Guelph, ON – The Guelph Gryphons football team had not been to a Vanier Cup for 31 years. And the wait to return will have to continue for this proud program. Like they did all season, the Gryphons fought valiantly in their effort to "Go Beyond" but the time on their dream 2015 campaign ran out after the defending Vanier Cup champion Montreal Carabins handed Guelph a disappointing 25-10 loss in the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Mitchell Bowl on a frigid Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
 
It was a painful day for the team in black, especially the seniors who will be moving on from a program they helped resurrect. The Gryphons went down 23-0 at the half and were never able to gain enough momentum to challenge the savvy champions from Quebec.
 
"It's devastating for me personally," said Guelph's fifth-year linebacker and OUA standup defensive player of the year John Rush. "It's my last game ever on this field. It's not a good feeling, that's for sure. I'm pretty upset about it but I was really happy with how all of the men on this field responded to the adversity.
 
"We came up short but at the same time, we gave it our all. And that's all you can ask for."
 
Maybe it was a combination of nerves and poor execution but Guelph had trouble getting into the game early. Montreal's David Deschamps opened the scoring with a 27-yard field goal with 1:54 remaining in the quarter, setting the stage for the decisive second when the Carabins would put up 20 more points, including two more Deschamps field goals and two touchdowns, a two-yard run by powerhouse running back Sean Thomas-Erlington (23 carries for 170 yards) and nine-yard touchdown reception by Phillip Enchill (four catches for 65 yards).
 
"The defence was always our strength and to have them on the field for so long was tough but they had some big bodies to push and move around," said Guelph head coach Stu Lang. "We're a team that once we get on a roll, we tend to do well. It would've been nice to score a couple touchdowns and get the momentum.
 
"The guys may have been a little nervous. We were in uncharted territory being in the Mitchell Bowl but this is all part of the maturity of a football program."
 
Montreal may have controlled the opening 30 minutes but the Gryphons looked like a different team in the second half, more determined and focused. Quarterback James Roberts completed 23 of 34 passes for 228 yards, much of that coming in the second half when he routinely connected with Jacob Scarfone (eight catches for 95 yards) and A'Dre Fraser (eight catches for 90 yards). But as Guelph ate up bigger chunks of yardage, two drives ended abruptly when Montreal defensive players Zacary Alexis and Junior Luke, the Mitchell Bowl MVP, produced key interceptions. In the end, Guelph's only points came on Gabriel Ferraro third-quarter field goals from 30 and 32 yards out and two conceded safeties and the 23-0 deficit proved to difficult to overcome.
 
Montreal head coach Danny Maciocia, the only coach to win both a Vanier Cup and a Grey Cup, thought one of the keys was controlling the line of scrimmage. He said the main objective for his team was to keep Guelph out of the end zone and they were able to accomplish just that.
 
"Once we took that lead, obviously we felt pretty good about the situation but we still knew they would come out and battle because they are proud individuals," said Maciocia. "I know Stu Lang and I can just imagine what he told them at a half time so we wanted to make sure that we kept our level of intensity up."
 
The Gryphons finish the season unsatisfied but proud of what was accomplished. The Mitchell Bowl loss was just the second of the season and hardly overshadows the long-time goal they achieved last week when they hoisted the Yates Cup in London after beating the Western Mustangs 23-17. Despite that galvanizing victory in which they captured the school's fourth Yates in history, Saturday was painful because of the finality for some of the Gryphons.
 
"It's unfortunate that things turned out the way they did," said Guelph offensive lineman and first-team OUA All-Star Matthew Toppan. "It's the end for our fifth years. For me, it didn't really hit until the final whistle blew. Right up until the end, we were two scores down and anything could have happened."
 
Lang was disappointed for all of the players but obviously proud that Guelph football has evolved to where it is now. He has mentioned it a few times leading up to the Mitchell Bowl but Lang can't say enough about what it meant for the program when they landed Rush, a star linebacker from Niagara Falls, as the first big recruit.
 
"I thanked John for coming because he could have gone anywhere," the coach said. "He chose to come here and at that time, there was not a lot to promise or showcase because the previous decade, Guelph had not had a successful record. John said, "I want to come here and I want to build a football program.' I'm glad in his final year he won a Yates Cup.
 
"He built the program for us."