Exactly one week after Queen’s Men’s Football put up a narrow 12-8 victory against the uOttawa Gee-Gees at the Homecoming game, the Gaels once again reigned victorious over the Gee-Gees in the OUA quarterfinals last Saturday.
The Gaels beat the uOttawa Gee-Gees by a score of 35-15 when they last met in the playoffs in the 2021-22 season. This year, the Gaels looked to replicate this performance at their home game on Oct. 28 to bring themselves one game closer to earning their right to compete for the Vanier Cup, which will be hosted at Richardson Stadium on Nov. 25.
Queen’s started this game the same way they ended the Homecoming game by forcing turnovers and relying heavily on star running back Jared Chisari, MSc ’25, to get their offence flowing.
A hard pass from quarterback Russel Weir, ArtSci ’26, to wide receiver Benoit Cormier, Sci ’24, set up running back Anthony Soles, ArtSci ’24, for a five-yard rushing touchdown. This was accompanied by a field goal from kicker Tyler Mullan, ArtSci ’26, leaving the Gaels up 7-0 with under six minutes left in the first quarter.
Starting the second quarter with a rouge point from Mullan, the Gaels found themselves with a 8-0 lead they fought to protect.
Until this point in the game, defensive back Jared Siewe, ArtSci ’24, among others on the Queen’s defensive line made it increasingly difficult for the Gee-Gees’ receivers to get open.
Though the Gee-Gees landed in scoring territory after recovering their own punt, Siewe stepped it up in the end-zone by redirecting the Gee-Gees pass and forcing uOttawa to settle for a field goal.
As the Gee-Gees added another field goal, and both teams added a rouge point to the score box, the first half ended with a score of 9-7 for the Gaels.
Defensive back Keegan Vanek, ArtSci ’24, got the second half off to a hot start with a 62-yard kick return to uOttawa’s 46-yard line, later in the quarter, Weir would find receiver Jack Ashby-Jacobs, ArtSci ’27, 48-yards down the middle, leading to another rouge point from Mullan.
It was 10-7 for the Gaels with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Weir created a helpful pattern throughout the game. Combining Soles and Chisari’s running games, with a few sporadic targets downfield to his receivers, Weir once again sent a 38-yard pass into the hands of receiver Cedric Smith, ArtSci ’26.
Leading to a field goal attempt from Mullan, the Gaels added to their lead once more, and it was 13-7 for the Gaels at the end of the third quarter.
Digging into their determination to win, the Gee-Gees started the final quarter by adding a field goal early and closing the scoreboard to just three points.
Queen’s defence was the focal point of this quarter, with defensive lineman Darien Newell, ArtSci ’24, contributing a safety on a sack with 5:30 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
After the next drive, the Gee-Gees lost eight more yards from another sack from defensive linemen Van Wishart, Kin ’24, and Eric Johnston, ArtSci ’24. This play set the precedent for the Gaels’ approach through the rest of the game and let the Gaels hold onto their lead to take a final score of 15-10.
After the game, Queen’s Football Head Coach Steve Snyder commended the effort of the Gee-Gees.
“A ton of respect for their personnel and the way they do things,” he said. “I thought they did a great job. They gave us all they had, and that was an absolute battle.”
Snyder didn’t divulge too much information about the team’s plans when playing Western in the semifinals, but instead focused on the team’s present win.
“I won’t get into that too much,” he said. “It was a great day today to win at Richardson Stadium, give the seniors a great game here at home and there’s still a chance to get back here. [I’m] just really proud of our football team.”
The Gaels are set to play Western in the OUA semi-finals on Nov. 4 in London. In the meantime, Snyder plans to get his players back to work as they prepare for face off against the Mustangs.
“Early tomorrow morning, the guys will be in here for recovery, and then the meetings where we’ll review the film. That’s where it is, everything’s put to bed.”
The Gaels will face off against the Western Mustangs in the OUA semifinals on Nov. 4 in London, Ontario.
Tags
Football, Jared Chisari, OUA playoffs, Steve Snyder
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