GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphon football team is in the win column for the first time in 2026, and they did so in emphatic fashion. Saturday afternoon (Sept. 12) in front of 1,850 fans at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium, the Guelph Gryphons defeated the visiting Carleton Ravens, 60-15. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 1-2 on the season, while the Ravens fall to 0-3.
A back-and-forth opening half of play saw the Gryphons leading 22-15 late in the 2nd quarter. But in the closing seconds of the opening half, the Guelph lead would grow to 14 after Gryphons fourth-year quarterback
Tristan Aboud (Montreal, QC) connected with second-year receiver
Ethan Garwe (Whitby, ON) for a 22-yard touchdown in the back of the endzone with just :01 left in the opening half. The late touchdown gave the Gryphons a 29-15 lead heading into the locker room. And the Gryphons would not look back from there.
Guelph would dominate in the second half, outscoring the Ravens 31-0 en route to the 60-15 victory. The Gryphons exploded for 637 yards of total offence in the game, with 366 yards through the air to go along with 271 yards on the ground. Gryphons quarterback
Tristan Aboud finished the day with an impressive stat line, going 19-of-24 for 341 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. While the Gryphons offensive stats were spread around to a wide variety of players throughout the day, one player who stole the spotlight on Saturday afternoon was Gryphons defensive lineman,
Andre Thompson. The second-year standout from London, Ontario has shown tremendous athleticism and versatility this season, not only starring on the Gryphons defensive line, but also occasionally subbing into the offensive huddle to take snaps at quarterback in short-yardage situations. On Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive lineman did more than just provide some short-yardage looks, he instead showed his big-play ability, with Thompson breaking off not one, but two long touchdown runs on Saturday, out-running Carleton linebackers and defensive backs to the endzone. In the 1st quarter,
Andre Thompson took the snap from shotgun and ran in a 30-yard touchdown for Guelph's first touchdown of the day. In the 3rd quarter, Thompson was at it again, this time taking the snap in shotgun and running 68-yards to the end zone to put the Gryphons in front 36-15. He finished the day with 2 carries for 98 yards, and was also his usual self on the defensive side of the ball, where he picked up a sack of Carleton quarterback Elijah Barnes. The Gryphon defence as a whole did a tremendous job limiting Carleton's talented quarterback, who had entered play as the OUA's leading passer. But on Saturday in Guelph, Barnes was held to a season-low 166 yards on 12-of-17 passing. Seven different Gryphon players found the endzone in the win. The 60-points scored by the Gryphons is the most since 2023, when they scored a single-game record 88 points in a Homecoming win over the York Lions.
The Gryphons (1-2) will now prepare to hit the road next weekend for a trip to the nation's capital to face one of the undefeated teams in the OUA in the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees (3-0). The Gee-Gees defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon in Waterloo. The Gryphons and Gee-Gees have split their last two head-to-head meetings, with Guelph winning in 2024, and Ottawa winning in 2025. Kickoff at Gee-Gees Field in Ottawa is set for 1pm on Saturday, Sept. 19 with the game broadcast live online at
www.oua.tv. Following their road trip to the nation's capital, the Gryphons will then return home for the 2026 edition of the University of Guelph Homecoming football game, with the Gryphons set to host the Waterloo Warriors for homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1pm. Tickets are still available online at
www.gryphons.ca/tickets.
