Homecoming Kings!

It was a wet and wild one, but the Gryphons gave the fans a reward for sticking out a torrential downpour with a huge homecoming win.
The teams were tied at seven off of touchdowns by A’dre Fraser and Josh Vanderweerd in a back-and-forth first quarter, but the Gryphons roared ahead with 19 unanswered in the second and never looked back. The Marauders showed some life in the fourth quarter. The second touchdown of the game by Dan Petermann brought the team within reach, but the two-point convert was blocked by the goal post, and Mac couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing onside kick recovery.
The Guelph defence led the way, limiting the high-octane Marauder passing attack to three touchdowns and 324 passing yards. Guelph, like Mac, was committed to taking away the deep pass, and was successful. Asher Hastings was able to hit receivers on crossing routes underneath the secondary pretty regularly, but was not as consistent.
The Gryphons created four turnovers, two interceptions by safety Tristan Doughlin (who also knocked star receiver Josh Vanderweerd out of the game) and two fumble recoveries. The special teams made McMaster pay for their punt team mistakes, partially blocking one kick and sacking the punter deep in Marauder territory on another occasion. While Mac put up points and had a few sustained drives, the Gryphons’ defence had very few mistakes, and were always pressuring the Marauders with the ball. They came up with a huge stop after McMaster recovered an onside kick to put the victory on ice.
The James Roberts-era Gryphons offer a much different look than the Jazz Lindsay-era teams. Under Lindsay, the Gryphons were offensively inconsistent, relying on big plays to win them games. Roberts is much more efficient and methodical than his predecessor, completing short passes up and down the field.
To do this, a quarterback must be consistent and accurate, and the five interceptions against York raised some questions about Roberts’ arm. The very young and overly cautious McMaster secondary was committed to not getting beat by the deep ball, and Roberts was masterful at finding the open receiver underneath and letting them rack up YACs.
The Gryphons’ running game was very good, aside from a few negative gains. The offensive line opened up holes and Johnny Augustine pounded his way through them to the tune of 106 yards and a touchdown that was called back. Daniel Palmer-Salmon had a few relief carries as well.
The win brings the number-five Gryphons to 4-0, while the number-six Marauders fall to 2-1. The Gryphons’ regular season winning streak is now 11 games, a league high, and they are 17-0 on the new field at Alumni Stadium. The traditional all-black outfit was nice to see after donning some bizarre uniforms to start the season.
Often in sports the final score does not reflect the true feel of the game, and this was no exception. The Gryphons looked much more crisp than they have all season, and against a formidable opponent in the Marauders.
The first drive of the game for Guelph was almost too perfect; 7 plays, 88 yards, utilizing 5 different ball carriers, with every play getting more than 5 yards. The Gryphons couldn’t continue to execute that relentlessly for an entire sixty minutes, however they came close. The halftime score was 26-7, and while Mac never quit, their rally in the fourth quarter was too little too late. The Gryphons needed to make a statement against the only ranked opponent they will face this season, and they showed stretches of domination. The lack of touchdowns in the fourth quarter is a little concerning, and cannot happen again if we see Mac in the playoffs, but the message has been sent to the CIS: the Marauders are not the team they were, and the Gryphons are surging.