Season ended by high-flying Ravens

Gaels shut down 38-9 to bounce out of playoffs

Matteo del Brocco reflects on a less-than-satisfying final game of the season for the Gaels.
Matteo del Brocco reflects on a less-than-satisfying final game of the Gaels' season.

“The Gaels dressed up as a bad football team for Halloween,” one onlooker said after the Queen’s football team lost to Carleton on Saturday.

On a day where Richardson Stadium’s student section had already been removed — in preparation for the much-needed restoration — the fourth-place Gaels ended their football season with a 38-9 loss to the Carleton Ravens.

Queen’s fell behind 21-0 just 11:18 into the game after three quick scores by the Ravens offence. After Carleton’s quick start, the Gaels didn’t show many signs of life.

“It’s a tough one, I think we should’ve done a lot better,” linebacker Michael Moore said. “Now, we can only get ready for next season.”

With a 5-3 regular season record, and having already defeated Carleton earlier in the season, the Gaels came into this game as slight favourites.

Earlier this season, The Gaels defeated second-place Guelph , but stumbled following that victory, winning by just a single point against the 1-7 York Lions and finishing the year with two straight losses.

“I think it’s a sign that we still have a young team,” Moore said. “We have things to work on. Consistency is the biggest thing.”

While Carleton scored at least eight points in three of the game’s quarters, Queen’s scored only nine in the entire game.

“They beat us everywhere,” head coach Pat Sheahan said. “They got on us early. We didn’t have many answers. We were under duress, they made some big plays.”

Carleton’s defence was a key reason for the Gaels’ difficulty moving the football. 

Queen’s quarterback Nate Hobbs was the Gaels’ leading rusher for the day, albeit with just 27 yards. Hobbs threw for 291 yards with a touchdown to Doug Corby in the fourth quarter, but the game was decided long before Queen’s final Oil Thigh of the season.

“If this is Doug Corby’s last football game [as a Gael], I was happy to see him get a touchdown, because he has dazzled the fans here for a while,”Sheahan said.

Meanwhile, the Ravens registered 522 yards of offence, including 337 passing yards from quarterback Jesse Mills.

“As we knew, they had a few weapons,”Sheahan said. “They were able to get the ball to their key guys at key times early.”

But once they fell behind, Sheahan said, the Gaels were caught off-guard.

 
“We strained a little bit,”he said. “You feel the anxiety of trying to get back into the game.”

Despite a victory over the Ravens earlier in the season, Sheahan knew it wouldn’t be easy to beat the same team twice.

“At this point in the year, everybody’s better,”he said.

 

Despite the game, Sheahan said he’s seen progress in his team, as they missed the playoffs last year and entered this season with many first-time starters.

“All in all, it wasn’t a bad season,”he said. 

“But it could’ve had a better ending.”

Tags

Doug Corby, Football, Michael Moore, Nate Hobbs, pat sheahan

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