September 7, 2010
COME FROM BEHIND FOOTBALL VICTORIES ROCK WEEK 2
Excitement ensued over Labour Day weekend, with eight OUA football teams taking to the turf. The fourth quarter was deciding factor in come from behind wins for both Ottawa and McMaster.
With 30 seconds left on the clock Gee-Gees quarterback Brad Sinopoli found Steven Hughes for the winning touchdown to give Ottawa their first win over Western since 2007.
The Marauders were down by two touchdowns heading into the fourth quarter of play against Wilfrid Laurier, but were able to run in both to secure the 26-24 win. This is McMaster’s first win over the Hawks since the 2003 Yates Cup.
Guelph and Windsor were also both victorious, holding on to their early leads.
With the wins Ottawa, McMaster and Guelph advance to 2-0 on the season while Western and Windsor settle to 1-1. Wilfrid Laurier and Toronto fall to 0-2 and York begins their season 0-1.
Western Mustangs @ Ottawa Gee-Gees
A rainy and cool September afternoon wasn’t enough to stop the uOttawa Gee-Gees, ranked 5th in the CIS, to battle back from a 13-19 deficit and beat the visiting number 9 ranked Western Mustangs. The final score was 20-19 in a thrilling Labour Day match-up at Frank Clair Stadium. It is the team’s second win in a row.
Adding to the game was a boisterous crowd of 6,274 people, a large part made up by first-year 101 week students.
The game also marked uOttawa’s first win against Western since 2007, giving the team a boost of confidence.
“I feel like we have big things coming for this season,” said fifth-year defensive back Chayce Elliott, Burnaby, B.C., “especially winning against Western.”
The Gee-Gees found themselves down early in the first quarter thanks to back-to-back field goals by second-year Western kicker Lirim Hajrullahu. By the end of the quarter, the Gee-Gees found themselves on the board thanks to third-year kicker Matt Falvo of Welland, Ont., trailing 3-6.
In the second quarter, the Gee-Gees would take a slim lead for the first time in the game thanks to a great pass from fourth-year quarterback Brad Sinopoli, Peterborough, Ont., to third-year receiver Ezra Millington of Newmarket, Ont.; however, Western answered quickly with a touchdown of their own thanks to fifth-year receiver Mike Hegarty, leaving the score 16-10 for Western at half-time.
The Gee-Gees had two chances in the third quarter to again take the lead but were stymied each time by an effective Western defence who picked off Sinopoli’s passes just outside the endzone.
“We’re going to learn from these mistakes,” said Sinopoli, “I can’t be throwing those balls, but in the end we won and that’s all that matters.”
The fourth quarter provided much of the excitement for the game, as the energy of the crowd hit fever pitch. Down by seven after another Western field goal, uOttawa found themselves in possession with less than 1:30 to go. Thanks to Sinopoli and fourth-year receiver Steven Hughes, Ottawa, Ont., the Gee-Gees led an impressive drive down the field. With 30 seconds to go in the game, Sinopoli would connect with Hughes again for the winning touchdown. To seal the deal, Falvo would make his kick good for the extra point.
Gee-Gees head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin was pleased with his team’s efforts.
“Win or lose, I think we played close to our potential today and that’s a real positive.”
Source: Gee-Gees Athletics
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks @ McMaster Marauders
After narrowly defeating the Queen's Gaels on the final play in their opening game of the 2010 season the #10 McMaster Marauders overcame a twenty-point half time deficit, and in the process broke a nine game losing streak against the #6 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, with a 26-24 upset win in front of 5630 fans on Monday afternoon at McMaster's Ron Joyce Stadium.
The win for the Marauders is the first against the Hawks since November 8th, 2003 when Laurier fell in the Yates Cup 41-17 at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Following an uneventful first quarter that saw Laurier ahead 3-0 on a rouge and safety, the Golden Hawks scored 19 unanswered points to take a 22-0 lead into half time. Laurier's first touchdown came when quarter back Evan Pawliuk (Kingston, Ont.) connected on a 33-yard pass to 2009 CIS first team all-canadian Dillon Heap (Waterloo, Ont.) The Golden Hawks then capitalized on a botched McMaster exchange from centre that was recovered and returned 60 yards by Giancarlo Rapanaro (Niagara Falls, Ont.) for their second touchdown of the quarter.
The Golden Hawk defence had a solid first half only allowing 65 yards on 30 plays while the offence was able to capitalize with 211 yards on 31 plays.
However, McMaster regrouped coming out of the locker room for the second half. The Marauders outscored the Golden Hawks 26-4 in the remaining two quarters sparked by a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Quinlan (South Woodslee, Ont.) to Michael DiCroce (Hamilton, Ont.) to start their scoring run. First year kicker Tyler Crapigna (Ottawa, Ont.) continued his consistent kicking adding a field goal to cut the lead by ten points heading into the fourth.
As the game progressed, the Marauders continued to adjust on offence putting up a combined 329 yards of total offence to Laurier's 146.
The final quarter proved to be a dramatic one. With McMaster still trailing by two touchdowns they marched down the field and a one yard Joey Nemet (Burlington, Ont.) touchdown run capped a seven play 104 yard drive to cut the Laurier lead to 22-17. After Laurier conceded a safety, Quinlan concluded another long drive with a 14-yard touchdown run of his own to put McMaster ahead 26-22 with 2:41 remaining in the contest.
Quinlan passed for 264 yards in the second half finishing of 32 for 286 yards on the day.
For the second straight game it was the McMaster defence that had to secure the win in the dying seconds. With McMaster ahead by four with just over two minutes to play Laurier put together a 13 play 85 yard drive that had them sitting first and goal on the McMaster one yard line with 34 seconds to play. Anton Bennett (Toronto, Ont.) looked like he had put the Golden Hawks ahead when he made a dive for the goal line, but he couldn't hold on to the ball and McMaster linebacker Ryan Chmielewski (St Catharines, Ont.) came up with the fumble to essentially end the ball game.
Michael DiCroce was key in the McMaster comeback finishing the afternoon with 151 yards on 8 catches and a touchdown. Jordan Kozina (Brantford, Ont.) finished with 10 carries for 61 yards and Joey Nemet had 13 carries for 58 yards on the ground. On defence, Roberto Filice (Stoney Creek, Ont.) had 6.5 tackles and Byron Metcalfe (Pickering, Ont.) had 5.5 tackles. In addition to the fumble recovery, Chmielewski had 5 tackles and an interception.
For Laurier, Pawliuk threw for 279 yards on 21 of 37 passing and a touchdown. Heap finished with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Bennett was the top Laurier rusher with 53 yards on 16 carries. Daniel Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.) led the Laurier defence with 7.5 tackles.
With the win McMaster improved to 2-0 on the season and Laurier dropped to 0-2 for the first time since the 2002 season.
Source: Marauders Athletics
Guelph Gryphons @ York Lions
Nick FitzGibbon ran for 167 yards and scored two touchdowns to help the Guelph Gryphon football team defeat the York Lions, 26-2 on Monday afternoon at York Stadium.
FitzGibbon led the offence and was busy all afternoon, leading the team with 177 all purpose yards including 167 rushing yards on 22 carries. He scored both touchdowns for the Gryphons on separate one-yard runs into the end zone.
Leading the receiving core was second-year Dillion Dimitroff (Burlington, Ont.) who tallied three catches for 58 yards, while fourth-year Jedd Gardner (Niagara Falls, Ont.) finished with two catches for 46 yards. Quarterback Chris Rossetti (Mississauga, Ont.) was 11-for-22 passing for 178 yards and ran for 29 yards on five carries.
The Lions (0-1) earned their only two points on a safety conceded by Guelph in the first quarter.
Both teams got off to a slow start on offence as the game remained scoreless for much of the first quarter. The Lions opened the scoring with the safety nine minutes into the contest. Guelph responded on the next drive with a field goal by first year kicker Julian Tropea (Niagara Falls, Ont.) to put the score at 3-2 after the opening quarter of play. Tropea was given his first start as a Gryphon.
The Gryphons started off the second with a rouge and scored the first major of the game at the 9:05 mark of the quarter on Fitzgibbon’s first touchdown to make the score 11-2. Tropea recorded another rouge and his second field goal of the game before the end of the quarter to make the score 15-2 at the half.
The only other major score came on Fitzgibbon’s second touchdown of the day just under five minutes into the third quarter. Two other team-conceded safeties by the Lions rounded out the scoring.
The Gryphons were served several costly penalties in the game. Overall Guelph was given 16 penalties for 138 yards, compared to York’s 122 yards on 14 penalties.
The Gryphons will have time to enjoy the win as they sit out for a week before getting back on the field at home on Saturday, September 18 against the Queen’s Gaels (0-1).
“We’re moving into the hard part of our schedule with a couple big games coming up and we need to clean up our penalties and assignment errors,” said defensive coordinator Kevin MacNeill. “We can’t afford to not be perfect against the defending Vanier Cup champions.”
Source: Gryphons Athletics
Windsor Lancers @ Toronto Varsity Blues
Led by a strong performance from kicker Robert Eeuwes, the Lancer Football team defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 26-17 on Monday night at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.
With the victory, the Lancers move to 1-1 in conference play.
On Monday night, Windsor took a comanding 10-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to an efficient offensive attack against the Varsity Blues.
Early on, Lancer quarterback Sam Malian wasted no time finding receiver Cory Fernandes for a touchdown just three minutes into the game to put the Lancers up by seven.
Four minutes later, kicker Rober Eeuwes sent his first of five field goals through the up-rights from 30 yards out to add to the Windsor lead, 10-0.
Eeuwes, a fifth year law student, continued his big night as he added to the lead in the second quarter, giving Windsor a 17-0 advantage heading into the half.
The Lancers would continue to add to their lead in the third quarter as they took a commanding 23-0 lead heading into the final quarter.
Toronto tried to mount a late charge as they scored 17 points in the final quarter, but it was not enough as the Lancers earned the 26-17 victory.
The Lancer defense did an excellent job against the run game, as they held the Varisty Blues to a mere 33 rushing yards for the entire contest. Akeem Whonder and Brad Adams led the defense attack with 5 solo tackles a piece.
Sam Malian had another strong game for Windsor as he completed 24 of 34 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Jordan Brescacin had a big night for the Lancers as he hauled in 13 catches for 118 yards.
With the victory, the Lancers move to 1-1 in conference play.
On Monday night, Windsor took a comanding 10-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to an efficient offensive attack against the Varsity Blues.
Early on, Lancer quarterback Sam Malian wasted no time finding receiver Cory Fernandes for a touchdown just three minutes into the game to put the Lancers up by seven.
Four minutes later, kicker Rober Eeuwes sent his first of five field goals through the up-rights from 30 yards out to add to the Windsor lead, 10-0.
Eeuwes, a fifth year law student, continued his big night as he added to the lead in the second quarter, giving Windsor a 17-0 advantage heading into the half.
The Lancers would continue to add to their lead in the third quarter as they took a commanding 23-0 lead heading into the final quarter.
Toronto tried to mount a late charge as they scored 17 points in the final quarter, but it was not enough as the Lancers earned the 26-17 victory.
The Lancer defense did an excellent job against the run game, as they held the Varisty Blues to a mere 33 rushing yards for the entire contest. Akeem Whonder and Brad Adams led the defense attack with 5 solo tackles a piece.
Sam Malian had another strong game for Windsor as he completed 24 of 34 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Jordan Brescacin had a big night for the Lancers as he hauled in 13 catches for 118 yards.
Source: Lancers Athletics
OUA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Mon. Sept. 6
Guelph, 26 @York, 2
Western 19, @ Ottawa 20
Wilfrid Laurier, 24 @ McMaster, 26
Guelph, 26 @York, 2
Western 19, @ Ottawa 20
Wilfrid Laurier, 24 @ McMaster, 26
Windsor, 26 @ Toronto, 17
Sat. Sept. 11
1:00 p.m. Ottawa @ York
1:00 p.m. McMcaster @ Western – University Rush LIVE on The Score
1:00 p.m. McMcaster @ Western – University Rush LIVE on The Score
7:00 p.m. Toronto @ Wilfrid Laurier
Sun. Sept 12
1:00 p.m. Windsor @ Queen’s
1:00 p.m. Windsor @ Queen’s
