Just five days after a season-opening 63-18 defeat at the hands of the Windsor Lancers, the Ottawa Gee-Gees football team will be looking for their first win of the season in a road game against the York Lions. Against the nationally seventh-ranked Lancers, the Gee-Gees gave up the first 29 points of the game before clawing back within two touchdowns, but were eventually overpowered by the impressive passing offence of the Lancers.
“In three words : lack of explosiveness,” said Gee-Gees head coach Gary Etcheverry on the main reason for the Gee-Gees’ defeat against Windsor. “We had dead legs. I don’t know whether it was the transition from our training camp or maybe it was a combination of the long trip and the humidex, but this week, we don’t expect to have the same lack of explosion that we had in virtually every component of our game against Windsor.”
Another factor in the Gee-Gees loss was that fourth-year star running back Brendan Gillanders (Orleans, Ont.) who hurt himself while returning a kickoff in the first quarter of the game and was unable to return. There is a chance Gillanders could return for the York game as he may be cleared to start practicing on Thursday. In his absence, rookie Mack Tommy (Ottawa, Ont.) ran for 78 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while fifth-year quarterback Aaron Colbon (Orleans, Ont.) was the leading rusher for Ottawa on the day, gaining 84 yards on the ground.
“Mack Tommy looked very promising but we have to improve on the lack of explosiveness that we had in all parts of our game,” said Etcheverry.
On the defensive side of the ball, Ottawa allowed Windsor to throw for 508 yards through the air which made it extremely difficult for the Gee-Gees to attempt a comeback in the second half. While players like third-year linebacker Pier-Yves Lavergne (Gatineau, Qué.) and fifth-year linebacker Tyler Sawyer (Metcalfe, Ont.) had solid individual efforts in forcing turnovers, Ottawa will need to improve as a unit on defence if the Gee-Gees want to see better results against the Lions.
“The quarterback at Windsor is an outstanding player and he had some good rhythm going with his receivers.” said Etcheverry. “We have an incredible opportunity to improve in everything we do. We need to work on the execution of our plays and I think our players will be able to see the opportunities to improve.”
The Gee-Gees defeated the York Lions 65-12 at home last season, in a game where the Gee-Gees put up 699 yards of total offence. Ottawa will be hoping to replicate the same results this time around as they attempt to rebound from a tough loss. Gee-Gees fans will be able to watch the game on SSN Canada on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
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