Gryphons Defeat Marauders in Rain-Soaked 2015 Homecoming Game

Guelph, ON – The weather at the 2015 Homecoming football game was not ideal. But the result was.

At a rain-soaked Alumni Stadium on Saturday, the No. 5 Gryphons won 33-23 over the No. 6 McMaster Marauders in a re-match of last year’s Yates Cup. Gryphons quarterback James Roberts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, as the Gryphons held off a late charge from the Marauders to improve to 4-0 on the season. With the loss, the Marauders fall to 2-1 on the year.

All eyes were on Guelph quarterback James Roberts coming into this game after the second year man produced an uncharacteristically sloppy performance last week versus York in which he threw a career-high five interceptions. After Guelph’s opening possession against McMaster, it was evident that Roberts was back to his usual productive and accurate self. On the Gryphons first drive of the game, they would march 88 yards on seven plays in just over two minutes, capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Roberts to A’dre Fraser (Halifax, NS). Roberts was perfect on the drive, completing all five of his pass attempts and spreading the ball around to three different receivers. Gryphon fans could breathe a sigh of relief. Roberts and company were sharp early, and while some of the huge Homecoming crowd was still filing into the stadium, the Gryphons had already given them plenty to cheer about as they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead.

Mac’s turn. The Marauders game into the game boasting arguably the hottest quarterback in the entire country in second year pivot Asher Hastings (Regina, SK). Through his first two games, Hastings had racked up 10 touchdown passes to 0 interceptions while averaging 378.5 yards per game through the air – tops in the CIS. However, the Gryphon defence was more than up to the task of handling a dangerous Marauder attack. Unfortunately for the Gryphons, some costly penalties would give Mac some life on their second possession of the game. Back to back offside calls against Guelph, first by the punt return team, then by the defence, kept a Marauder drive alive. That drive would ultimately end with a three-yard touchdown pass from Hastings to Josh Vandeweerd (Burlington, ON) as the game was tied 7-7 after the opening quarter of play.

In the second quarter, the Gryphons offence would put together a balanced, sustained drive that covered 63 yards in 10 plays. That drive would end with a 27-yard field goal from Gabriel Ferraro (Mississauga, ON) to give the Gryphons a 10-7 lead. Then the rain came. In biblical proportions.

A steady downpour sent fans scrambling for shelter, and some for the exits. The scoreboard was rendered inoperable for the remainder of the half as both officials and players did the best they could to play through the challenging conditions. The Marauders seemed to struggle the most with the rain, specifically their punter Bobby Frame (Hamilton, ON). Unable to corral the wet football, Frame bobbled a snap before getting away a partially blocked, short punt. The Gryphons would take over at the McMaster 16-yard line and four plays later, led 19-7 thanks to a four-yard touchdown run by Roberts.

The rain wasn’t done yet. Neither were the Gryphons. After Guelph’s defence forced a two-and-out, McMaster’s punter would once again lose the grip on the wet pigskin. This time, he was unable to get a kick off. The botched special teams play by the Marauders meant Guelph once again had a short field. Really short. The Gryphons took over on the McMaster three-yard line. For the second time in the game, Roberts and Fraser would connect for a touchdown. The floodgates had opened in more ways than one. The Gryphons outscored McMaster 19-0 in the second quarter and took a 26-7 lead into the locker room at the half.

In the third quarter, the Gryphon defence would continue their strong play. Guelph’s OUA All-Star free safety Tristan Doughlin (Toronto, ON) missed last week’s game against York after breaking a bone in his hand during Guelph’s Week 2 matchup with Laurier. On Saturday, Doughlin was back in the lineup starting at safety and playing with a cast on his left hand. Doughlin is no stranger to playing hurt. Last season, he returned to the lineup wearing a heavy duty elbow brace after suffering a dislocated elbow early in the season. On Saturday, bad hand and all, Doughlin was once again in All-Star form. After having already intercepted Mac quarterback Asher Hastings in the second quarter, Doughlin would come up with his second INT of the game in the third quarter. Behind some strong play from their defence, the Gryphons took a 26-9 lead to the fourth.

By the final quarter, the heavy rain had subsided. Those fans who had stuck it out were rewarded with a surprisingly exciting finish as McMaster made things interesting late. With under seven minutes to go, Guelph’s lead was trimmed to 32-17 after a nine-yard touchdown pass from Hastings to Dan Petermann. With under two minutes remaining, Hastings and Petermann would connect again, this time capping off a 12-play, 96-yard drive as the deficit shrunk to 32-23. Suddenly, the Marauders were a two-point convert away from making it a one possession game. However, Mac’s ensuing two-point try was unsuccessful after Hasting’s pass hit the upright. Gryphon fans could breathe easy. For a second anyways.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Mac. Thankfully for Gryphon fans, the U of G defence would stand tall, forcing three straight incompletions and a turnover on downs. The Gryphons would tack on a rouge late to make the final score Guelph 33, McMaster 23.

James Roberts finished 16 of 28 for 178 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Roberts also added a touchdown of his own on the ground. Johnny Augustine (Welland, ON) cracked the century mark with 106 yards rushing on 24 carries.

The Gryphon defence were on the field a lot in this one, as Mac ran 81 plays compared to Guelph’s 65. Aside from Doughlin’s two-INT performance, standout players for the Gryphon ‘D’ include linebacker John Rush who was all over the field making six solo tackles while also forcing a fumble and recording a pass breakup.

The Gryphons will look to improve to 5-0 next Saturday (Sept. 26) when they host the Ottawa Gee-Gees (2-1). Kickoff is set for 1pm at Alumni Stadium.

Source: Andy Baechler, Guelph Gryphons Sports Information

Strong passing attack helps Western stay undefeated with win over Queen’s

LONDON, Ont. – Will Finch threw for 454 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the Western Mustangs to a 48-25 victory over the Queen’s Gaels on a rainy Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.

“I think offensively we have got to finish and clean some mistakes up,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall following the win. “Defensively, at times we were awesome, but we didn’t cover the pass well enough.”

The Mustangs once again relied on their fourth-year quarterback, who had perhaps his best statistical game of the season on Saturday. The Gaels came into the game allowing a CIS worst 363.3 passing yards per game and Finch took advantage, going 32 for 42 for 454 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

The Burlington, Ont., native spread the ball around to a total of eight different receivers, while two Mustangs receivers—George Johnson (140) and Harry McMaster (109)—posted 100+ yard games. McMaster also recorded a touchdown along with Justin Sanvido, who caught five passes in his return to the lineup after missing the past two games due to injury.

While the Mustangs divided their offensive output among a number of players, the Gaels offence was primarily powered by the three-pronged attack of quarterback Nate Hobbs, running back Jessie Andrews, and receiver Curtis Carmichael.

In his first ever OUA start at TD Stadium Hobbs completed 20 of 41 passes, throwing for 336 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His favourite target was Carmichael, who made eight catches to record 124 yards and two touchdowns. Andrews led the way for the Gaels ground game, racking up 102 yards on 17 carries.

The rain did play a factor throughout the game as players on both teams struggled to keep a firm grip on the ball leading to six turnovers in the game.

The Mustangs offence moved the ball well throughout the afternoon but couldn’t blame several second half turnovers on the weather as the rain held off. Western turned the ball over on three consecutive drives to begin the second half, including one off of a deflected interception, and fumbles from Alex Taylor and Yannick Harou, both of which came from inside the Queens ten-yard line.

“There are some things that happen in the course of a game like dropping the ball and those things happen sometimes,” said coach Marshall, “and sometimes they come in bunches.”

Despite his two fumbles, Taylor had another electrifying game; running hard and making defenders miss with hard cuts as he earned 107 yards on only 11 carries and twice found the end zone.

Queens’s offence looked capable of moving the ball early in the game. After they used a fake field goal to extend their opening drive, the Gaels became the first team to get ahead of the Mustangs on the scoreboard in 2015, picking up a single point off of a missed field goal from Dillon Wamsley just under five minutes into the contest.

The lead for the Gaels did not last long. On the very next drive the Mustangs recovered a fumbled punt by the Gaels and were set up in great field position. The offence didn’t take too much time turning that field position into points on the board as they need only three plays to hit the end zone, capping things off with Taylor’s sixth touchdown of the season.

Neither team was able to generate much in the way of scoring for the majority of the frame until Mustangs defensive back Christiaan Collarile intercepted an overthrow from Hobbs and took it back 63 yards for the pick six with a minute left in the first quarter.

Ben Kelly extended Western’s lead to 17-3 on the Mustangs next possession, hitting an 11-yard field goal early in the second quarter. The home side then followed that up midway through the second as Finch found McMaster on a curl route in the end zone on a three-yard pass to extend the give Western a 24-3 with 7:26 left in the first half.

The Gaels took advantage of two pass interference calls against the Mustangs on the ensuing drive before finishing things off with an excellent 41-yard pass from Hobbs to Carmichael to give Queen’s their first major of the day.

“Good composure,” said coach Marshall when asked about the play of Hobbs, “He got out of the pocket and he threw the ball down field.”

The Mustangs responded with a touchdown to close out the half. Finch drove the Mustangs 45 yards in 56 seconds and capped off the drive with a five-yard floater to Sanvido to regain the 21-point lead at 31-11.

Both offences were unable to put points on the board in the third quarter, outside of a single point for the Gaels. Carmichael would haul in another Hobbs pass to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as it would get as Western stepped on the gas and took their next two possessions for major scores on the back of Harou and Taylor punch-ins.

A late Queens’s touchdown would not be enough and the Mustangs took the physical battle by a final score of 48-25.

“We came out of it pretty healthy,” said Marshall, looking forward to next week’s Homecoming matchup against the Carleton Ravens. “We are going to be OK. Carleton’s a good team but we will be OK.”

The Ravens should expect to be playing in front of a packed house at TD Stadium as alumni from around the world descend on the Western campus for Homecoming Weekend. Game time on Saturday, September 26, is set for 1 p.m., and fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv and Rogers Cable 13. Fans can also listen live on CHRW Radio 94.9 FM and Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.

NOTES: Queen’s became the first defence to shut out the Mustangs for an entire quarter in 2015, holding Western off the board in the 3rd quarter…Defensive back Christiaan Collarile’s interception and touchdown return late in the first quarter were the first of his CIS career…Finch’s 454 yards passing is the second-highest single game total of his career, surpassed only by a 547-yard effort against York to close out the 2013 regular season…

Source: Tony von Richter, Western Mustangs Sports Information

Varsity Blues clipped by Ravens

In search of their first road with of the season, the Varsity Blues football team fell just shy of that goal in a 19-16 loss the Carleton Ravens on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto’s record falls to 1-2, while the Ravens find themselves 3-1 after four weeks of OUA action.

In what seemed to be a defensive battle and tied 0-0 after the first quarter of play, was quickly broken when the Ravens kicker Michael Domagala nailed a 41-yard field goal two minutes into the second.

The Blues then got behind the eight ball, spotting the home team 13 more points before the end of the first half and went into the locker room trailing 16-0.

Toronto quarterback Simon Nassar (Toronto) would get his team back in the game following the halftime break.  He took the offence and marched 88 yards, on 13 plays, for the Blues first major of the game.  Veteran Boris Isakov, of Toronto, was on the receiving end of a five-year pass in the end zone to pull within nine.

On the kickoff, first-year kicker Anthony Iafrate (Toronto) would knock the ball nine yards deep into the Ravens end zone. Returner Tune Adeleke elected to take a knee, giving up the single.

Toronto’s defence stood tall on the next Ravens drive, forcing a two-and-out and leaving Nassar with decent field position following the punt.
10 plays later, Marcus Hobbs bull rushed his way in from one-yard out to pull the Blues to within two. Toronto was unable to convert the two-point attempt so it remained a two-point ball game, 16-14.

On the ensuring Ravens drive, veteran safety John Connors would intercept a Jesse Mills pass to set up a short field situation for the Blues.  Toronto managed to get the ball in field goal range, however, Iafrate would push it wide left, only scoring the rouge.

Carleton would get the insurance needed on their next possession when Domagala tucked in his fourth field goal of the game, extending the lead to 19-16.
Nassar was 20-40 on the day for 206 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Isakov led all receivers with 89 yards, on seven catches.

Two rookie linebackers, Adrian Bernard and Matt Renaud, led the Blues much-improved defence with 7.5 tackles each.

The Blues are home to long-time rival Queen’s Gaels next Saturday, September 26.  It is the Hall of Fame game at Varsity Stadium and the football program will be honouring the 1965 Yates and Vanier Cup winning team.  Kickoff is 1pm.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Amankwaa’s two touchdowns lead York over Warriors

The York University Lions football team earned its first win of the season after taking down the Waterloo Warriors by a score of 23-14 on a very wet Saturday afternoon (Sept. 19) at Warrior Field in Waterloo, Ont.

Rookie running back Jesse Amankwaa (Etobicoke, Ont.) was tremendous throughout the contest, finishing with a game-high 131 yards on 24 carries and a pair of touchdowns. He scored the first major of the game on a nine-yard run to the corner of the end zone midway through the opening quarter, the first touchdown of his CIS career, and added another at 8:30 in the second on a four-yard rush straight up the middle.

Despite driving rain and windy conditions, Amankwaa’s two touchdowns as well as a 33-yard field goal by Nick Naylor (Abbotsford, B.C.) and a conceded safety by the Warriors gave the Lions carried an 18-0 lead into the half. They added another two points on another conceded safety at 5:58 in the third quarter before the Warriors finally got on the board on the last play of the third frame, scoring on a 93-yard touchdown catch by Mitch Kernick.

The Warriors added a single point on a kick into the end zone on the ensuing kick-off, and then the two teams played defensive football for much of the final frame. Naylor added a 22-yard field goal with two minutes remaining and the Warriors made it interesting late with a 52-yard touchdown catch by Lam Diing with 33 seconds left, but the Lions held on for the victory.

Another York rookie, quarterback Brett Hunchak (Calgary), earned the win in his first career CIS start. He finished 15-of-26 for 198 yards and threw three interceptions. He also rushed for 34 yards on four carries.

The team’s leading receiver was another first-year player in Nathaniel Pinto (Toronto), who caught six balls for 66 yards.

On defence, defensive end Hussein Hazime (Toronto) led the way with 7.5 tackles, while rookie lineman Reid Jeffs (Mississauga, Ont.) had his best game in red and white with four tackles, including three for loss, as well as one sack and one pass break-up.

Rees Paterson (Sherwood Park, Alta.) had one of the team’s three interceptions on the day and another three pass break-ups, while Connor Pritty (Markham, Ont.) and Ian Lawrence (Paris, Ont.) added the other picks.

Waterloo starting quarterback Lucas McConnell finished 12-of-33 for 296 yards with the two touchdowns and three interceptions. Ryan Di Risio was the leading rusher with 116 yards on 23 carries.

The win was the first for the program since a 50-34 victory over the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 21, 2013. It also avenged a pair of one-point losses to the Warriors in each of their last two meetings, including in the season finale last year.

Next up for the Lions is another road trip in Week 5, this time to Hamilton, Ont., to face the No. 6 nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders. Kick-off is set for 1pm at Ron Joyce Stadium.

Source: Alyson Fisher, York Lions Sports Information

Gee-Gees score big in win over Lancers

The Gee-Gees seemed to be clicking on both sides of the ball as they trounced the visiting Windsor Lancers 52-24. The win moves Ottawa’s record to 2-1 and to fourth in the OUA standings, while Windsor falls to 0-4.

For the third straight game, Gee-Gees quarterback Derek Wendel threw for at least 300 yards as he finished the day with 381 yards, 5 touchdowns passes, and no interceptions. The veteran was replaced after the third quarter with Victor Twynstra stepping in.

“We took advantage of what they gave us; they made a couple of mistakes early. We kind of got stalled on our first drive and had to punt but after that we took what the defence gave us, ” said Wendel when talking about his performance.

Four of the Garnet and Grey’s six touchdowns were scored in the red zone. “We’re executing a lot better,” said Wendel of his team’s performance in the red zone, an area that according to Wendel the team needed to improve on coming into this game.

Ian Stewart, who hauled in 8 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns attributed the team’s success in the red zone to the additional preparation during the week leading up to the game. “All of Thursday was dedicated to scoring touchdowns. We don’t want the field goal, we want six points. Every game we want to make sure we put up six and not three.”

One of the Gee-Gees touchdowns came  on a third down attempt, something that Ottawa has been attempting more than usual. Head coach Jamie Barresi saw these attempts as a chance to re-focus the team.

“It’s my job to give the team a spark. Play calling is a critical issue. I didn’t want to be conservative. I think we have to be aggressive. That may happen more often in the future.” Wendel on the other hand, saw this as an additional sign of trust from his coach.  “Coach knows we’re going to execute on something like that. If we’re second and 5 and we don’t execute the play he believes in us to get that third down conversion.”

The Ottawa defence recorded four sacks on the day, including two from linebacker Marc-Antoine Laurin. The coverage was solid throughout the first half, and Zach Wilkinson led the team with 8.5 tackles.

Contrary to past weeks, Barresi’s offence did not suffer lapses coming out of the second half. The offence had three drives in the third quarter, scoring a touchdown and a 48-yard field goal from Lewis Ward.

Windsor gained late life, scoring 21 of their 24 points in the fourth quarter. The Lancers finished with 457 total offensive yards including 115 on the ground. A 75-yard touchdown reception by Gilbert Stewart on the final play of the game brought his team-high total to 139 yards as part of quarterback Liam Putt‘s 24-41 performance.

Ottawa will now head to Guelph where they will face the undefeated Gryphons (4-0) before coming back to the nation’s capital to face the Carleton Ravens in the long awaited Panda Game on October 3.

Photo credit: Roger Whittaker

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information

York Lions vs. Waterloo Warriors at Waterloo 9/19/2015 at 13:07
York 23	Waterloo 14