Gee-Gees ready to reclaim Pedro
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens football teams will renew their rivalry when they face each other in the Panda Game on Saturday, October 3.
Tickets for uOttawa students are on sale for $20 at Sports Services client services desks (Montpetit Hall and Minto Sports Complex). All other tickets are available at capitaltickets.ca. Please note that TD Place has a no bags policy. Tickets to the game include free OC Transpo fare beginning three hours before the game.
For a second straight year, the game will be played at TD Place and despite it being a home game for Ottawa players recognize that it will be different. “It feels like a neutral site. It’s nice just to walk there down the street and we’re a little bit closer than they are. But you don’t feel too homey in that stadium just yet,” shared receiver Ian Stewart.
Last year’s game was a sort of coming out for Stewart’s Raven counterpart Nate Behar. This year both receivers are ranked top 15 in the country, but Stewart has by far the better numbers. Stewart is averaging 126.8 yards per game and has caught five touchdowns this season. Behar on the other hand averages 91.8 yards and has three touchdowns to his name.
Despite putting better numbers than Behar so far, Stewart admits having a star receiver on the other sideline can add pressure. “It puts a little bit more pressure on yourself. I try to compare myself to the best. Going up against one of the best receivers in the league you want to at least match him in a sense of the stats but also with effort level. You want to make sure your team gets the win.”
The two teams are tied for second in Canadian Interuniversity Sports with 14 sacks apiece. Ottawa also has more fumble recoveries than the Ravens. However, Carleton has allowed fewer yards per game and has more interceptions than the Gee-Gees.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back from big losses last week. The Ravens lost 70-14 to the Western Mustangs while the Gee-Gees were defeated 46-28 by Guelph.
Ottawa never seemed able to recover from the three touchdowns they allowed in the opening minutes of the Guelph game. This time around, Stewart says the team will stick to the game plan, regardless of what happens in the early goings. “We gave Guelph a little bit too much respect. We thought we had to play a little bit off of them, but we just had to stick to our game plan. “
The 2014 edition of the Panda Game will always be remembered for the infamous game winning tipped Hail Mary. Despite the fact that it cost them a win, Gee-Gees head coach Jamie Barresi saw it as just another football play. “I was disappointed. To be honest I chuckled, it’s just one of those things,” said Barresi.
Even with all the extra attention the game has garnered and the importance of Pedro, Barresi says that this game is as crucial to playoff seeding as any. “This game seems to be talked about more. It’s a bigger stage there’s no doubt. It does have significance to the standings, but last week’s game did too.”
When asked about what he told his players about the extra outside and attention and playing in front of a CFL sized crowd, Barresi said this: “Deal with it in an orderly fashion. Have fun with it. You get to play in this game only three or four times.”
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on Rogers Cable 22, TSN1200 radio, and OUA.tv.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information
Lions to host Varsity Blues in 46th Red and Blue Bowl on Friday Night
TORONTO, Oct. 1 – It’s rivalry week for the York University Lions football team as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues will be at York Stadium on Friday night for the 46th annual Red & Blue Bowl.
Kick-off is set for 7pm, and the game can also be seen live online on OUA.tv. Tickets can be purchased online here or at the gate on game day.
The two teams will battle on the field for more than just a win in the OUA standings as football supremacy in the City of Toronto is also on the line. In addition to the action on the field, fans in attendance can win $200 for Pizza Pizza as part of the Rock Your Red contest and the fan of the game will win Big Macs for a year. There will also be a $10,000 Pass, Punt, Kick contest at halftime.
Both squads enter Friday night’s game with one win so far this season. The Lions earned theirs in Week 3 with a 23-14 victory over the Waterloo Warriors, while the Varsity Blues picked up theirs in Week 2 by edging the Windsor Lancers 8-7. Overall, the Lions are 1-4 on the year and the Blues are 1-3.
The Varsity Blues hold a 28-17 head-to-head record over their uptown counterparts since the first meeting in 1970 and have won six of the last seven since York won 12 in a row from 1996-07. The Blues won convincingly on their home turf last year by a score of 70-0.
The Lions have had a tough schedule to date, falling to the OUA’s top three teams in their first five games in the No. 3 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs in Week 2, the No. 5 Guelph Gryphons in Week 3 and, most recently, the No. 7 McMaster Marauders in Week 5.
Their offence continues to make strides compared to last year and is currently averaging 335 yards and 17.2 points per game, an improvement of 82 yards and nearly 10 points per game. On the other side of the ball, the defence is starting to show the aggressiveness that head coach Warren Craney is known for. The unit is ranked third in the OUA in takeaways with 10 (already more than all of last season) and is sixth in sacks (10).
The defence is being led by fifth-year end Hussein Hazime (Toronto), who has blossomed into one of the top defensive players in the OUA and ranks second in both total tackles (36.5) and sacks (five). In addition, defensive backs Ian Lawrence (Paris, Ont.), Rees Paterson (Sherwood Park, Alta.) and Connor Pritty (Markham, Ont.) all have two interceptions, tied for third in the conference.
On offence, it’s a number of new faces making their mark. Rookie starting quarterback Brett Hunchak (Calgary) has taken over the offence under centre, fellow rookie running back Jesse Amankwaa (Etobicoke, Ont.) is the team’s leading rusher and ranks eighth in the OUA with 70.4 yards per game, and the team’s top four receivers are all in their first year with the program.
The Varsity Blues opened the season with a 55-33 loss to the nationally-ranked Marauders before their win over Windsor, and since then have lost two in a row to Carleton and Queen’s. They have a veteran quarterback leading the team in Simon Nassar, a fifth-year pivot who is completing 52.5% of his passes (83-of-158) and averaging 230.3 yards per game. Defensively, their top player has been linebacker Adrian Bernard with 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Source: Alyson Fisher, York Lions Sports Information
Gryphons head to Kingston to face Queen’s
Kingston, ON – The No. 5 ranked Guelph Gryphons will look to improve to 6-0 this weekend when they head to Kingston to face the Queen’s Gaels (3-2). Kickoff is set for 1pm at Richardson Stadium on Saturday, October 3 and can be seen live online at OUA.tv.
Last week, the Gryphon defence was focused on stopping one of the top quarterbacks in the league in Ottawa’s Derek Wendel. This week, the focus shifts to a star running back in the opposition’s backfield as the Queen’s Gaels are led by 4th year man Jesse Andrews. The 6-0, 204 pound back currently leads the OUA in rushing with 147.6 yards per game on the ground – ranking him second in the country behind only Calgary Dinos Hec Crighton favourite Mercer Timmis. Andrews will be running behind a big Queen’s offensive line that weighs in at an average of over 300 pounds per player. As if stopping a good running back behind a big offensive line wasn’t challenging enough, add to the equation the fact that the playing surface will also provide a challenge. This Saturday’s game at Richardson Stadium marks the Gryphons lone trip to a natural grass playing surface all season. As it has been known to be at this time of the year, the turf in Kingston can often turn more into a mud pit by the second half. The Gryphon defence, like all visiting defences to Kingston at this time of the year, will have to find a way to adjust to the surface quickly to find a way to slow the Gaels offensive attack. When the Gaels want to throw the football, their second year QB Nate Hobbs (Mississauga, ON) has one of the most dangerous receivers in the league at his disposal in CFL Top 20 prospect Doug Corby. Despite the challenges that the Gaels offensive attack present, the Gryphon defence can take comfort in knowing that the previous meeting between these two teams resulted in a defensive masterpiece by the Gryphons during the 2014 Homecoming game in Guelph when the Gryphons shutout Queen’s 66-0.
Offensively for the Gryphons, the team seems to be improving more and more each week. Nowhere is that more accurate than with Guelph’s second year quarterback James Roberts (Cambridge, ON) who put on a dazzling display a week ago against Ottawa, throwing for nearly 400 yards and accounting for five total touchdowns. This week, Roberts and company go up against a Queen’s defence that also seems to be improving with each week of the 2015 season. Overall, the Gaels boast a rather young defence, but one that nonetheless has talented players at each level.
The Queen’s Gaels are close to cracking the CIS Top 10 rankings at the moment. With a 3-2 record on the season, the Gaels only two losses have both come against nationally ranked opponents in Western and Ottawa. In fact, while the Western Mustangs have for the most part been cruising past opponents this season, it was the Gaels who gave them their best game when they traveled to London on Sept. 19 and came out on the wrong end of a 48-25 game. The Gryphons know they will be in for a tough one against one of the emerging teams in the 2015 OUA season. Then there’s the history part.
Historically speaking, traveling to Richardson Stadium has generally not treated the Gryphons well as they have won just once in seven all-time trips to Kingston. However, the overall balance in this head-to-head series has certainly started to shift in Guelph’s favour lately with the Gryphons having won four of their last six overall meetings with the Gaels.
Following Saturday’s game, the Gryphons will enjoy their Bye Week during Thanksgiving Weekend before returning home to face the Windsor Lancers on October 17 in what will be the final home game of their regular season schedule.
Source: Andy Baechler, Guelph Gryphons Sports Information
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