THE CANADIAN PRESS
KINGSTON, Ont. — Western Ontario quarterback Michael Faulds didn’t get caught up in his team’s late lead against Queen’s, sensing the Golden Gaels had one last rally in them.
He was right.
Queen’s quarterback Danny Brannagan connected with receiver Blaise Morrison on a 30-yard catch-and-run TD with 13 seconds left as the No. 4 Golden Gaels edged the No. 5 Mustangs 27-26 in Canadian University football action Saturday.
With the win, Queen’s improves to 7-0 and clinches first place in OUA and a first-round bye for the playoffs. The Golden Gaels travel to play Wilfrid Laurier in their final game in Week 8 on Oct. 24 in Waterloo, Ont.
Western falls to 5-2 and hosts the Toronto Varsity Blues next weekend. The Mustangs need a win, combined with a McMaster loss against Guelph in Week 8 to get a shot to earn a first-round bye and advance directly into the semifinals.
If McMaster beats Guelph, Western would still be in position to play in – and likely host – an OUA quarter-final game on Oct. 31.
Despite trailing 14-3 at the half, Western seized a 26-21 lead with just under a minute remaining on a Nathan Riva 10-yard touchdown run.
While his teammates celebrated, Faulds, who finished 25-for-40 for 385 yards and a TD, knew the game wasn’t over yet.
“People were getting really excited on the sideline obviously as you’d expect with a minute-something left and we took the lead after being down the whole game,” Faulds said. “I told the guys not to get excited that we’ve still gotta stop them and we know they have a high-powered offence.”
Faulds wished his team had started the game better.
“We didn’t really come out too strong in the first half and then they had a bit of a lull in the third quarter,” said Faulds. “And then the fourth quarter was back and forth, so it did have that feeling whoever is going to have it (the ball) last is going to win.”
Brannagan went 35-of-52 for 435 yards, leaving him at 10,424 for his career. He enters Week 8’s game at Laurier just 31 yards behind CIS career passing leader Matt Connell.
Faulds also surpassed 10,000 career passing yards in the loss, his total of 10,261 leaving him just 194 yards off Connell’s mark. But Faulds said reaching the 10,000-yard plateau was insignificant in defeat.
“It means nothing in a loss,” Faulds said. “I could throw for 400 (yards) in a game and lose and not be happy with it, but could throw 150 (yards) in a win and be much more happy. So it’s probably an honour that I’ll look at down the road but 10,000 right now after a loss means nothing.”
Queen’s extended its regular season winning streak to 17 straight games and hopes home-field advantage can lead them to an improvement of a 1-3 record in their past four playoff games.
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Vert et Or 34 No. 1 Carabins 15
At Sherbrooke, Que., Jean-Philippe Shoiry threw four touchdown passes as the Vert et Or stunned top-ranked Montreal.
Shoiry fired three of his TD strikes to Alexandre Poirier, including one which came after the Carabins (4-2) were called for roughing the kicker on a punt. Simon Charbonneau Campeau added seven receptions for 123 yards and a TD for Sherbrooke (3-3).
Marc-Olivier Brouillette finished 17-for-30 for 190 yards and a touchdown in the loss, which came just two weeks after Montreal shocked then-No. 1 Laval.
The win moved the Vert et Or into a third-place tie with the McGill Redmen in the Quebec Conference. The top four teams advance to the playoffs.
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No. 2 Rouge et Or 73 Mounties 7
At Laval, Que., Benoit Groulx threw five touchdown passes to establish a school record as the Rouge et Or manhandled Mount Allison.
Groulx’s second TD pass of the game gave him 59 for his career, surpassing Mathieu Bertrand’s Laval record set in 2003. He finished 19-for-23 for 340 yards in just two quarters against the Mounties.
Julian Feoli Gudino had three touchdown catches to pace the Rouge et Or (5-1), while Sebastien Levesque added a pair of scores.
Gary Ross’s 71-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter provided the lone offence for Mount Allison (0-6).
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Gaiters 33 No. 6 X-Men 12
At Antigonish, N.S., Jesse Andrews threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, including a 72-yard run in the third quarter, as the unranked Gaiters handed St Francis Xavier its first loss of the season.
Andrews led all rushers in the game with 128 yards on the ground as Bishop’s (2-4)finished with a 231-48 rushing advantage. Andrews finished 8-for-13 for 148 passing yards.
Steve Snyder went 20-for-41 for 274 yards in defeat for the X-Men (5-1), who fell into a first-place tie with the Saint Mary’s Huskies in the Atlantic Conference standings.
The Huskies and X-Men will do battle Friday night in a game that could determine home-field advantage in the playoffs.
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No. 7 Huskies 31 Bisons 11
At Winnipeg, quarterback Laurence Nixon threw for 209 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies clinched a playoff berth with a win over Manitoba.
Tyler O’Gorman added a pair of one-yard touchdown runs to pace Saskatchewan (5-1), which vaulted into a tie with the idle Calgary Dinos for top spot in the Canada West Conference.
O’Gorman finished with 15 carries for 70 yards, while Scott McHenry was Nixon’s top target with four receptions for 62 yards.
Nathan Friesen went 15-for-36 for 176 yards for the Bisons (2-4).
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No. 8 Huskies 35 Redmen 23
At Montreal, Devon Jones had a pair of touchdown runs in a 24-point second quarter that helped Saint Mary’s get past the Redmen.
Jones scored twice on two-yard runs as the Huskies (5-1) built a comfortable 29-9 lead by halftime. Jones finished with nine carries for 35 yards, while brother Tristan led the way with nine rushes for 87 yards.
Jack Creighton finished 11-for-25 for 187 yards for Saint Mary’s.
Quarterback Jonathan Collin had a one-yard touchdown run for McGill (3-3), but went just 9-for-27 for 144 yards with three interceptions.
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No. 9 Gee-Gees 54 Lions 32
At Toronto, Bradley Sinopoli threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for three more majors in Ottawa’s win over the Lions.
Sinopoli was in on three of the Gee-Gees’ four first-half touchdowns – he ran in two and passed for another – as Ottawa (5-2) led 33-10 at the half. He finished 22-of-34 for 266 passing yards, and had nine rushes for 137 yards.
Jordan Wilson-ross contributed to the ground assault with 26 carries for 143 yards and two scores, while Cyril Adjeitey had five catches for 105 yards.
Jacob Appiah led the Lions (0-7) with 11 rushes for 124 yards and a score.
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No. 10 Marauders 15 Lancers 14 (OT)
At Windsor, Ont., Andy Waugh’s rouge in overtime led McMaster past the Lancers.
The Marauders (5-2) dominated on the ground, outrushing Windsor 369-100. Joseph Nemet had 164 rushing yards, while Joseph Kozina ran for 116 yards and a score.
Kyle Quinlan struggled for McMaster, going just 11-for-23 for 154 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Sam Malian had a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cory Fernandes and Derek Hymers added a one-yard TD run to lead Windsor (2-5).
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Stingers 39 Axemen 5
At Wolfville, N.S., quarterback Rob Mackay had four touchdown passes as Concordia routed the Axemen.
Mackay completed 19 of 33 passes for 245 yards, and connected with Liam Mahoney on a pair of TD strikes. Cory Watson and Eli Aramouni also had touchdown catches for the Stingers (2-4).
A conceded saf
ety and a 33-yard field goal by Mike Godfrey accounted for all the scoring for the Axemen (1-5).
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Warriors 30 Varsity Blues 7
At Toronto, Evan Martin erupted for 348 passing yards and three touchdowns as Waterloo trounced the Varsity Blues.
Matt Socholotiuk was Martin’s target of choice, hauling in four passes for 72 yards and a pair of scores in the victory. Socholotiuk also led the ground attack for the Warriors (2-5) with 17 carries for 94 yards.
Jansen Schubb went 5-for-14 for 103 yards and a touchdown for Toronto (1-6). Backup quarterbacks Andrew Gillis and Jordan Scheltgen combined to complete just two of 13 passes in relief.
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Golden Hawks 21 Gryphons 14
At Guelph, Ont., quarterback Evan Pawliuk overcame a dreadful performance with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs as Wilfrid Laurier rallied to beat the Gryphons.
Pawliuk put the Golden Hawks (5-2) ahead for the first time with a one-yard run early in the fourth. He added a six-yard insurance TD less than five minutes later.
Pawliuk completed 19 of 33 passes for 251 yards, but was intercepted four times in the victory. One of them was returned 111 yards for a touchdown by Guelph’s Mark Durigon.
Justin Dunk also struggled, going just six-of-23 for 76 yards and three interceptions for the Gryphons (3-4).
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Golden Bears 33 Rams 22
At Edmonton, Matthew Jarvis ran for 99 yards and a touchdown to propel the Golden Bears past Regina.
Quade Armstrong and Jess Valleau added touchdowns for Alberta (3-3), while Jason Heatherington was the difference on defence with a pair of interceptions.
Armstrong finished 16-for-29 for 220 yards and a TD in the victory.
Marc Mueller had 323 passing yards and a score for the Rams (3-3), while Jordan Sisco caught a game-high 10 passes for 143 yards.
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Clan 30 Thunderbirds 1
At Burnaby, B.C., Marc DesLauriers had an 80-yard interception return TD and Spencer Watt added a 91-yard touchdown reception less than four minutes later as Simon Fraser blasted UBC.
Watt finished with five catches for 132 yards to lead the Clan (2-4). Caleb Clark had a strong game for Simon Fraser, completing 13 of 19 passes for 204 yards and two TDs.
The Thunderbirds (1-5) actually matched Simon Fraser with 311 total yards of offence, but managed just Michael Giudi rouge in the third quarter.
