Ravens soar past rival Gee-Gees and into OUA semifinal showdown with Western
OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens football team continued its #QuestfortheCup by soaring past the Ottawa Gee-Gees, 45-9, in the OUA quarterfinal game at MNP Park on Saturday. Carleton was dominant on all sides of the ball, and their rivals stood no chance.
OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens football team continued its #QuestfortheCup by soaring past the Ottawa Gee-Gees, 45-9, in the OUA quarterfinal game at MNP Park on Saturday. Carleton was dominant on all sides of the ball, and their rivals stood no chance.
The Ravens hope to upset the top ranked Western Mustangs once again, this time in the semi-final match up on Saturday, November 5.
The rivalry between uOttawa and Carleton was evident as the game started with a brawl between the two teams.
"It is a lot of emotion on both parties," said head coach, Steve Sumarah. "From our stand point, that stuff is more what we call noise – we don't need it, we don't want it – we just want to focus on the game. I think they were trying to find something to throw us off our game, but I think our guys showed a lot of composure."
Once the scrap on the field was settled by the refs, the game began and Ottawa was first to receive the ball. The Carleton D shutdown Wendel and his offence on their first drive, and it was time for the offence to fly.
Carleton's first drive of the game saw them move the sticks down the field. Although they were unable to get in the end zone, Mike Domagala (St. Catharines, ON) added a quick field goal to give the Ravens the lead early on.
Ottawa had a chance to tie things up, but a missed field goal attempt put the ball in the hands of every team's worst nightmare – Tunde Adeleke (Ottawa, ON). Adeleke returned the ball to the 40-yard line, setting the Ravens up in great scoring position.
With 24 seconds left on the clock, quarterback Jesse Mills (Halifax, NS) threw toWilson Birch (Niagara Falls, ON) in the end zone, to bring the Ravens lead to 10-0.
Carleton's player of the game, Christian Battistelli (Whitefish, ON) moved the ball down the field, and a reception from Mills to Dexter Brown (Sherwood Park, AB) continued to move the sticks. Nate Behar (London, ON) made his way into the end zone, but the touchdown was called back due to a Ravens penalty. Jayde Rowe(Scarborough, ON) made up for the loss of points with a touchdown of his own. Carleton pulled away 17-0.
With 5:35 left in the half, Ottawa finally made their way on to the board with a field goal, bringing the score to 17-3.
Domagala missed a 39-yard field goal attempt, which was returned 18 yards by Ottawa, until Carleton's Leon Cenerini (La Salle, MA) forced a fumble. Guillaume Caron (Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, QC) recovered the ball at the Ottawa nine-yard line.
Rowe took advantage of the fumble, and rushed into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. Carleton lead 24-3 over uOttawa.
Domagala ended the half with another field goal, making the score 27-3 in favour of the Ravens.
Carleton kept the pressure on to start the second half with a 56-yard run by Battistelli for the Ravens touchdown.
Carleton added two more team safeties to their score, making it a 38-3 lead over the Gee-Gees.
Caron had another stellar play, intercepting a pass and returning it 25 yards to the house. The Ravens had 45 points to end the third period, while the Gee-Gees were held to only a single field goal.
With 6:27 left in the game, Ottawa scored a touchdown on a three-yard pass. Their two-point conversion was shutdown by the Ravens defence, along with their hopes of a Yates Cup in the 2016 season.
Carleton won the game 45-9, and will advance to the semi-final game next weekend against the Western Mustangs.
"In games like this with such high emotion in the game, obviously, it is a big rival, to get on the board and put some pressure on the other team, as well as it settled us down so we could just play," said Sumarah. "I would not want to be trailing in that game."
RAVENS PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Offence: #10 Christian Battistelli – Running Back – Whitefish, ON
Defence: #26 Guillaume Caron – Defensive Back – Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, QC
UP NEXT:
OUA Semifinal
#4 Carleton at Western #1
Saturday, November 5, 2016 – 1 p.m.
TD Stadium – London, ON
(Photo: Valerie Wutti)
