Queen’s hosts Western for first time since historic 2009 Yates Cup

The Queen’s Gaels (5-2) will look to win their sixth game in a row this season as they host the No. 1 nationally ranked Western Mustangs (7-0) at Richardson Stadium in this week’s belairdirect rivalry game.

Historically, the Gaels lead the all-time series between the two teams by a 43-40-2 margin. The Mustangs haven’t made the trip to Richardson Stadium since the 2009 Yates Cup final when Queen’s topped Western in a 43-39 thriller that is widely considered one of the best games in OUA history.

The Gaels come in to this game riding a five game win streak, having not lost since week two at Ottawa on September 10. During this streak the Gaels have averaged 43 points a game while holding their opponents to roughly 12 a contest. In their last game against the Waterloo Warriors, the Gaels overcame the elements and their opponents to come away with a 53-0 victory.

Ryan Granberg of Sherwood Park, Alta. stole the show as he rushed for 240 on 31 carries against the Warriors and contributed four touchdowns on the ground. Billy McPhee of Burlington, Ont. threw for 77 yards and a touchdown on eight completions in the win, while Ryan Mitchell of Toronto compeleted his one pass attempt for an 88 yard touchdown – the first of his career. Toronto natives Chris Patrician and Giovanni Aprile were on the receiving end of those touchdown passes with Patrician hauling in McPhee’s pass, and Aprile receiving Mitchell’s pass.

On defence the Gaels were led by veteran defensive lineman Osie Ukwuoma of Mississauga, Ont. who recorded 4.5 tackles and a sack in the win. The Gaels added three interceptions on the afternoon as well. Ben D’Andrea of Calgary, Ryan Farrell of Halifax and Connor Moen of Oakville, Ont. all picked off Waterloo passes for the Gaels defence.

Aprile made the biggest splash on special teams for the Gaels as he returned a Waterloo kickoff 109 yards for a Gaels touchdown to open the second half.

The No. 1 Mustangs are coming off of a narrow 21-9 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues on the road last week. The Mustangs struggled early but ultimately overcame a 9-7 deficit to keep their undefeated record intact. Nathan Riva of LaSalle, Ont. was the top Mustang on offence with a 218 yard, one touchdown game on 34 carries. Tyler Varga of Kitchener, Ont. has led the Mustangs since the start of the season as he has 15 touchdowns on the ground through seven games.

Saturday’s belair direct rivalry game between the Gaels and Mustangs is set to kickoff at 1:00 pm at Richardson Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on theScore.

STORYLINES

Riva comes up big: Nathan Riva carried the ball a team-high 34 times and gained 218 yards and one touchdown on the ground against the Varsity Blues. After rookie standout Tyler Varga left the game with an injury at the end of the first quarter, it was Riva who carried the offensive load and responded with another big day.

Opposite Offenses: Last Saturday in Toronto the offensive strategies of the two teams were polar opposites of each other. The Mustangs, led by Riva, were rush heavy, running the ball 53 times for 304 yards on the ground, while Toronto only rushed for 69 yards on 24 carries. Conversely, Toronto passed for 260 yards while Western only picked up 106 yards through the air.

Riva comes up big again: No, it’s not a repeat of the first storyline. Nick Riva, Nathan’s brother, had one of his strongest games of the season defensively. Riva (Nick) led the Mustangs in tackles with 7 tackles and helped the defense to its strongest game of the season, limited the Varsity Blues to only 9 points on 3 field goals.

Varga Closing on Tindale: Another week, another Tyler Varga touchdown. Varga entered play on Saturday with an outside chance of besting the OUA and CIS rushing touchdown records, but a more realistic record is still in sight. With his touchdown on Saturday in Toronto, Varga has scored a rushing touchdown in every game this season, for a total of 15. Varga now trails Tim Tindale’s school record of 16 rushing touchdowns in a season which Tindale set in 1991.

Chasing Perfection: The Mustangs will be facing a Queen’s Gaels team attempting to end their perfect record as Western enters the game 7-0. The last time the Mustangs went undefeated in the regular season was 1998, but that team was not able to keep their record unblemished for the entire season as they lost to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Churchill Bowl (now the Uteck Bowl). The last time the Mustangs went an entire season undefeated was in 1994 when they reached the ultimate of CIS football by winning the Vanier Cup.

Source: Queen’s Sports Info & Western Sports Info