Gee-Gees comeback on late drive to edge Mustangs

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Gee-Gees scored 10 unanswered points to defeat the Western Mustangs 20-19 at Frank Clair Stadium on Monday afternoon in OUA football action in front of a crowd of 6,274 fans.

Ottawa improves to 2-0 under rookie head coach J.P. Asselin, while the Mustangs fall to 1-1.
Next up, the No. 9 ranked Mustangs host McMaster (2-0) on Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. at TD Waterhouse Stadium. The Marauders won 26-24 over Wilfrid Laurier.

Fifth-year receiver Steven Hughes of Ottawa caught the game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds left for the Gee-Gees from senior quarterback Brad Sinopoli of Peterborough, Ont.
Sinopoli, who was quiet in the first half after being smothered by Western’s defence, finished the game 30-for-49 passing for 439 yards – 192 coming in the fourth quarter. He also threw two touchdowns along with a pair of interceptions.

His eight-play, 90-yard winning drive was a sign of the experience with Ottawa’s offensive unit. Fifth-year receiver Matthew Bolduc of the Gee-Gees was effective with 11 catches for 183 yards.

“Good for Ottawa, they deserve credit,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. “Their defensive line did a really good job. Our running game was not very effective. We knew we had to run the ball for us to be successful and we did not.”

Sophomore kicker Lirim Hajrullahu of St. Catharines, Ont., kicked four field goals for Western, while quarterback Donnie Marshall of London, Ont., was 9-for-20 passing with one touchdown and one interception along with 210 yards. He ran 13 times for 41 yards.
Western only rushed for 117 yards, 88 coming in the fourth quarter.

Leading the team with 10 tackles, Craig Butler of London, Ont., had a great game to lead the Western defence, a unit which played extremely well through three quarters but could not contain Ottawa’s fourth-quarter surge.

John Surla of Niagara Falls, Ont., and Jason Kosec of Mississauga, Ont. were great on defence – Kosec had a pair of interceptions while Surla was involved all over the field rushing the quarterback and breaking through the offensive line.

“Our defence did its job except for one drive at the end,” Marshall said. “I hope we learn from this and only can get better… it matters which team is best in November and we know we will have to be better.”

The Mustangs opened the scoring on a 36-yard field goal from Hajrullahu just over two minutes into the game.

He added three more field goals from 30 and 17 yards out in the first half to give Western a 9-3 lead.
Ezra Millington scored the game’s first touchdown, pulling in a 12-yard Sinopoli pass with 4:18 left in the second quarter to give Ottawa a 10-9 lead.

But Mike Hegarty, a fifth-year slotback, caught back-to-back Marshall passes, including a 26-yard touchdown, to give Western the 16-10 lead at the half. The Hegarty catches, along with a 54-yard Hipperson catch with Western starting with the ball at their own one-yard line, capped off a 109-yard scoring drive.

The opening half was sloppy but evenly played. A scoreless third quarter, featuring both blunders and strong defence, set the stage for a dramatic finish in the fourth.
In the fourth, Hajrullahu kicked another 17-yard field goal to stretch Western’s lead to 19-10.
Ottawa looked to have taken the lead when Hughes dropped the ball in the endzone, and the Gee-Gees had to settle for a 12-yard Falvo field goal with just over four minutes remaining.
The kick made it a one-score game, 19-13 in favour of Western.

Western looked to have taken a 25-13 lead when rookie receiver Andrew Thibaudeau caught a Marshall pass and ran it into the endzone. But an unnecessary roughness call – which seemed to be away from the play – brought the ball back inside Gee-Gees territory and negated the score. Western missed a 40-yard field goal attempt to end the drive.

Hughes capped off a great closing Gee-Gees drive, catching a 27-yard Sinopoli pass for a touchdown, with Falvo converting, with 29 seconds left to seal the victory.

Hajrullahu tried to provide last second heroics but missed a 56-yard field goal attempt with time expiring.

SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 3 4 F
UWO 6 10 0 3 19
OTT 3 7 0 10 20

1st
12:41 – Western, Hajrullahu 36-yd FG (3-0)
9:49 – Western, Hajrullahu 30-yd FG (6-0)
6:34 – Ottawa, Falvo 29-yd FG (6-3)
2nd
14:50 – Western, Hajrullahu 17-yd FG (9-3)
4:18 – Ottawa, Millington, 12-yd pass from Sinopoli (Falvo XP) (9-10)
0:43 – Western, Hegarty, 26-yd pass from Marshall (Hajrullahu XP) (16-10)
3rd
No Scoring
4th
10:17 – Western, Hajrullahu, 17-yd FG (19-10)
4:31 – Ottawa, Falvo 12-yd FG (19-13)
0:29 – Ottawa, Hughes 27-yd pass from Sinopoli (Falvo XP) (19-20)
Attendance: 6,274