OUA RECAPS: Roberts eclipses 300 yard passing mark in Gryphons victory, Harou scores 4 TD’s to help Mustangs trample on Gee-Gees, Malone powers Blues to road win [stats]

Guelph, ON – Saturday afternoon (Oct. 17) at Alumni Stadium, the No. 7-ranked Guelph Gryphons won 41-27 over the Windsor Lancers. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 6-1 on the season while the Lancers fall to 1-6.

Defensively, the Gryphons have been spectacular against the run this season. Coming into this game, they were ranked 2^nd in the CIS, limiting opponents to just 88.3 yards per game on the ground. Windsor surpassed that total on their very first play from scrimmage. Lancers running back Tarrence Crawford took the first handoff of the game and rumbled 91-yards all the way down to the Gryphons 1-yard line. Two plays later, Crawford would punch it in as Windsor jumped out to a 7-0 lead right out of the gates. That lead wouldn’t last long.

After allowing that big play to start the game, the Gryphon defence bounced back on the ensuing possession with a sack from Donnie Egerter forcing Windsor to punt. The Gryphon offence meanwhile were able to get some points on the board thanks to a great catch from senior receiver James Ingram (Guelph, ON). Ingram was able to make an incredible 23-yard grab in double coverage to move the Gryphons into Windsor territory. That reception from Ingram led to a 37-yard Gabe Ferraro (Mississauga, ON) field goal as the Gryphons were on the board trailing 7-3.

After the Gryphon defence forced another two-and-out, All-Canadian returner Ryan Nieuwesteeg (Niagara Falls, ON) would field a punt around midfield before returning it all the way to the Windsor 19-yard line. The Gryphons needed just three plays from there as the short touchdown drive was capped off by running back Johnny Augustine (Welland, ON) on a 2-yard touchdown plunge. For Augustine, who is amongst the CIS leaders in rushing touchdowns, it was his 10^th rushing TD of the season as the Gryphons took a 10-7 lead.

Later in the quarter, the Gryphon defence would come up big once again as fifth year defensive back Iain Hutchison (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) was able to pick off Windsor rookie Liam Putt. The Gryphons would turn that Hutchison INT into six points, this time going 46-yards on four plays. Quarterback James Roberts (Cambridge, ON) connected with his favourite targets of A’dre Fraser (Halifax, NS) and Jacob Scarfone (London, ON) on the drive, with Scarfone capping it off with a 2-yard TD reception to put Guelph up 17-7. For Scarfone, it was his 7^th TD reception of the season, ranking his 2^nd in the CIS. Scarfone wasn’t done there. Roberts and Scarfone would connect for a 47-yard touchdown reception late in the opening quarter. After conceding that early touchdown, the Gryphons scored 24 unanswered points and led 24-7 after the 1^st quarter.

In the 2^nd quarter, Ryan Nieuwesteeg would once again electrify the crowd at Alumni Stadium. The fourth year man would pick up his second punt return for a touchdown this season after fielding a punt on his own 47, he would get some nice blocks and show off his breakaway speed. The 63-yard punt return for a touchdown gave the Gryphons a 34-7 lead. The Gryphons were certainly in control, but the Lancers wouldn’t go away.

A 50-yard touchdown run by Windsor running back Jaydon Gauthier on the final play of the second quarter made it a 34-14 game. In the 3^rd quarter, the Lancers could come up with a big punt block and as a result would take over on the Guelph 16-yard line. A few plays later, Lancers running back Tarrence Crawford’s 9-yard TD run made it a 34-21 game heading to the final quarter. And they weren’t done there.

In the 4^th, Lancers QB Casey Wright would air one out for Beau Lumley in the endzone. However, some great coverage down the field by Gryphons cornerback Colin Mandich forced the Lancers to settle for a field goal, which made the score 34-24. With just under five minutes remaining in the 4^th quarter, Windsor would tack on another field goal to make it a one-possession game at 34-27. It wasn’t a pretty second half by any stretch for the Gryphons, but they were able to make some big plays late to seal the win.

James Roberts would convert back-to-back 2^nd-and-long situations with completions to A’dre Fraser and Ryan Nieuwesteeg. While it wasn’t part of a scoring drive, the plays were nevertheless crucial as they allowed the Gryphons to shift field position. With 2:05 remaining in regulation, Windsor took over at their own 14-yard line needing to go the length of the field for the tying touchdown. The Gryphon D made sure that wasn’t going to happen. A quick two-and-out gave the ball right back to the Gryphs as they took over at Windsor’s 32-yard line. A big run by Brandon Gordon, in addition to a Windsor penalty, moved the ball all the way down to the Lancers 1-yard line. Augustine punched it in from there for his second TD of the day and 11^th of the season as the Gryphons once again had some breathing room, now up 41-27.

Windsor had one last drive late in the game, but it would end when Gryphons defensive back Nick Parisotto came up with his 3^rd INT of the season to seal the 41-27 victory.

The Gryphons were able to hold on for the victory despite picking up a season-high 21 penalties for 221 yards. Although the Gryphon defence allowed Windsor to rush for 321 yards, they also were able to record 8 sacks and 2 IN28)Ts. Windsor’s quarterbacks completed just 28% of their passes (8-of-28). Gryphons linebacker John Rush provided one of the biggest highlights of the game with a huge hit on a sack of Windsor quarterback Casey Wright in the 3^rd quarter.

Offensively, James Roberts eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for the fourth time this season while receiver Jacob Scarfone continued his sensational 2015 season by hauling in 10 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Returner Ryan Nieuwesteeg continues to dominate on special teams, he finished the day with 12 punt returns for 245 yards and a touchdown.

Up next for the Gryphons, a trip to Ottawa on Saturday, October 24 for a matchup with the Carleton Ravens in the regular season finale.

Source: Andy Baechler, Guelph Gryphons Sports Information

Western Mustangs run for over 500 yards in win over Gee-Gees

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs showed off their wealth of talent at the running back position, racking up over 500 yards and scoring nine rushing touchdowns en route to a 63-19 victory over the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday at TD Stadium.

“Other than a couple mistakes that we made I thought it was maybe our best team game we’ve played,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall after the win.

Coming in to the game, Western and Ottawa boasted two of the top three passing attacks in the CIS, but this contest was determined by the running game. The Mustangs finished with an astounding 538 rushing yards on the day, and were led once again by Alex Taylor, who accounted for 195 of those yards and Yannick Harou, who scored four touchdowns and put up 140 yards of his own.

“They put in a lot of effort to stop our pass and it opened up our run game,” said Marshall.

Along with Harou’s four majors, each of the Mustangs running backs found the end zone on Saturday, with Taylor and Adam Sinclair both scoring twice, while rookie Cedric Joseph scored once. Taylor’s two touchdowns and nearly 200 yards rushing keep him on top of the CIS leaderboard in those two categories, with 12 rushing touchdowns and 1,010 yards on the year.

“It just goes to show how deep we are in the backfield,” said Taylor. “We’ve been saying it all season.”

Fourth year quarterback Will Finch went an uncharacteristic 10 for 21 for 151 yards and he was picked off two times thanks to great plays from the Gee-Gee secondary. His Gee-Gees counterpart Derek Wendel was also picked off twice on 22-for-34 passing with 203 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, the Mustangs limited the Gee-Gees to only 361 yards and stopped them three times on third down. Coach Marshall was extremely impressed with how his defence played, considering the high-powered nature of the Gee-Gee offence who came into the game averaging 521 yards per game.

“I thought it was our best defensive game of the year,” said Marshall. “I thought they played really well last week in Toronto, but they stepped in up today with how they played this afternoon.”

“That’s as well as you can defend that group over there.”

The Mustangs were led in tackles by Malcolm Brown who had 6.5 on the day. Jesse McNair, who had several big hits in the win, trailed just behind with five tackles, as did Preston Huggins and Philippe Dion.

The Mustangs kicked off to start the game but were gifted an interception on the first play from scrimmage. Ottawa quarterback Derek Wendel overthrew his receiver on the flat and Josh Woodman dove and picked it before it hit the carpet.

The Mustangs offence took over and three plays later Taylor walked in his 11th touchdown of the year to put Western up 7-0.

Ottawa gambled on third down on their second drive, but came up short near midfield, giving the Mustangs excellent field position to start their next drive.  The Mustangs took over once again, and after Finch scrambled for a first down and found receiver George Johnson for a big gain down to the five yard line, Sinclair punched in the second major score for the Mustangs.

The Gee-Gees offence kept the Mustang defence honest, going for it on third down consistently. With a little over seven minutes gone in the first quarter the Gee-Gees strung together a nice drive and were threatening. However, the Mustangs defence stood tall on third down as linebacker Jean-Gabriel Poulin broke through the line and stopped Bryce Vieira in his tracks.

The Mustangs took over the ball on their 26-yard line and worked another efficient drive. Five plays, 84 yards in a minute and thirty-three second and it once again ended with a running touchdown. This time from the work of Harou, who made a man miss and broke through two Ottawa defenders to find the end zone. The score was Harou’s sixth of the year and extended Western’s lead to 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Gee-Gees drove to midfield and let kicker Lewis Ward attempt a 47-yard field goal. He lifted the ball just inches above over the uprights and Ottawa was on the board midway through the second trailing 21-3.

Western responded a few minutes later with a nine-play 75 yard drive that Harou once again finished, scoring from the one-yard line to make it 28-3 for the home side.

Ottawa chipped away at that lead as time ran down towards the end of the half. After a Western offside on a field goal attempt gave them third and short, Ottawa ran a read option that opened up a running lane for Wendel, as he accelerated untouched 27-yards for the Gee-Gees first touchdown. It narrowed Western’s lead to 28-10 after 30 minutes.

The Mustangs stepped on the gas in the second half, pouring on 35 points and putting the game out of reach. The scoring was rounded out by two more Harou scores, and a score each for Taylor, Sinclair and Joseph, who received six carries in the fourth quarter.

The highlight of the half was a dynamic 50-yard rush from Harou for his third score. Fans of St. Andrew’s College football would recognize the make up of the play as Harou picked up a great block from his high school teammate Jamal Kett in the open field that allowed him to dash to the corner of the end zone. The play extended the Mustang lead to 49-13.

The Gee-Gees offence also found a bit of a rhythm as they worked several nice drives and scored nine points thanks to 41-yard field goal from Lewis and a one-yard Wendel touchdown throw late in the fourth, however it wouldn’t be enough as the Mustangs walked away with a 63-19 victory.

Next week the Mustangs will face their toughest challenge of the season so far as they travel to McMaster to play the 6-1 Marauders. With a win, the Mustangs will finish atop the OUA standings with an undefeated 8-0 record and guarantee home field advantage throughout the OUA playoffs.

Kickoff for the game on Saturday, October 24, is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton.

NOTES: Yannick Harou’s second quarter touchdown was Western’s 53rd major of the year, breaking the OUA record for touchdowns in a season that the Mustangs set in 2013… Harou’s four touchdown day is a career-high, eclipsing his previous best of three against Laurier on September 21, 2013…Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall stands on the edge of a career milestone with 99 CIS regular season wins after today’s game. That means that win number 100 could come against the same McMaster team that Marshall guided to 42 regular season victories…

Source: Tony Von Richter, Western Mustangs Sports Information

Blues blank Warriors in big road win

Second-year running back Alex Malone rushed 19 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns in helping the University of Toronto Varsity Blues football team to a 34-0 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 17) at Warriors Stadium.

With the win, the Blues improve to 3-4 and sit tied with the Laurier Golden Hawks (3-4) for sixth place and the final playoff spot.

Fifth-year quarterback Simon Nassar went 8-for-15 for 126 yards, while McGill transfer Dallon Kuprowski was 6-of-18 for 69 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing 11 times for 86 yards on the day.

Lukas Gavac rushed eight times for 65 yards, while Anthony Naccarato made three receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown. Rahul Madan made a game-high six receptions for 50 yards.

Second-year linebacker Paul Kozachuk led the Blues with 9.5 tackles and one sack, while rookie Matthew Renaud had seven tackles and one sack in the victory.

A slow start saw Toronto leading 3-0 midway through the second quarter. The Blues offence sparked when Kuprowski hit Naccarato with a 22-yard touchdown pass. Toronto held a 10-0 lead at halftime.

Toronto would add Malone’s two rushing touchdowns, one a 44-yard rush midway through the fourth quarter, two field goals, two singles, a safety in the second half.

Source: University of Toronto Varsity Blues Sports Information