The Queen’s Gaels Football team came out of Week Two with a huge bounce-back win over the McMaster Marauders.
The Gaels travelled to Hamilton, on Aug. 30th hoping to regroup against the Marauders after a tough loss the week before. The game started slow with a long five-minute Queen’s drive highlighted by a 59-yard bomb thrown by Alex Vreeken, Kin ’26, to Jack Ashby-Jacobs, ArtSci ’27, that only resulted in a field goal. The Gaels opened the game wide open in the second quarter, though, scoring three touchdowns, with Vreeken again showing off his strong arm for a 61-yard touchdown caught by Nathan Falconi, ArtSci ’26.
Defence was also stellar for the Gaels, allowing zero points as McMaster’s points only came from safeties. Justin Pace, ArtSci ‘26 led the way with a game-high eight solo tackles and four assists. Jacob Baldwin, ArtSci 28, also shined with four solo tackles and one sack, as well as Keegan Vanek, ArtSci 26, who recorded an interception.
Queen’s totalled over 525 yards of offense to McMaster’s 151. Alex Vreeken led the way with 280 yards combined in the air and on the ground. Nathan Falconi finished with 122 yards receiving and Jared Chisari, MSc ’26, totalled 115 yards on 14 attempts.
Head Coach Steve Snyder was impressed by how team settled in on the road. “I thought we did a good job finishing tackles and ultimately we did a pretty good job leveraging the ball back,” he said in an interview with The Journal.
The Queen’s Football team’s next game is Friday, Sept. 5 at 6:30 p.m., when the team will face off against the Laurier Golden Hawks at Richardson Stadium. Snyder and the rest of the team are excited to play their first game in front of Queen’s students. “They’re going to make a difference in the game.”
Ahead of the matchup, Snyder stressed the importance of Gaels showing up making noise in the stands. The matchup marks the first home game of the season with the majority of students back on campus, and the coach added that the fans will “make a difference” as the Gaels look to build on their
Tags
Alex Vreeken, Football, Jack Ashby-Jacobs, Jared Chisari, Justin Pace, mcmaster marauders, Nathan Falconi, Steve Snyder
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