RECAPS (OUA): Campbell eclipses 1,000 yards; Gryphons win on the road; Gee-Gees roll over Warriors [stats]

Campbell eclipses 1000 yards in Golden Hawks victory

WATERLOO  – Dillon Campbell of Whitby, Ont., rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns to eclipse 1,000 yards on the season as the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s football team defeated the York Lions 27-10 on Saturday afternoon at University Stadium.

Campbell, a fourth year running back out of St. Mary CSS, became the fifth player is school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Through five games this year, he has amassed 1,021 yards, an average of 204.2 yards per game.

“It’s unbelievable when you think it’s only been five games,” said head coach Michael Faulds of his running back’s success. “What he’s doing – and I know he’s going to give all of the credit to the o-line – but I’ll stand here and give him credit. He’s an unbelievable running back and he works extremely hard. He’s a good leader for us, and he gained a lot of tough yards today. He popped through on two runs, but most of the runs were really tough runs.”

“Honestly, I’m just thinking forward to Western,” commented the ever-humble Campbell. “It’s great to get over 1,000 but to get this win, it’s a tough win and we faced adversity, but we overcame it to take over the Lions.”

Receiver Scott Campbell of Cambridge, Ont., also had a big afternoon for the purple and gold as he had 132 all-purpose yards, highlighted by a 71-yard rushing touchdown that put the game out of reach for Laurier in the fourth quarter.

In what was a much closer game than many expected, the Hawks had the wind in the first quarter and took advantage of it. After kicker Ronnie Pfeffer of Kitchener, Ont., recorded a rouge on a 65-yard punt, D. Campbell scored his first touchdown of the afternoon on Laurier’s next possessi on. From his own 50-yard line, he broke outside and ran away from the York defenders for a 60-yard major, giving Laurier an 8-0 lead.

Leading 10-0 heading to the second quarter, the Hawks’ offence stalled as they only picked up four first downs against the wind, allowing York to climb back into the game. A pair of field goals and a rouge from kicker Nick Naylor of Abbotsford, B.C., pulled the Lions to within three points at halftime.

The third quarter was not much better for Laurier. With the Lions doing a good job of maintaining possession against the wind, quarterback James Fracas of Waterloo, Ont., and the Hawks’ offence were only able to manage a 34-yard field goal from Pfeffer in the quarter. However, the continued strong play of the Hawks’ defence kept them in front 13-7 heading to the fourth.

Early in the final quarter, quarterback Jahmari Bennett of Mississauga, Ont., connected on an 81-yard pass to Mahlique Marks of North York, Ont., t o put the Lions deep into Laurier territory. Another good defensive stand kept York out of the endzone but Naylor connected on his third field goal of the afternoon to pull his team to within three points.

With a possible upset looming over their heads, the Hawks responded in a big way. D. Campbell featured heavily in an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by his second touchdown of the day, a 17-yard score, to give the Hawks some breathing room. The touchdown run also pushed D. Campbell over the 1,000 yard mark and gave him 10 touchdowns on the season, matching the second-most in school history.

Laurier put the game out of reach on their next possession when Fracas faked the handoff to D. Campbell and instead gave it to S. Campbell who broke his way through the Lions’ defence for his second career touchdown.

Despite the loss, Bennett had a breakout game for York and helped keep his team in the game all afternoon. He finished the game throwing for 255 yards and rushing for a team-high 62 yards.

Despite the strong afternoon from the Lions’ pivot, Laurier’s defence contained him when needed, led by a strong effort from Ese Mrabure-Ajufo of Mississauga, Ont., and the Hawks’ defensive line. Mrabure-Ajufo recorded a season-best 5.5 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, while fellow defensive end Kwaku Boateng of Milton, Ont., had a team-high 6.5 tackles and a sack. In total, Laurier’s defence registered six sacks and are now second in the OUA in total sacks with 17.

With the victory, Laurier improves to 4-1 on the season and sit in a four-way tie for second place in the conference along with Guelph, Windsor and Western. The Hawks will have a chance to break away from at least one of those three teams next week as they travel to London to battle the Mustangs on Thursday, October 9.

“Our guys are ready,” said Faulds, who will return to coach at his alma mater for the first time as Laurier&r squo;s bench boss. “We’ve got a really short week, we go down to London on Thursday, so it changes our schedule quite a bit. Our guys will be ready. They’ll be excited to play at Western. “

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

NOTES: Pfeffer’s third quarter field goal was the 50th of his career…receiver Anthony Pizzuti of Hamilton, added another six catches to his season total and now has 28 on the year…attendance at the game on a rainy afternoon was 806.

Photo credit:  Adam Gagnon

Source: Jamie Howieson, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Sports Information

 

York vs. Wilfrid Laurier at Waterloo, Ont. 10/4/2014 at 1:07 PM
York 10	Laurier 27

Gryphons improve to 4-1 with huge road win over Windsor Lancers

Windsor  – In cool, windy conditions in Windsor, the sixth ranked Guelph Gryphons football team picked up a crucial road win over the previously undefeated Lancers.  Both teams now sit at 4-1 in the standings. 
 
It is hard to believe that the Gryphons defence could actually improve after posting a shutout two weeks ago in their homecoming win over Queen’s, but they did just that.  The focus for the Gryphons defence coming into this one, not surprisingly, was finding a way to contain the Lancers potent quarterback-receiver tandem of Austin Kennedy (Windsor, Ont.) and Evan Pszczonak (Amherstburg, Ont.).  In the first half, Pszczonak was limited to one catch while Kennedy was sacked three times and threw two interceptions.
 
For the Gryphons, the return of starting free safety Tristan Doughlin (Toronto, Ont.) could not have come at a better time.  The third year defensive back suffered a dislocated elbow in the Gryphons home opener versus U of T on Sept. 6, but just three weeks later was back on the field making an impact.  In the 1^st quarter, Doughlin announced his return by picking off Kennedy on the Guelph goaline.  The Gryphons offense would concede a safety on the ensuing play – resulting in Windsor’s only points of the entire first half.
 
The Gryphons led 3-2 after the 1^st quarter of play and in the 2^nd would get a spark from the special teams unit. A blocked punt by Fraser Speakman (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) gave Guelph a short field and would lead to a Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont.) field goal to make it 6-2 Gryphons. 
 
The Guelph defence, which recorded 10 sacks in their last outing, would then continue to get pressure in the backfield.  A sack from Curtis Newton (London, Ont.) forced the Lancers to once again punt it away.  That’s when the Gryphons were able to put together their first solid drive on offence.  Johnny Augustine (Welland, Ont.) and Robert Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) powered their way for a few first downs on the ground.  Once inside the red zone, a completed pass from Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) to Lucas Spagnuolo (Grimsby, Ont.) put the ball at the Lancers one yard line.  Farquharson would punch it in from there for the only touchdown of the opening half to make it 13-2 Gryphons. 
 
Austin Kennedy had the Lancers on the move late in the 2^nd, but a great leaping interception by Colin Mandich (London, Ont.) in the endzone helped the Gryphons take an 18-2 lead into the locker room.
 
Windsor would finally find the endzone in the 3^rd quarter, but not through the air.  Lancers running back Tarrence Crawford (Windsor, Ont.) would score his first CIS touchdown and trim the deficit to 18-9.
 
It would stay that way until the 4^th, where the Gryphons would get another big play from the special teams unit.  A 43-yard punt return by Spagnuolo led to Ferraro’s fourth field goal of the day giving Guelph a 21-9 lead.
 
Windsor fans in attendance anticipating an Austin Kennedy-led comeback would leave disappointed as the Gryphons defence continued to come up with big plays.  With the ball on Guelph’s 32 yard line, Kennedy was pressured and in desperation would try to shovel an ill-advised pass to avoid the sack. Instead, he was picked off for the third time on the day, this one by Nicholas Parisotto (Guelph, Ont.).
Kennedy, who came in averaging over 320 yards passing per game, finished the day with 166 yards passing.  Evan Pszczonak, who came into the game averaging just over 160 yards receiving per game, finished the day with just 4 catches for 56 yards. 
 
Gryphons kicker Daniel Ferraro will be a serious contender for provincial and national player of the week honours as he converted on five of his six field goal attempts despite the windy conditions.
 
With the defense and special teams leading the way, the numbers were modest for the Gryphons on offense.  Jazz Lindsey spread the ball around, completing passes to seven different receivers. 
 
The Gryphons will next take the field under the lights at Alumni Stadium on Friday, October 10 when they take on the Carleton Ravens.  Kickoff is set for 7pm and will be webcast on oua.tv

Source:  Guelph Gryphons Sports Information

Windsor – The Windsor Lancer football team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at the hand of the Guelph Gryphons during Alumni Weekend in Windsor.

The Blue & Gold fell 24-9 to the visiting Gryphons, and both clubs now sit at 4-1 on the season.

Lancer running back Tarrance Crawford had the lone touchdown for Windsor on an eight yard run in the third quarter. He finished the game with 128 yards on 26 carries.

Fifth year quarterback Austin Kennedy went 20-33-3 for 166 yards, while Evan Pszczonak led all Lancer receivers with 56 yards.

Frank Renaud led the Lancer defense with 9 total tackles and one sack, while Stephon Miller had 1.5 sacks for 11 yards and Jordan Deneau had half a sack.

Windsor got on the board first when the Gryphons conceded a safety eight and half minutes into the first quarter.

The Gryphons then went on a 18-0 run that extended into the third quarter and included three field goals by Guelph kicker Daniel Ferraro, and a one yard touchdown from Rob Farquharson in the second quarter.

After Crawford’s touchdown in the third, Ferraro added another two field goals in the fourth quarter to secure the win for the Gryphons.

Windsor will return to the field on Friday night when they host the Ottawa Gee Gees (4-2) under the lights at Alumni Field. Kick-off is set for 7:07pm. It is Windsor Minor Football Day, so all Windsor minor football players wearing their team jersey will get in free to the game, as well as the first 500 fans into the stadium will receive an autographed Evan Pszczonak poster.

Source:  Windsor Lancers Sports Information

The uOttawa Gee-Gees sprinted to a 45-0 lead just before halftime and cruised from there to a 51-10 thrashing of the University of Waterloo Warriors on a damp Saturday afternoon.

With the game out of reach, a lot of the uOttawa starters saw rest in the second half but they had done their job contributing to a solid win. The win improves Ottawa’s record to 4-2 and has them still very much in the hunt for a top seed in a conference.

“They all understood how important this game was,” said head coach Jamie Barresi. “We knew this opponent was as good as the ones we’ve played but the thing was we had changes in front of us. So that was the emphasis. We had to play a full four quarters. That was a challenge. We hadn’t done that all year. Just in terms of the playoff race, every game’s a playoff game.”

“The thing I was most pleased about was that we played a lot of guys who would normally not play. We were able to rest a lot of guys, we took them off the roster and so the other guys got some work and that was important.”

With a field goal resulting in the first points of the game just four plays into the game, it was clear the Gee-Gees offence was ready to go hard at a Warriors defence that has given up the most points in the CIS.

Even the Gee-Gees defence got in on the scoring near the end of the first half via defensive linemanCorbin Maxwell, after batting a pass in the air, intercepted it and rumbled 51 yards to the house.

In just one half of work, starting quarterback Derek Wendel went 11-for-15 for 288 yards and three touchdown passes which he made look easy. Even though the balance of scoring was tipped way in the Gee-Gees favour they possessed the ball five minutes less than Waterloo. Each scoring drive was quick and efficient.

“I think the win gives us some more confidence,” said Bryce Vieira who continued his strong play in the absence of Mack Tommy, recording a career-high 271 all-purpose yards, 101 of them rushing yards. The rookie was directly responsible for two of the six Gee-Gees major scores.

“We had a tough week with a lot of injuries a lot of guys had to sit out. Plus midterms are coming and exams are coming,” added Vieira. “But this win, it helps establish why we’re here and what we want to accomplish.”

“Any team can beat any team so you have to come out ready to play and that’s exactly what we did. Windsor’s going to be a big one (next week), we’re all pumped for that one now.”

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information

WAT vs. OTT at Ottawa 10/4/2014 at 13:00
Waterloo 10	Ottawa 51