GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons kicked off the 2024 OUA football season in style on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 24), coming up with big plays on both sides of the ball en route to a 38-25 victory over the visiting Carleton Ravens in front of 1,350 fans at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium. Under sunny skies, where players on both teams were forced to deal with hot and humid conditions, the Gryphons (1-0) used a balanced attack, with four different players on offence finding the endzone, while third-year defensive back,
Gianni Green, provided the biggest defensive play of the game for the Gryphons with his 74-yard pick-six in the 2nd quarter. Overall, it was an impressive team effort by the Gryphons for first-year head coach,
Mark Surya, who was making his head coaching debut after having previously served as the team's offensive coordinator since 2019.
"The biggest positive from today was seeing how the team was able to band together," said Surya postgame, who was treated to a Gatorade shower from his players following his first win as an OUA head coach. "We had a lot of instances last year where we faced some adversity and perhaps did not respond the best. Today, the offence and defence both stepped up and stuck together. It's a new year for these guys and you could see a different team out there today."
Helping lead the way for the Gryphons on Saturday was sophomore quarterback,
Marshall McCray. The second-year, dual-threat quarterback picked up right where he left off after a sensational rookie campaign a season ago, where McCray led U SPORTS with nine rushing touchdowns during the 2023 regular season.
McCray was once again a force on the ground during Saturday's 2024 regular season opener, with the elusive QB rushing for 82 yards in the game (13 carries, 6.3 yards per rush), including a rushing touchdown in the 1st quarter for Guelph's first touchdown of the new season. McCray also made some big plays through the air, highlighted by a 38-yard touchdown pass to second-year receiver
Willem Arseneau in the 3rd quarter, which helped restore a two-touchdown lead for the Gryphons, putting them up 37-23 over the Ravens. The quarterbacking duties for the Gryphons, just as they were last year, were once again efficiently split between
Marshall McCray and fellow standout sophomore,
Tristan Aboud. Aboud, who was named to the OUA All-Rookie Team in 2023, impressed in Saturday's season opener, with the 21-year-old from Montreal throwing for 150 yards (8-of-16), including a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver
Kaine Stevenson in the 2nd quarter.
Shortly after the Aboud-to-Stevenson touchdown pass, the Gryphons would add a defensive score on
Gianni Green's interception returned for a touchdown, which put Guelph ahead 23-9. The defensive score was part of an impressive overall performance by the U of G defence, which was operating for the first time under newly-hired defensive coordinator, Matt Berry. Berry, who joined the Gryphon coaching staff in February of 2024 after a successful 12-year tenure as a member of the Calgary Dinos staff, helped the Gryphons defensive unit keep the Ravens offence in check, while also recording a pair of interceptions on the day (
Gianni Green's pick-six in the 2nd quarter, and an
Anthony Moretuzzo interception in the endzone late in the 4th quarter to seal the win).
Carleton's starting quarterback, Tristan Lefebvre, was injured during the return on the
Gianni Green pick-six, forcing the Ravens to play most of the game with their backup QB, Elijah Barnes. Despite losing their starter under centre, the Ravens were able to keep things close, taking advantage of some good starting field position after a Guelph turnover late in the 2nd quarter, which led to a Ravens touchdown to make it a seven-point game at the break, with Guelph leading 23-16 heading into halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, McCray showed off his improvisation skills, turning a botched snap, broken play into a 14-yard completion to
Ryan Ogilvie to get the Gryphons to midfield. Another big play through the air would follow from McCray, this time in the form of a 49-yard completion to
Jakob Tomas, to get the Gryphons down to the Carleton 5-yard line. Second-year running back
Caleb Sargeant (Kitchener, ON) would punch it in from there, for the first rushing touchdown of his Gryphon career, putting the Gryphons up 30-16.
After the Ravens trimmed it to a one-score game on a long touchdown pass from Elijah Barnes, the Gryphons would once again snuff out any hopes of a Carleton comeback by responding with another touchdown of their own.
Marshall McCray would air it out for
Willem Arseneau, who was able to get behind the Carleton secondary and haul in a 38-yard touchdown pass to put Guelph ahead 37-23.
The Gryphons also had another standout performance on the ground from running back,
Donavin Milloy. The third-year back, who was oustanding in 2023 where he eclipised the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, got his 2024 season off to a strong start, rushing for 137 yards on 17 carries (8.1 yards-per-carry). The Gryphons (1-0) will now turn their attention to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, with Guelph set to hit the road for a Sunday night trip to U of T's campus for a 7pm kickoff on Sunday, Sept. 1. The Varsity Blues open their 2024 regular season schedule on Sunday, August 25 with a 6pm matchup at Warrior Field against the University of Waterloo. The Gryphons-Varsity Blues game on Sunday, Sept. 1 can be seen live online at
www.oua.tv. It marks the first of back-to-back road games for the Gryphons in Week 2 and Week 3 (Sept. 1 at Toronto, Sept. 7 at Laurier), with the Gryphons next home game slated for Sept. 14 when they will host the McMaster Marauders at Alumni Stadium.
