GUELPH, Ont. – The playoff-bound, No. 8-ranked Guelph Gryphons football team (5-2) will close out the regular season portion of their 2024 schedule on Friday night (October 11) as they head to Toronto to take on the York Lions (2-4) at 7pm on Friday at York Lions Stadium.
Date: Friday, October 11, 2024
Location: York Lions Stadium (Toronto, ON)
Time: 7pm
How to watch:
oua.tv
Live updates on X (Twitter):
@guelph_gryphons
The No.8-ranked Guelph Gryphons football team head into their final regular season game with a record of 5-2 after a thrilling 45-40 win over the Windsor Lancers, which gives them an inside edge to host an OUA quarterfinal matchup on October 26. With a win over the York Lions on Friday night, the Gryphons will earn the right to host an OUA quarterfinal playoff game on Saturday, October 26. The last time the football team hosted a playoff game was five years ago when they defeated the Carleton Ravens in the OUA Quarterfinal on October 26, 2019. The York Lions (2-4) are coming off a win as they defeated the Waterloo Warriors 39-24 to keep their playoff hopes alive, as they enter Week 8 in a battle for the last playoff spot in the OUA standings.
The Gryphon offence will look to continue to ride the momentum as they've scored 40+ points in their last two games led by second-year quarterback
Tristan Aboud. The Montreal native is coming of a win over Windsor where he completed 21 of his 27 passes for 267 yards and threw for two touchdowns, while rushing for a touchdown of his own. Aboud last season against the Lions had himself a career day, completing all 16 of his passes for 384 yards and a program single-game record 6 touchdowns. The Gryphon rushing attack rolls into York Lions Stadium ranked second in the conference averaging 221.1 yards-per-game, led by third-year running
Donavin Milloy. The arts major is coming off his third 100-yard rushing game of the season, where he had his career-best game against the Lions last season where he rushed for 189 yards on 8 carries and ran in two touchdowns.
Willem Arseneau has emerged as one of the best deep threats in the OUA at the receiver position. The Calgary resident has 469 receiving yards (6th in OUA), averages 78.2 yards-per-game (5th in OUA), averages 21.3 yards-per-reception (leads OUA) and 5 touchdown receptions (5th in OUA). The York Lions are led on defence by their linebacking duo of Brody Clark and Peyton Ryder. Clark in 2nd in the OUA with 49.5 total tackles while his teammate Ryder is right behind him in 3rd with 44.0 total tackles on the season.
The Gryphon defence is coming off another great game containing the opposing run game. The run defence of the Gryphons kept a potent Lancers run game in check, holding them to 139 yards on the ground in the win. On the season as a whole, the Gryphon defence has held the opposition to only 126.3 yards-rushing-per-game.
Curtis Woodmansey is one of the key cogs on the defensive line with 17.5 tackles on the season to go along with 5.5 tackles-for-loss. Alongside Woodmansey on the defensive line is
Robert Keyes-Wilson. The third-year criminal justice and public policy major has been a disruptive force on the line as the team leader in sacks (3.0). The Gryphon defence under first-year defensive coordinator, Matt Barry, currently rank 2nd in the OUA in sacks (16.0) and 3rd in interceptions (10). The defence should be in for a big night facing a Lions team averaging only 83 yards-per-game on the ground (last in OUA), averaging 165.7 yards-per-game through the air (last in OUA) and have only scored 91 points (10th in OUA) on the season. But there is plenty of optimism surrounding the York Lions football program this season, under first-year head coach Dexter Janke. On September 21, the Lions defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues for the program's first true win since the 2019 season (with York being credited with a 1-0 forefeiture win over McMaster in 2022 as the programs only other victory in the past three seasons). York then added a second win in a three-week span by defeating the Waterloo Warriors, 39-24, on October 5. The Gryphons and Lions met last season in Week 5 on Sept. 23, 2023 where the Gryphons came away with an 88-7 win at Alumni Stadium. Guelph leads the all-time head-to-head 26-8 with the Gryphons holding a 12-game win streak over the Lions.
Kickoff for the Gryphons final regular season 7pm, with the action from York Lions Stadium can be seen live online on
www.oua.tv. Gryphon fans can also follow along on Twitter / X (
@guelph_gryphons) with live, in-game updates and highlights from the action in Toronto.
The Gryphons football team will head into their bye week following the game on October 11, with the rest of the OUA wrapping regular season play on October 19. The Gryphs will be back in action for the 2024 OUA football playoffs with quarterfinal action kicking off on Saturday, October 26.
