October 11, 2008
OUA FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: GAELS CLINCH TOP SPOT
KINGSTON, Ont. - Danny Brannagan (Burlington, Ont.) threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers en route to a 38-16 Queen's Gaels win over Ottawa Gee-Gees. With the win, the No. 2 Queen's Gaels secured home field advantage throughout the OUA playoffs and improved their league leading record to a perfect 7-0.
Brannagan went 21 for 33 while posting 341 yards in passing. The mark also moved him ahead of two-time Hec Crighton award recipient Tom Dennison as the Gaels all-time leading passer. Dennison had set the mark from 2001 to 2003 with 7,592 passing yards while Brannagan now sits at 7,792 for his career.
"I will appreciate this more down the line," said Brannagan following the game, "the only record I care about is 7-0."
Three different receivers contributed touchdowns with Devan Sheahan (Kingston, Ont.), collecting two while Mark Surya (Burlington, Ont.) and Blase Morrison (Bedford, N.S.) each recorded one. Previously, all three receivers had not registered a touchdown this season.
Scott Valberg (Kingston, Ont.) was the Gaels top receiver recording six catches for 131-yards with his longest coming on a 50-yard reception from Brannagan.
Queen's defence was stingy shutting down one of OUA's top passing offences and limiting Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sacobie (Fredericton, N.B.) to just 202 passing yards. The majority of those yards came in the second half with Ottawa trying to play catch-up.
The Gaels had 285 yards of total offence to 71 for the Gee-Gees through the first two quarters, finishing with 412 yards to the Gee-Gees 273.
Entering the day, Sacobie needed 439 yards to become the first CIS quarterback to break 10,000 passing yards but that record will have to wait another week as Queen's prevented him from eclipsing that mark keeping him 237 yards off the pace. Sacobie now sits at 9,763 passing yards for his career. McGill's Matt Connell (St. Bruno, Que.) also has a chance to break the 10,000-yard barrier next week. He sits at 9,856 yards. Both trail McMaster alumni Ben Chapdelaine in the record books who is the current all-time leading passer with 9,974 yards.
Defensively Osie Ukwuoma (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded three solo tackles and two sacks while Chris Smith (Toronto, Ont.) pitched in with five solo tackles for Queen's
The Gaels dominated first half play both offensively and defensively. Queen's registered 21 points in the first quarter scoring on a 26-yard pass from Brannagan to Sheahan on the opening drive. Approximately 10 minutes later Brannagan connected with Surya on a five-yard pass to make the score 14-0.
Ottawa then handed the Gaels a gift with a botched punt snap which gave the Gaels possession in the red zone. That led to a one-yard touchdown run by Brannagan to make the score 21-0 to close out the first quarter.
The Gee-Gees struggled throughout the first half and didn't register a point until a conceded safety midway through the third quarter. Ottawa scored their first major at 14:27 of the fourth quarter, and added another touchdown two minutes later to end its offensive output. Both touchdowns were scored by rookie Gee-Gees running back Felix Desjardins-Potvin (Hull, Que.).
The last time Queen's had defeated their rival from the nation's capital was on Sept. 7, 2002 when the Gaels earned a 29-28 victory over the Gee-Gees. Up until Saturday's game the Gaels had lost five previous match-ups against the Gee-Gees. Last year Ottawa needed a last-minute Sacobie pass to earn the 13-12 victory.
CIS leading rusher Mike Giffin (Kingston, Ont.) had 21 attempts dashing for 72 yards and no touchdowns. Late in the game, Giffin surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau for the second time in his career and passed Larry Mohr as Queen's all-time rushing leader. During his career Mohr had rushed for 3,015 yards while Giffin now has 3,018 and with one regular season game yet to play this year.
Next week Queen's will travel to Waterloo to take on the 2-5 University of Waterloo Warriors which will close the regular season. During the opening week of the playoffs, the Gaels have earned a bye and will play their next home game on November 1. Tickets for the OUA Semi-Final are priced between $5.00-$15.00 and can be purchased by calling 613.533.2500.
NOTES: The last time Queen's started a season 7-0 was in 1989… Several school records fell for the Gaels on Saturday including Brannagan becoming the all-time leading passer and Giffin becoming all-time leading rusher. Kicker Dan Village (Abbotsford, B.C.), has now recorded the most converts in a season (41); Brannagan has the most passing attempts in a career (892) along with most passing touchdowns in a career (59).
Source: Gaels Athletics
LAURIER 50, MCMASTER 31
WATERLOO, Ont. – Luke Thompson (London, Ont.) threw for 355 yards and accounted for five touchdowns to lead the No. 10 nationally-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks over the McMaster Marauders 50-31 in front of 2,020 fans at University Stadium.
With the win the Hawks have now secured a home playoff date as the OUA quarter-final will take place on Sat., Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at Knight-Newbrough Field.
"We're just scratching the surface on our potential," said Thompson. "When our receivers get the ball in their hands, they just make something special happen."
Thompson used eight different receivers throughout the game including a 101-yard touchdown reception to Josh Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.). His other two receiving seven-point scores went to Shamawd Chambers (Markham, Ont.) and Troy Leach (Barrie, Ont.). The Golden Hawk quarterback also rushed for 76 yards in nine attempts and two touchdowns.
Marauder quarterback Ryan Fantham (London, Ont.) completed 33 passes for 497 yards including four touchdowns and two interceptions. His top target was Kevin D'Hollander who caught 12 receptions for 199 yards and two scores. McMaster scored all of their majors through the air.
The game went back and forth until the beginning of the third quarter when the Hawks broke open the game by scoring 21 points. McMaster attempted to surge in the fourth, but Laurier capitalized on turnovers to negate the Marauders advantage.
Both teams were stymied on the ground with Laurier toping McMaster gaining 134 yards versus the Marauders 74.
Top defensive Hawks were Shane Burns (Burlington, Ont.) with 13.5 tackles, rookie Mitchell Bosch (Langley, B.C.) had seven tackles while Courtney Stephen (Brampton, Ont.) picked up 5.5 as well as two knockdowns, a fumble recovery and an interception.
"We have York next week and we aren't going to take that lightly," commented Thompson. "We're going to continue to get better."
Wilfrid Laurier travels to Toronto to face the York Lions for their final regular season game on Sat., Oct. 18. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be live on Rogers Television in Toronto.
Source: Golden Hawks Athletics
GUELPH 48, YORK 2
GUELPH, Ont. - Running back Nick Fitzgibbon (Puslinch, Ont.) scored two touchdowns in the first half to lead the Guelph Gryphons football team over the York Lions, 48-2 on a beautiful day in front of 750 fans at Alumni Stadium in Guelph.
The Guelph defence played a solid team game holding the Lions to just 219 total yards of offence, compared to Guelph’s 530, en route to the victory.
Fitzgibbon would start the offensive assault just 2:26 into the first quarter when he took a hand off from Justin Dunk (Guelph, Ont.) and ran the ball eight yards down the middle of the field to pay dirt. He would finish the day off with 99 yards on just 11 carries to go along with three receptions for 87 yards and another major through the air.
The aforementioned reception touchdown came 46 seconds into the second quarter when Fitzgibbon made a spectacular effort on a one-handed catch and preceded to running 50 yards to the end zone. The first half would end with Guelph ahead 25-2, with the game somewhat out of reach for York.
The second half of play was dominated by the great play of the Gryphon defence and another electrifying special teams effort by wideout Jedd Gardner (Niagara Falls, Ont.). Linebacker Adam Dunk (Guelph, Ont.) had two bone-crunching sacks on York quarterback Brian Fortier (Niagara Falls, Ont.) to lead the defence in an all-around effective day in which York could only muster 97 rushing yards all game.
With the Gryphons up 29-2 and just over a minute left in the third quarter York missed a field goal wide to the right.
Equally demoralizing for the Lions was the fact that the kick was returned 128 yards the other way for the score by Gardner, who did the exact same thing to Waterloo last week. The second-year receiver would put the icing on the Gryphon’s cake with 5:18 left in the game in which he fielded a David Dror (Richmond Hill, Ont.) punt and raced up the right sideline for 83 yards for his second special-teams touchdown of the game. Gardner would finish the day with an impressive 326 total yards in receiving, rushing, and returning.
Next up for Guelph (4-3) is a crucial visit to No. 5 Western (6-1) next Saturday at 1 p.m. to finish the regular season. York (0-7) will play host to the Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2), also at 1 p.m.
Source: Gryphons Athletics
Brannagan went 21 for 33 while posting 341 yards in passing. The mark also moved him ahead of two-time Hec Crighton award recipient Tom Dennison as the Gaels all-time leading passer. Dennison had set the mark from 2001 to 2003 with 7,592 passing yards while Brannagan now sits at 7,792 for his career.
"I will appreciate this more down the line," said Brannagan following the game, "the only record I care about is 7-0."
Three different receivers contributed touchdowns with Devan Sheahan (Kingston, Ont.), collecting two while Mark Surya (Burlington, Ont.) and Blase Morrison (Bedford, N.S.) each recorded one. Previously, all three receivers had not registered a touchdown this season.
Scott Valberg (Kingston, Ont.) was the Gaels top receiver recording six catches for 131-yards with his longest coming on a 50-yard reception from Brannagan.
Queen's defence was stingy shutting down one of OUA's top passing offences and limiting Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sacobie (Fredericton, N.B.) to just 202 passing yards. The majority of those yards came in the second half with Ottawa trying to play catch-up.
The Gaels had 285 yards of total offence to 71 for the Gee-Gees through the first two quarters, finishing with 412 yards to the Gee-Gees 273.
Entering the day, Sacobie needed 439 yards to become the first CIS quarterback to break 10,000 passing yards but that record will have to wait another week as Queen's prevented him from eclipsing that mark keeping him 237 yards off the pace. Sacobie now sits at 9,763 passing yards for his career. McGill's Matt Connell (St. Bruno, Que.) also has a chance to break the 10,000-yard barrier next week. He sits at 9,856 yards. Both trail McMaster alumni Ben Chapdelaine in the record books who is the current all-time leading passer with 9,974 yards.
Defensively Osie Ukwuoma (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded three solo tackles and two sacks while Chris Smith (Toronto, Ont.) pitched in with five solo tackles for Queen's
The Gaels dominated first half play both offensively and defensively. Queen's registered 21 points in the first quarter scoring on a 26-yard pass from Brannagan to Sheahan on the opening drive. Approximately 10 minutes later Brannagan connected with Surya on a five-yard pass to make the score 14-0.
Ottawa then handed the Gaels a gift with a botched punt snap which gave the Gaels possession in the red zone. That led to a one-yard touchdown run by Brannagan to make the score 21-0 to close out the first quarter.
The Gee-Gees struggled throughout the first half and didn't register a point until a conceded safety midway through the third quarter. Ottawa scored their first major at 14:27 of the fourth quarter, and added another touchdown two minutes later to end its offensive output. Both touchdowns were scored by rookie Gee-Gees running back Felix Desjardins-Potvin (Hull, Que.).
The last time Queen's had defeated their rival from the nation's capital was on Sept. 7, 2002 when the Gaels earned a 29-28 victory over the Gee-Gees. Up until Saturday's game the Gaels had lost five previous match-ups against the Gee-Gees. Last year Ottawa needed a last-minute Sacobie pass to earn the 13-12 victory.
CIS leading rusher Mike Giffin (Kingston, Ont.) had 21 attempts dashing for 72 yards and no touchdowns. Late in the game, Giffin surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau for the second time in his career and passed Larry Mohr as Queen's all-time rushing leader. During his career Mohr had rushed for 3,015 yards while Giffin now has 3,018 and with one regular season game yet to play this year.
Next week Queen's will travel to Waterloo to take on the 2-5 University of Waterloo Warriors which will close the regular season. During the opening week of the playoffs, the Gaels have earned a bye and will play their next home game on November 1. Tickets for the OUA Semi-Final are priced between $5.00-$15.00 and can be purchased by calling 613.533.2500.
NOTES: The last time Queen's started a season 7-0 was in 1989… Several school records fell for the Gaels on Saturday including Brannagan becoming the all-time leading passer and Giffin becoming all-time leading rusher. Kicker Dan Village (Abbotsford, B.C.), has now recorded the most converts in a season (41); Brannagan has the most passing attempts in a career (892) along with most passing touchdowns in a career (59).
Source: Gaels Athletics
LAURIER 50, MCMASTER 31
WATERLOO, Ont. – Luke Thompson (London, Ont.) threw for 355 yards and accounted for five touchdowns to lead the No. 10 nationally-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks over the McMaster Marauders 50-31 in front of 2,020 fans at University Stadium.
With the win the Hawks have now secured a home playoff date as the OUA quarter-final will take place on Sat., Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at Knight-Newbrough Field.
"We're just scratching the surface on our potential," said Thompson. "When our receivers get the ball in their hands, they just make something special happen."
Thompson used eight different receivers throughout the game including a 101-yard touchdown reception to Josh Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.). His other two receiving seven-point scores went to Shamawd Chambers (Markham, Ont.) and Troy Leach (Barrie, Ont.). The Golden Hawk quarterback also rushed for 76 yards in nine attempts and two touchdowns.
Marauder quarterback Ryan Fantham (London, Ont.) completed 33 passes for 497 yards including four touchdowns and two interceptions. His top target was Kevin D'Hollander who caught 12 receptions for 199 yards and two scores. McMaster scored all of their majors through the air.
The game went back and forth until the beginning of the third quarter when the Hawks broke open the game by scoring 21 points. McMaster attempted to surge in the fourth, but Laurier capitalized on turnovers to negate the Marauders advantage.
Both teams were stymied on the ground with Laurier toping McMaster gaining 134 yards versus the Marauders 74.
Top defensive Hawks were Shane Burns (Burlington, Ont.) with 13.5 tackles, rookie Mitchell Bosch (Langley, B.C.) had seven tackles while Courtney Stephen (Brampton, Ont.) picked up 5.5 as well as two knockdowns, a fumble recovery and an interception.
"We have York next week and we aren't going to take that lightly," commented Thompson. "We're going to continue to get better."
Wilfrid Laurier travels to Toronto to face the York Lions for their final regular season game on Sat., Oct. 18. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be live on Rogers Television in Toronto.
Source: Golden Hawks Athletics
GUELPH 48, YORK 2
GUELPH, Ont. - Running back Nick Fitzgibbon (Puslinch, Ont.) scored two touchdowns in the first half to lead the Guelph Gryphons football team over the York Lions, 48-2 on a beautiful day in front of 750 fans at Alumni Stadium in Guelph.
The Guelph defence played a solid team game holding the Lions to just 219 total yards of offence, compared to Guelph’s 530, en route to the victory.
Fitzgibbon would start the offensive assault just 2:26 into the first quarter when he took a hand off from Justin Dunk (Guelph, Ont.) and ran the ball eight yards down the middle of the field to pay dirt. He would finish the day off with 99 yards on just 11 carries to go along with three receptions for 87 yards and another major through the air.
The aforementioned reception touchdown came 46 seconds into the second quarter when Fitzgibbon made a spectacular effort on a one-handed catch and preceded to running 50 yards to the end zone. The first half would end with Guelph ahead 25-2, with the game somewhat out of reach for York.
The second half of play was dominated by the great play of the Gryphon defence and another electrifying special teams effort by wideout Jedd Gardner (Niagara Falls, Ont.). Linebacker Adam Dunk (Guelph, Ont.) had two bone-crunching sacks on York quarterback Brian Fortier (Niagara Falls, Ont.) to lead the defence in an all-around effective day in which York could only muster 97 rushing yards all game.
With the Gryphons up 29-2 and just over a minute left in the third quarter York missed a field goal wide to the right.
Equally demoralizing for the Lions was the fact that the kick was returned 128 yards the other way for the score by Gardner, who did the exact same thing to Waterloo last week. The second-year receiver would put the icing on the Gryphon’s cake with 5:18 left in the game in which he fielded a David Dror (Richmond Hill, Ont.) punt and raced up the right sideline for 83 yards for his second special-teams touchdown of the game. Gardner would finish the day with an impressive 326 total yards in receiving, rushing, and returning.
Next up for Guelph (4-3) is a crucial visit to No. 5 Western (6-1) next Saturday at 1 p.m. to finish the regular season. York (0-7) will play host to the Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2), also at 1 p.m.
Source: Gryphons Athletics
