s Gaels (5-2) at Alumni Stadium today in Guelph.
BOXSCORE

Guelph Sports Information:

The win is the Gryphons sixth straight victory and secures them a second place seed in the OUA playoffs and with it, a first round bye to the semi-finals.

“This is unbelievable and the guys played outstanding today, I am so proud of them,” said head coach Stu Lang. “Right from the get-go in August this is what we wanted to do and we’ve accomplished it. It’s still a long road to go but what these guys have done today is phenomenal. No one expected us to be 6-1.”

Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) was 18 of 35 passing for the Gryphons, on the ground he tallied 11 yards and a touchdown. Running back Rob Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) ran for 87 yards on 21 carries and earned a pair of touchdowns.

Leading the steady Gryphon defence were Jake Reinhart (Guelph, Ont) and Bryan Dunjko (Aurora, Ont) with five and six tackles respectively. Reinhart, Mackenzie Myers, John Rush, and Jarryd Baines (Ottawa, Ont) each contributed an interception to the efforts. Jordon Thompson (Ottawa, Ont) also recorded two pivotal sacks on the day.

Both teams struggled to find their grooves in their opening possessions, but with strong efforts by Gaels’ running back Ryan Granberg (Sherwood Park, Alta) and Aaron Gazendam (Kingston, Ont), Queen’s found themselves within easy scoring distance. Capping off the drive with a short pass again to Gazendam, Queen’s was able to draw first blood on the scoreboard. The successful point after from Dillon Wamsley (London, Ont) gave the Gaels an early 7-0 lead.

Following several exchanges of possession, Queen’s once again found themselves in scoring range as Wamsley lined up for a 43 yard field goal attempt that would find its way just wide of the uprights and into A’dre Fraser’s (Halifax, N.S.) waiting arms who would take it back out to the 45. On a fake play-action draw, quarterback Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont) would carry it himself into the Queen’s redzone where the drive would eventually be stalled by Gael’s defence. Julian Tropea would hit the 12-yard field goal to mount the scoreboard.

On the ensuing Queen’s drive starting from the 35, Billy McPhee (Burlington, Ont) would drop back on the first play to hit Giovanni Aprile (Scarborough, Ont) deep to score on a 65-yard bomb to cap the quarter with a lead over the Gryphons at 14-3.

The opening play of the second quarter wouldn’t bode well for the Gryphons as Gael’s pressure on Jazz Lindsey would force a fumble on Guelph’s 5-yard line to be recovered by Andrew Sauer (Ayr, Ont) who took it in for Queen’s third trip to the end zone. Wamsley’s point after would be good to put the Gaels up 21-3.

The Gryphon offensive struggles would continue well into the second quarter as they were forced to go two-and-out on back to back drives to give the ball over to the Gaels. Luckily, defensive momentum began to gather behind the Gryphons as they stopped the Gaels drives on both accounts and forced a 41-yard field goal attempt on the second. But the Gaels would not relent as they faked the field goal with a direct snap to Justin Chapdelaine (Abbotsford, B.C) who ran it in 34 yards to punch in Queen’s fourth, and final touchdown. Wamsley’s kick after was good to put the Gael’s up 28-3 at the eight minute mark in the second quarter. This would be the last time the Gaels would score.

The break Guelph was looking for came with a blocked punt by Mackenzie Myers (Guelph, Ont) to give Lindsey the ball inside the Queen’s 20. Two plays later, another fake play-action to Rob Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont) caught the Gaels unaware and allowed Lindsey to slip in for Guelph’s first touchdown to cut the lead to 18.

Gryphon defence came up with another huge stop to force a Queen’s punt with 1:48 left on the clock. Starting the drive with a 27 yard bomb to Dillon Dimitroff got the Gryphons back in scoring distance where the next few plays marched the ball down to the Gaels’ 1-yard line. Lindsey would take it in himself on a quarterback sneak to bring the score to 28-17 going into halftime.

“The score certainly showed that we were behind in the first half, but we felt we were really playing a close game all the way through,” said Lang. “We knew that we could run against them and we just focused in on the run game to open the second half.”

To open the third quarter, after a failed Gryphon drive, the Gael’s lined up on Guelph’s 45 with hopes of extending their lead. Yet three plays later would find McPhee’s pass picked off by John Rush (Niagara Falls, Ont) for Rush’s second interception of the season. Unfortunately for the Gryphons, Rush was injured on the play and he would not return for the rest of the game.

Gryphon defensive domination continued into the third quarter with a second interception by Mackenzie Myers. With the help of several key blocks, Myers ran it home for 76 yards to make it a one-possession game at 28-25.

Rob Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont) carried the Gryphon momentum forward with a 25-yard run to bring Guelph into Queen’s territory. The ensuing play saw the charging Gryphon’s offence march down to the five yard line as Lindsey connected with Carl Trivieri (Toronto, Ont) on a 47 yard completion. Farquharson would carry it in on the next play to cap off an impressive drive to give Guelph their first lead 32-28.

Gryphon punter Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont) would find the back of the Queen’s end zone with a punt in the 13^th minute to give Guelph a rouge point for the final score to put them up 33-28.

The defensive dismantling of the Queen’s offence continued as the dominant Gryphon defence was able to blank the Gaels for the entire second half.

The Gryphons look to round out their season as they take to the road to face the York Lions next Saturday (Oct 20). Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm. Guelph will then earn a bye through the first round of the playoffs and host a semi-final game on November 3. Game time and opponent are yet to be determined.

Queen’s Sports Information:

The No. 4 Queen’s Gaels (5-2) jumped out to a big lead early but ultimately couldn’t hang on as they fell to the No. 7 Guelph Gryphons (6-1) by a 33-28 score.

The Gaels scored on their first possession of the game, as Billy McPhee of Burlington, Ont., connected with Aaron Gazendam of Kingston, Ont., for a nine yard touchdown pass, four minutes into the first quarter. The Gryphons responded ten minutes later with a field goal from Julian Tropea of Niagara Falls, Ont. On the first play following the field goal, McPhee hit Giovanni Aprile downfield for a 75 yard catch and run play which resulted in a Gaels touchdown just before time expired in the first quarter.

The second quarter started well for the Gaels as Andrew Sauer of Ayr, Ont., recovered a fumble in the Gryphons endzone to increase the Queen’s lead to 21-3 just 24 seconds into the frame. The teams were stalemated for much of the second quarter until Justin Chapdelaine of Abbotsford, B.C., ran a fake field goal into the endzone from 41 yards out to give the Gaels a 28-3 lead. Momentum shifted late in the second quarter, however, as Gaels punter Dillon Wamsley of London, Ont., had a kick blocked deep in Queen’s territory. After a Gryphons recovery, Rob Farquharson of Niagara Falls, Ont., ran a ball into the endzone to cut the Gaels lead to 28-10. Gryphons quarterback Jazz Lindsey of Markham, Ont., added a rushing touchdown of his own just before halftime to bring the score to 28-17 at the break.

Guelph kicked the scoring off in the second half when Mackenzie Myers of Guelph, Ont., intercepted a pass and returned it the length of the field to cut the Gaels lead to 28-25. Lindsey hit Michael Fortino of Niagara Falls, Ont., on the following two point conversion play. The Gryphons eventually took the lead late in the third quarter when Farquharson ran his second touchdown in, again from four yards out. They capped the scoring in the fourth quarter with a rouge from punter Daniel Ferraro of Mississauga, Ont., which made the score 33-28.

Lindsey was the catalyst on offence for the Gryphons, passing for 180 yards on 18 completions, while also adding a rushing touchdown on three carries for 11 yards. He also added the two-point conversion in the third quarter. Farquharson provided the bulk of the production with an 87 yard, two touchdown performance.

Billy McPhee was 26 of 43 passing for the Gaels, with two touchdowns — both in the first half. He struggled in the second, getting picked off four times by the Gryphons defence. Ryan Granberg of Sherwood Park, Alta., ran for 88 yards on 23 carries in the loss while also chipping in 42 receiving yards.

Defensively the Gaels were led by Cory Dyer of Gananoque, Ont., who had a team high five tackles and the lone sack of the game.
The Gryphons head to Toronto next weekend to take on the York Lions (2-5). The Gaels, meanwhile, wrap up their regular season against the Toronto Varsity Blues (2-5) in Kingston at Richardson Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.