October 21, 2005
OUA AND CIS MARKS COULD BE SET THIS SATURDAY
On the eve of the final weekend of the Ontario University Athletics football regular season, fans around the province may get the opportunity to see various league and Canadian Interuniversity Sport records broken, with other players climbing up career lists. By the end of the weekend games, a selection of OUA leaders could also establish national season highs in major rushing, receiving, passing and defensive categories.
Western Mustangs wide receiver Andy Fantuz has already rewritten the CIS record books in his first three seasons of OUA football. The Chatham, ON native is currently the career leader in receiving yardage with 4,012 and career receiving touchdowns with 40 but Fantuz is on the verge of another major milestone. With four catches in this weekend’s upcoming game against the Queen’s Golden Gaels, Fantuz will surpass the CIS receptions record held by current Laurier Golden Hawks offensive coordinator Stefan Ptaszek. Ptaszek had 186 catches in his career with Laurier from 1990 to 1994.
Fantuz currently leads the CIS with 11 touchdown receptions in 2005. If he gets three more touchdowns on Saturday, Fantuz will eclipse the OUA single season record of 13, shared by Ptaszek (1994) and Queen’s standout Craig Spear (2003). He already has three multi-TD games, including four in Western’s 55-31 win over the McMaster Marauders in week three of the regular season. If Fantuz is able to surpass both marks, the day will be extra memorable for some fans in attendance as Western will be handing out Fantuz Bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans to enter TD Waterhouse Stadium. His 66 points also puts him on top of the CIS scoring list.
Fifth-year Laurier quarterback Ryan Pyear has the chance to pass the OUA mark for the highest completion percentage in a single season. Pyear has completed 97 of 146 pass attempts (66.4 per cent) through seven games and with a good effort against the Guelph Gryphons Saturday, he could top the mark of 68.5 per cent set by Guelph’s Mike Shoemaker in 1988. If Pyear were able to throw five touchdown passes this week, he would also tie Western’s Chris Hessel for second on the career OUA list with 62.
McMaster receiver Vaughan Swart currently has 146 receptions in his career. He needs six more catches to surpass former Marauder Ryan Janzen to take third spot on the OUA’s all-time list behind Fantuz and Ptaszek, also establishing a school record.
Numerous OUA players currently sit as the national leaders in various major categories. Ottawa Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sacobie could finish the regular season leading the country in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes. He enters the final game of the year against the York Lions (seen on The Score Television Network) with CIS highs 129 completions (in 224 attempts), 1,864 yards and 16 touchdown passes.
Daryl Stephenson, a second-year running back on the Windsor Lancers, leads the CIS in rushing yards with 1,194, following up a successful rookie campaign that saw him rush for 1,192 yards, which was a CIS record for a freshman. Stephenson is currently 280 yards ahead of the second-place CIS rusher, David Stevens of the Saskatchewan Huskies. He needs 84 yards Saturday to establish the fifth-best single season total in the OUA, held by Waterloo Warriors running back Jarrett Smith with 1,275 in 1997.
While Fantuz has got the bulk of the headlines, he is not the yardage leader among CIS receivers. That honour goes to Guelph’s Jeff Keegan, who has a season-high total of 734 yards on 35 catches through seven games. Ottawa’s Adam Nicholson leads the country with 40 catches and is within striking distance of Keegan’s yardage total at 689. Nicholson has 22 catches for 451 yards and six touchdowns in the past four games so he enters the York game on a roll.
On defense, Queen’s linebacker Ian Hazlett has 56 total tackles on the season, half a tackle behind the CIS leader Patrick Donovan of the Concordia Stingers.
Western’ defensive back Matthew Carapella is tied with Steve McCart of the StFX X-men and Cory Huclack of the Manitoba Bisons with five interceptions.
As a team, the Mustangs need 35 points to become the second most prolific offense in OUA history. Western has 364 points through seven games, third on the list behind McMaster’s 2004 squad that scored 398. The Marauders hold the league record with 424 points in 2003.
- O U A -
Enquires can be addressed to:
David DiCenzo
Communications and Media Relations Coordinator
Ontario University Athletics
Phone: 905-540-5156
Fax: 905-540-5149
Email: david.dicenzo@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca
Western Mustangs wide receiver Andy Fantuz has already rewritten the CIS record books in his first three seasons of OUA football. The Chatham, ON native is currently the career leader in receiving yardage with 4,012 and career receiving touchdowns with 40 but Fantuz is on the verge of another major milestone. With four catches in this weekend’s upcoming game against the Queen’s Golden Gaels, Fantuz will surpass the CIS receptions record held by current Laurier Golden Hawks offensive coordinator Stefan Ptaszek. Ptaszek had 186 catches in his career with Laurier from 1990 to 1994.
Fantuz currently leads the CIS with 11 touchdown receptions in 2005. If he gets three more touchdowns on Saturday, Fantuz will eclipse the OUA single season record of 13, shared by Ptaszek (1994) and Queen’s standout Craig Spear (2003). He already has three multi-TD games, including four in Western’s 55-31 win over the McMaster Marauders in week three of the regular season. If Fantuz is able to surpass both marks, the day will be extra memorable for some fans in attendance as Western will be handing out Fantuz Bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans to enter TD Waterhouse Stadium. His 66 points also puts him on top of the CIS scoring list.
Fifth-year Laurier quarterback Ryan Pyear has the chance to pass the OUA mark for the highest completion percentage in a single season. Pyear has completed 97 of 146 pass attempts (66.4 per cent) through seven games and with a good effort against the Guelph Gryphons Saturday, he could top the mark of 68.5 per cent set by Guelph’s Mike Shoemaker in 1988. If Pyear were able to throw five touchdown passes this week, he would also tie Western’s Chris Hessel for second on the career OUA list with 62.
McMaster receiver Vaughan Swart currently has 146 receptions in his career. He needs six more catches to surpass former Marauder Ryan Janzen to take third spot on the OUA’s all-time list behind Fantuz and Ptaszek, also establishing a school record.
Numerous OUA players currently sit as the national leaders in various major categories. Ottawa Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sacobie could finish the regular season leading the country in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes. He enters the final game of the year against the York Lions (seen on The Score Television Network) with CIS highs 129 completions (in 224 attempts), 1,864 yards and 16 touchdown passes.
Daryl Stephenson, a second-year running back on the Windsor Lancers, leads the CIS in rushing yards with 1,194, following up a successful rookie campaign that saw him rush for 1,192 yards, which was a CIS record for a freshman. Stephenson is currently 280 yards ahead of the second-place CIS rusher, David Stevens of the Saskatchewan Huskies. He needs 84 yards Saturday to establish the fifth-best single season total in the OUA, held by Waterloo Warriors running back Jarrett Smith with 1,275 in 1997.
While Fantuz has got the bulk of the headlines, he is not the yardage leader among CIS receivers. That honour goes to Guelph’s Jeff Keegan, who has a season-high total of 734 yards on 35 catches through seven games. Ottawa’s Adam Nicholson leads the country with 40 catches and is within striking distance of Keegan’s yardage total at 689. Nicholson has 22 catches for 451 yards and six touchdowns in the past four games so he enters the York game on a roll.
On defense, Queen’s linebacker Ian Hazlett has 56 total tackles on the season, half a tackle behind the CIS leader Patrick Donovan of the Concordia Stingers.
Western’ defensive back Matthew Carapella is tied with Steve McCart of the StFX X-men and Cory Huclack of the Manitoba Bisons with five interceptions.
As a team, the Mustangs need 35 points to become the second most prolific offense in OUA history. Western has 364 points through seven games, third on the list behind McMaster’s 2004 squad that scored 398. The Marauders hold the league record with 424 points in 2003.
- O U A -
Enquires can be addressed to:
David DiCenzo
Communications and Media Relations Coordinator
Ontario University Athletics
Phone: 905-540-5156
Fax: 905-540-5149
Email: david.dicenzo@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca
