Ottawa defeats Windsor to secure No.5 playoff position

The regular season came to a close at Gee-Gees Field on Saturday, October 19. Fans braved the rainy weather to witness the Gee-Gees’ football team (5-3) conquer the Lancers (4-4) finishing with a 45-15 final score.

BOXSCORE

Head coach Jamie Barresi was especially impressed with the hustle put on by his defensive line. “I don’t want to name names, because I’m going to leave somebody out,” he says. “When they needed to, they really got after these guys and I give them a lot of credit.”

Ottawa kept Windsor’s offense at bay for the entirety of the first half letting no man get into the end zone. Subsequently however, Windsor got to work and posted 15 points against a tough Gee-Gee defense.

In the first quarter, linebacker Ettore Lattanzio got his first of three sacks on Lancer quarterback Austin Kennedy. He is currently in a three way number one CIS tie for total sacking sitting at 9 on the season.

The penalty-ridden game saw Lattanzio hoping that his team can put a stop to this trend. “We’re driving hard every play, and these penalties take us back. It’s definitely a way of cutting off our supply,” he admits. “It’s something we have to improve on.”

Although thrilled to be in the playoffs, Coach Barresi is the first to agree on this point and is upset with the 125 yards lost and a total of 13 penalties at the game. “We only had one week where we had four penalties,” he says. “We can’t give the ball up like that.”

On offense, Gee-Gee quarterback Aaron Colbon got a touchdown to kickoff the scoring momentum for his team. Sixth in the CIS with 65 points, kicker Lewis Ward was consistently gaining points after every touchdown and obtained two field goals throughout the game.

By halftime, Ottawa had secured 23 first downs while finishing the game with 31. In comparison, at halftime Windsor had 3. The team propelled their first downs to 24 thanks to aggressive rushing by running back Mitch Dender gaining 52 yards this game. He is among the top 20 in the country in this aspect.

Following a 49-yard punt by Lancer Dan Ceriono, Aaron Colbon reached Nicolas Dagher to secure a 27-yard pass. Colbon subsequently passed 38 yards to Andrew Mullings for a touchdown play. Domenic Bellardini scored a rouge, while teammate Ward scored a field goal in the following minutes. The score stood at 18-0 at halftime.

Adding to his impressive 2,490 passing total on the season, Colbon connected with receiver Simon Le Marquand for an Ottawa touchdown in the third quarter.

In response, the Windsor Lancers put up two touchdowns of their own in the second half.  Kennedy’s first pass was to star wide receiver Evan Pszczonak in the third. He averages 92.3 receiving yards per game, but Ottawa kept him at under par with 63 on Saturday. Lancer Clark Grace gets the second touchdown for the team.

Including Cerino’s points after and the rouge scored in the fourth quarter, the team rounded off their points for the day.

Quarterback for the Gee-Gees in the fourth, Derek Wendel got his fourth touchdown of the season while running back Mack Tommy broke into a run for the end zone in the final moments of the game getting one of his own.

Topping the receiving charts for both teams totaling 114 yards, rookie Nicolas Dagher was all smiles after the big win and is feeling great with the 5-3 turnout this season. “It was good to get a win today,” he says. “Especially for all the seniors, this being the last time playing in front of all their people.”

Otherwise, Carleton failed to beat out McMaster. The Marauders vanquished the Ravens at the other end of the city with a 45-3 final score.

Therefore, the Gee-Gees are off to Hamilton to play the first round of the 2013 CIS Football Playoffs against the McMaster Marauders, currently ranked no. 4 in the OUA.

Photo credit:  Richard Whittaker

Source:  Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information

The Lancer lost their final regular season game to the Ottawa Gee Gees 45-15 on Saturday afternoon in the Nation’s Capitol.

With the loss, the Lancers finish behind the Gee Gees in the regular season standings in 6th place, as both teams end the year with identical 4-4 records.

The Lancers will face the #3 seed team, which is un-officially between the Guelph Gryphons or Queen’s Gaels.

After being shut out of the end zone in the first half, the Lancers brought the score to within two touchdowns 28-15 in the third quarter with touchdowns from Evan Pszczonak and Clark Grace. However, the Gee Gees again broke away in the fourth quarter to claim the win.

Austin Kennedy went 17-for-33 for 294 yards and two touchdowns in the air and ran for 26 yards on the ground. Pszczonak led the Lancer receivers with 63 yards on 6 catches. Defensively Frank Renaud led the team with 7 tackles.

Photo credit:  Edwin Tam

Source:  Windsor Lancers Sports Information