A second-half frenzy lifted the Gaels past the GeeGees on Saturday.
Queen’s Football hosted the University of Ottawa GeeGees in front of over 2,000 fans at Richardson stadium on Sept. 26. The Gaels went into the game 3-0 on the season, meeting a strong 3-1 GeeGees team. Queen’s ended up remaining undefeated, winning the game with a final score of 41-20.
READ MORE: Queen’s Football to take on the University of Ottawa
The Gaels would open up the game with the ball, quickly pushing past mid-field, but weren’t able to continue the drive. Forced to punt, Gaels punter Matt Driver, Kin ’27, would kick it into the endzone giving the Gaels a one-point rouge.
After a couple of stops by the defence, the Gaels would slowly breakthrough; first with a 31-yard catch by Noah Lowden, ArtSci ’30, followed up by a 16-yard run by Jayden Gurzi-MacDonald, ArtSci ’29. The Gaels looked primed for a touchdown drive but instead tried for a 55-yard field goal. Tyler Mullan, ArtSci ’27 and the Gaels kicker, knocked it through from 55 yards — a new Queen’s football record for the longest made field goal.
The GeeGees would respond with a field goal of their own to make it 4-3 after the first quarter.
The second quarter would start in disaster for the Gaels, caused by compounding mistakes.
After their offence was stopped, the Gaels’ punt did not push the ball as far as they wanted due to a strong headwind, giving the GeeGees an advantageous field position. the Gaels defence held the GeeGees offence in check, a fumbled punt return ultimately gave the GeeGees the ball deep in Gaels territory.
The GeeGees offence would connect right away with a 28-yard passing touchdown, handing Ottawa a 10-4 lead after a successful extra point kick.
A good answer from the Gaels, however, started with a 41-yard kickoff return by Cederic Smith, ArtSci ’27.
The first play of the drive for the offence was a designed screen pass to Jayce Baldwin, ArtSci ’29, who pushed the ball 28 yards down the field. Following another first down, the Gaels would turn to Baldwin on another screen which would get them to the two-yard line. This would setup a Gurzi-MacDonald running touchdown to give the Gaels the lead back.
The GeeGees potent offence would then be put on full display, as they pushed down the field with ease. The Queen’s defence would come in clutch though, holding the GeeGees to a field goal.
As the GeeGees took the lead late in the second quarter, the Gaels looked to put points on the board before half. Unluckily, the Gaels would throw an interception through the hands of one of the Gaels receivers and into the hands of a GeeGees defender, giving them a perfect opportunity to cash-in on a touchdown. And cash-in they did off a 19-yard pass, giving the GeeGees a 20-11 lead.
The Gaels would push down the field with a minute left but couldn’t reach the endzone and settled for a field goal, bringing them within six at half.
Coming out for the third quarter, the Gaels were able to pull off an onside kick to catch the GeeGees sleeping and get the ball back. This would energize the offence and take only two plays to find the endzone, capped off by Baldwin fighting his way through the defence for the touchdown and the lead.
The Gaels defence was able to smother the GeeGees for the next two drives, which set up a blocked punt by the Gaels special teams. With the blocked punt, the Gaels offence was able to break down the GeeGees yet again. Gurzi-Macdonald capitalized for his second touchdown of the game, giving the Gaels an eight-point lead.
The offence would continue to click with quarterback Alex Vreeken, Kin ’27, and wide-receiver Logan Walton, ArtSci ’29, finally able to link after another punt block by the special teams unit. With the quick touchdown, the Gaels would take a 35-20 lead.
Meanwhile, the defence wouldn’t surrender another point in the second half. They would top that off with a forced fumble by Oliver Jackson, ArtSci ’28, which was recovered by Eli Bennett, Sci ’29.
Mullan and the offence tallied two more field goals to enlarge the lead to 41-20, the game’s final score. The Gaels scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to propel them to the win and a 4-0 record.
Queen’s Football will travel to London on Oct. 3 to take on the last remaining undefeated team in the OUA, the Western Mustangs. Kick-off is at 1 p.m.
Tags
men's football, OUA, Queen's alumni, Queen's football, richardson stadium
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