GUELPH, Ont. – After 301 days, Gryphon football officially returned to Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon (August 20), with the Gryphons hosting the York Lions in preseason action. A dominant ground game, a swarming defence and big plays on special teams led the way for the Gryphons, en route to a 68-0 shutout victory over the Lions in front of 771 fans at Alumni Stadium.
On the ground, the Gryphons rushed for 460 yards and three touchdowns, while Guelph native and second-year defensive back
Anakin Guthrie provided the fireworks on special teams with the 19-year-old arts major recording not one, but two, punt returns for touchdowns on the day. Guthrie finished the day with 7 punt returns for 200 yards.
"I thought that our team performed well," said Gryphons head coach
Ryan Sheahan, who has led the Gryphons to playoff appearances in each of his first two seasons of on-field action (2019 & 2021).
"Obviously we're still a work in progress and we made some mistakes, but the offensive line and the running game really took over today, and anytime you can keep a 0 on the scoreboard means the defence obviously did a great job too."
Guthrie's first punt return touchdown of the day came in the 2nd quarter, helping the Gryphons take a 23-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Gryphon lead would grow in the 3rd quarter, with Guelph adding one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns to take a 44-0 lead to the final quarter. In the 4th quarter, the Gryphons scored on three of four drives, while the defence continued to blank the Lions offence.
Quarterback
Shawn Lal (Abbotsford, BC) looked sharp and led the Gryphons opening two drives of the game, while also throwing a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to first-year receiver
Riley O'Brien (Barrie, ON). UBC transfer
Tommy Yanchuk also impressed in his first action at quarterback for the Gryphons, with the Lloydminster, Saskatchewan native completing 8 of 11 passes for 107 yards, including a 17-yard TD pass to third-year receiver
Daniel Brown in the third quarter to put the Gryphons up 30-0.
Ettore Casati III (2-3, 35 yards, rushing TD),
Michael Warner (1-1, 19 yards), and
Troy Hawkins (1-1, 18 yards) also took snaps at quarterback for the Gryphons on the day.
The Guelph offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage allowing Gryphon running backs to account for the majority of the offence and three scores. A committee of backs led the offence with rookie running back
Donavin Milloy (Hamilton, ON) finding the endzone in the 3rd quarter on a 59-yard run.
Fellow rookies
Miltiadis Koulelis (Victoria, BC) and
Mason Duvall (Belleville, ON) also ran for scores, both in the 4th quarter.
Daniel Brown led the Gryphons with 53 yards receiving, followed by
Zachary Powell (28 yards), and
Josh Messina (26 yards).
On defence, the Gryphons front seven did not let anything by them, routinely stopping the York ground game before it could cross the line of scrimmage. Their performance was led by
Scott Murray who was able to find himself in the backfield for 2 sacks to go along with 2 tackles. Additionally, Gianni Stewart and
Riley Naujoks impressed, with Stewart breaking up 2 passes in coverage and Naujoks finishing the game with 4 tackles.
"Right now, we're going to enjoy this for about the next 60 minutes, have a bite to eat, and then focus up, with the defending Vanier Cup champs waiting for us in Week 1," said Sheahan.
The Gryphons officially kick their 2022 regular season on Saturday, August 27 in London, with a 1pm kickoff against the defending national champion Western Mustangs. During the 2021 season, the Gryphons were the lone team in the country to defeat the Mustangs, with
Guelph winning 23-21 over the then-No. 1 ranked Mustangs. After the Gryphons open the season in London, the team will return home on Labour Day Monday (Sept. 5) for a 1pm matchup with the Windsor Lancers. All eight of the Gryphons regular season games can be seen live online at OUA.tv, with tickets for all Gryphon home football games in 2022 now available online at
gryphons.ca/tickets.
