Guelph (2-1) @ (8) Ottawa (2-0) Saturday September 17th, 2016 @ Gee-Gees Field.
Gryphons lose heartbreaker in OT to 8th ranked Gee-Gee's 31-28
Ottawa - The Guelph Gryphons welcomed back a few key members to the offence on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to beat the now 3-0, 8th ranked Ottawa Gee-Gee's. A great back and forth battle by both teams was ultimately won in double overtime by Ottawa. Weather was a factor once again this week as heavy rains pounded down at Gee-Gee's field making the passing game a difficult one for both teams.
Johnny Augustine was an important addition to the Gryphons running attack with the rain pouring down most of the game. The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for much of the first half, allowing Augustine to run for 87 yards in the first half alone, and 153 total yards.
Ryan Nieuwesteeg had a total of 165 all purpose return yards and provided a big spark on special teams. However, there were some penalties on returns that prevented Nieuwesteeg from having an even bigger day.
The defence controlled the game early on forcing fifth year starter, Derek Wendel to throw two interceptions in the first half. Michael Carney executed the tip drill perfectly as he caught the deflected pass deep in Gryphon territory. In the second quarter it was Job Reinhart's turn to thwart a Gee-Gee's drive with an interception over the middle. Despite the 2 interceptions this week, and 3 last week, Wendel bounced back nicely to throw two touchdowns in the second quarter – one off of a Gryphons fumble.
Gabe Ferraro had the Gryphons out to an early 6-0 lead with a 17 yard field goal in the first quarter and a 42 yard field goal early in the second quarter. Guelph conceded a safety a few minutes later to make it 6-2, and it looked like it was going to be a defensive battle. And a battle against the elements. But Derek Wendel quickly forgot about his earlier interceptions, and found Kalem Beaver for a 29 yard pass and catch, with Beaver making jukes and cuts all over the place for a spectacular play. Ottawa made it 16 unanswered points with under a minute left as Wendel found Mitchell Baines for a 30 yard touchdown. That gave the Gee-Gee's a 16-6 lead at the half.
Guelph would need a quick start to the second half and got just that with Geoff Bezruchko catching his first career TD pass from James Roberts to cut the lead to 16-13. With the rain still coming down hard, it was shaping up to be a battle of the running games. With that being the only scoring of the 3rd quarter, both defences stepped up, including an interception by Thomas Carrier on James Roberts late in the quarter. The Gryphons defence held down the potent Ottawa offence though, leading to a wild and crazy fourth quarter.
With fourth year kicker Lewis Ward extending the Ottawa lead to 19-13 halfway through the final quarter, little did anyone know how important that leg would be in about 30 minutes.
After a conceded safety by the Gee-Gee's brought the Gryphons back within four points, it was time for the Guelph offence to put together a game winning drive. It seemed like they may have accomplished that. A 9 play, 75 yard drive was capped off by a 6 yard touchdown pass from James Roberts to Colton Jones put the Gryphons up 22-19. Roberts showed great poise and patience on the play, waiting for it to develop and find Jones streaking across the middle.
With that drive taking 2:24 off the clock, it left Ottawa just 1:40 to make a game winning or tying drive. It was helped immensely by a 40 yard return by second year receiver Thomas Hoyt, leaving the Gee-Gee's very close to field goal range. After three quick completions, Wendel was called for intentional grounding on a controversial second down call, leading to Ottawa having to settle for a 51 yard field goal attempt by….Lewis Ward. With 53 seconds left, Ward split the uprights, to tie the game, and also tying an Ottawa school record. Matt Falvo hit a 51 yarder in 2012 against Queen's to set the record.
With the game tied at 22-22 and under a minute left, both teams failed to score and overtime was needed. This was the first regular season overtime game for Guelph, since a 34-27 loss in the 2014 season opener to McMaster.
Ottawa got the ball first and used a 39 yard field goal from Lewis Ward to go up 25-22. Gabe Ferraro, who was excellent all day both punting and placekicking, made his next two attempts from 42, and 49 yards respectively to put the Gryphons up 28-25. After the long 49 yarder, it felt like the momentum was with the Gryphons and Ferraro's right leg. After an 11 yard rush by Bryce Vieira (who ran for 113 yards on the day), Derek Wendel, poised as ever, found Trevor Kennedy wide open after a pump and go froze the Gryphons defence. Gryphon defenders had to hold their heads high right away to avoid the Gee-Gee bench whizzing past them to the end zone to find Kennedy and Wendel.
Some standouts for the Gryphons on defence were Akeem Knowles who had 9 tackles and a forced fumble. Lukas Korol recovered 2 fumbles and made 7 tackles, while Job Reinhart had 7 tackles and 1 interception to join his teammate Michael Carney with a pick earlier on in the first half.
James Roberts had a strong second half, completing his day going 25-40 for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. His counterpart, Derek Wendel attempted 10 more passes than Roberts, completing 29-50 for 286 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. This was the second week in a row that Wendel threw 2+ interceptions, while still getting the win. A'dre Fraser was a standout in the receiving core, coming up just 2 yards shy of 100 yards, catching 12 passes for 98 yards. In the 'Baines Bowl' battle, Gryphons DB Riley Baines had 4 tackles, while his brother Mitchell, had 11 catches for 120 yards and one touchdown.
Guelph will have a long trip home and plenty of time to think ahead to next week's homecoming game and Yates Cup rematch against the Western Mustangs. With last year's championship being played in London, this is the first regular season visit the Mustangs have made to Alumni Stadium since a thrilling Gryphons 49-46 victory in October of 2014. Guelph will look to continue their 5 year of streak of not having 2 games in a row. Kickoff is at 1:00pm on Saturday September 24th, and tickets are still available online.
