WATERLOO, Ont. – Defensively, few teams in the country have been as impressive as the Guelph Gryphons through the first five weeks of the 2018 U SPORTS football season. On Saturday afternoon, in a crucial Week 6 matchup in Waterloo versus the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Gryphon defence found a way to raise their game to yet another level.
The Gryphons racked up six interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat the No. 8-ranked Golden Hawks 27-24. The game was played under sunny skies and in front of 4,670 fans at University Stadium for the 2018 edition of Laurier's homecoming. Rookie running back
Juwan Jeffrey scored from 8-yards out with 6:35 remaining the final quarter to give Guelph a 25-24 lead. U of G would push their lead to 27-24 after a conceded safety, and fittingly, it would be the Gryphon defence sealing the win by forcing a turnover on downs at midfield to keep the Hawks out of tying field goal range.
With the win, the Gryphons take a big step towards keeping their playoff hopes alive and improve to 3-3 on the season. The Golden Hawks meanwhile fall to 2-3 on the season, with their three losses coming by a combined six points.
"I'm proud of the whole team and the heart that they showed," said Gryphons head coach
Todd Galloway.
"The defence had a great week of practice and that obviously translated to the game. They wanted to be aware of where Laurier's weapons were at all times because that's a really, really good football team, and they came up big today."
The first of many big plays on the defensive side of the ball for Guelph came in the first quarter. First-year defensive lineman
Tavius Robinson has emerged as one of the top rookies in the OUA this season. The 6-8, 240 lbs freshman would make yet another contribution to the Gryphon defence, by getting a hand up at the line of scrimmage to deflect a Tristan Arndt pass. The tipped ball would land in the hands of Guelph's fourth-year linebacker
Job Reinhart who would head 72-yards the other way to give Guelph a 7-0 lead. For Reinhart, it marked his second pick-six of the season after the talented linebacker also found the endzone in Week 2 versus York.
The Reinhart pick-six would prove to be one of the lone bright spots in the opening half for the Gryphons, as Laurier would storm back with 21-unanswered points, highlighted by an 80-yard punt return touchdown by Laurier's Kurleigh Gittens Jr., the reigning OUA MVP. Gryphon kicker
Gabe Ferraro would connect on a 42-yard field with under a minute remaining in the second quarter to trim the Guelph deficit to 24-10 heading into halftime where, according to Coach Galloway, not much had to be said.
"We just asked them to keep swinging. To give us relentless effort on every play and not worry about the outcome. Because of all of the adversity we've faced this year, when I went into the locker room at halftime and looked at them, you could tell they were ready. They knew they had it in them and they knew that they were not out of this one."
With 5:28 remaining in the third quarter, Gryphons' third-year free safety
Dotun Aketepe would come up with the biggest play of his university career. The Marketing Management major from Barrie, Ontario would step in front of a Tristan Arndt pass and head 69-yards the other way for a touchdown to make it a 24-18 game. It marked the Gryphons' fifth of their six interceptions on the day. The Gryphons' lone offensive touchdown came from rookie running back
Juwan Jeffrey, who capped off a four-play, 56-yard drive to give the Gryphs the win.
Dotun Aketepe finished the day with a pair of interceptions and was quick to point out his team's ability to stay focused and positive after dropping a trio of tight games earlier in the season, "We lost three games this season by a combined four points, so we knew that if we just kept working and didn't hang our heads, we would get the results we've been wanting. We just persevered today. We kept working and working and followed the game plan laid out by our coaches. It feels great and it was about time."
The Gryphons (3-3) currently sit in 7th in the crowded
OUA standings, with the top six teams qualifying for the playoffs. Guelph will now enjoy a bye week before returning to action on October 13 versus the Toronto Varsity Blues (0-5). Both of the Gryphons' final two games of the regular season come on home turf, with the Waterloo Warriors visiting Alumni Stadium on October 20.
