GUELPH, ON – The Guelph Gryphons football team has had a hard time reproducing the magic of its 2015 season. The defending Yates Cup champions hoped to right the ship and spoil McMaster's Homecoming but the No. 8 ranked Marauders defeated the Gryphons 27-15 at Ron Joyce Stadium on an overcast Saturday afternoon in Hamilton.
Guelph (2-4), lining up against a Top 10 CIS team for the third time in four weeks, hung with the dangerous Marauders for a half before the host team took over in third quarter. McMaster scored 16 consecutive points in less than 10 minutes to snatch the game away and ensure a Homecoming win.
The Marauders (4-1) were sputtering on the offensive side of the ball when they tied the game 7-7 about four minutes into the second half, following Guelph's second conceded safety of the afternoon. McMaster's offence exploded from that point. A short Chris Pezzetta rushing score and a 10-yard touchdown reception by Dan Vandervoort quickly gave Mac a 21-7 lead with 5:14 left in the third. Adam Preocanin added field goals of 16 and 40 yards in the fourth quarter, sending the Gryphons to their third straight defeat.
Fourth-year running back Johnny Augustine stood out and provided most of the offensive yardage for Guelph. The Welland, Ont. native rushed the ball 18 times for 97 yards, while quarterback James Roberts passed for 136 yards, completing 13 of 21 attempts with both a rushing and passing score.
The Gryphons managed just 178 yards of total offence but produced a late flurry. Jordan Terrio had a 19-yard touchdown reception with 25 seconds left on the clock. The two-point attempt was no good but Guelph recovered the ball and threatened to add another score before Roberts was brought down to end the game.
Guelph's defence held quarterback Asher Hastings to 193 passing yards but they had bigger issues with Pezzetta, who racked up 120 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Nick Parisotto led all Gryphons with seven solo tackles and one assisted tackle. Derek Drouillard added five solo stops and had Guelph's only sack of the game.
The Gryphons were simply unable to sustain drives throughout the afternoon and particularly in the first half, thanks in part to a stout Mac defence, led by Mike Kashak. Kashak disrupted Guelph with two early sacks but a costly McMaster special teams miscue late in the second quarter gave the visiting offence an opening.
Preocanin shanked a punt and handed Guelph its best starting field position of the half at the Mac 41-yard-line. Roberts immediately connected with Kian Schaffer-Baker for 34 yards and after a Marauders flag advanced the ball to the one-yard-line, the third-year QB punched it in to give Guelph a surprising 7-5 lead 5:01 before halftime.
Just like last week's Homecoming game at Alumni Stadium, the Gryphons produced a huge early play to grab the momentum. Guelph courageously went for it on a 3rd and-1 deep in its own end on the opening possession and Augustine converted, rumbling for a 32-yard gain down the right sideline. But the Gryphons ultimately had to punt, a theme throughout the day.
Guelph was pinned deep on its next possession and opted to take a safety, which put McMaster up 2-0 at 9:26 of the first . The hosts extended the lead to 5-0 at 5:13 when Preocanin was successful on a 30-yard field goal attempt.
The Gryphons suffered a big blow in the first half when veteran receiver A'dre Fraser was knocked out of the game with an injury. He was seen on the sideline with his arm in a sling.
Guelph has a bye next week before travelling to Waterloo for the "School Day" game against the Laurier Golden Hawks at 11:00 am on Friday, Oct. 14.
