Torrential downpour didn’t stop players or fans from making most of homecoming festivities
As I trekked through rain and mud on my way to Varsity Stadium, I could hear the building up of anticipation from the fans inside. Any premonitions I had that Gryphons fans would stay inside to avoid the incessant rain was quickly dispelled as the bodies with painted faces and craftily cut T-shirts filed into the stadium in typical rowdy homecoming fashion.
Inside, the 6th ranked Guelph Gryphons bested the 9th ranked McMaster Marauders 24-22 after a Marauders pass attempt on a two-point conversion was tipped incomplete, and the remainder of the 12,000 original fans sang “Na Na Hey Hey” to the 2-3 McMaster side.
The first quarter was relatively uneventful as both evenly matched teams exchanged field goals, making it 3-3 at the end of the first. Scoring picked up in the second though. After a Tyler Crapigna field goal put the Marauders up 6-3, Jazz Lindsey hooked up with go-to receiver Alexander Charette for 27 yards and a score, putting Guelph back into the driver’s seat up 10-6. The score flipped back into the favour of the Marauders with less than a minute left in the first half when Daniel Vandervoort received an 8-yard pass from Marshall Ferguson to bring the score to 13-10 for McMaster.
It was business as usual for the Gryphons defence as they forced a number of two and outs to start the third quarter, and a Taylor Palmer interception gave Guelph an important field position on the McMaster 9-yard line. Lindsey scrambled around the pocket, avoiding a near sack, and took off on his feet running it in for a major and a 17-13 Gryphon lead.
Palmer, the veteran safety from Niagara Falls, was arguably the biggest nuisance for a potent McMaster offence when he intercepted his second Ferguson pass on the day, setting the Gryphons up at the 47-yard line. Farquharson added to his 119 total yards with a big run to move the Gryphons deep into McMaster territory. After a couple of passes to Charette and a pass interference call on the Marauders, Farquharson ran the ball in for a one-yard score, his first of the OUA season, putting the Gryphons up 24-13
Though the freshman combo of Bryson Wishloff-Dobush and Johnny Augustine had provided a very positive outlook for the future of Guelph’s running game, there was no doubting the importance of having the veteran workhorse Farquharson back in the starting lineup for the Gryphons, as he averaged an outstanding 6.6 yards per carry.
The game was far from over though as Crapigna made good on a 43-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter bringing McMaster within eight points of Guelph. Then, as the drama-laden sport of football would have it, the Marauders scored a touchdown on a slew of deep passes to come within two points Guelph. As the collective of Guelph players and fans got loud for the last high drama moments of the game, a Ferguson pass was knocked incomplete. Guelph won the rematch of last year’s Yates Cup that saw the 8-0 Marauders defeat the 7-1 Gryphons convincingly by a score of 31-13.