CIS football Thursday roundup (with VIDEO)

Photo credit Charlotte Peer, McMaster

No. 9 McMaster 43, Guelph 35 Final

HAMILTON, Ont. – Quarterback Kyle Quinlan (South Woodslee, Ont.) and running back Joey Nemet (Burlington, Ont.) combined for 545-yards of offence in the No. 9 McMaster Marauders 43-35 victory over the Guelph Gryphons at Ron Joyce Stadium tonight.

Quinlan threw for 365-yards on 19 of 31 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Nemet rushed the ball for 180 yards on 23 carries with three touchdowns adding a touchdown reception to hold off a late surge by the visiting Gryphons.

The Marauders opened the scoring early with a three-yard touchdown run by Nemet. Four minutes later Nemet struck again rushing the ball 49-yards to the Guelph one yard line and then found the end zone on the next play for his second major of the game. McMaster would score once more in the quarter when Quinlan completed a 72-yard touchdown pass to Mike DiCroce (Hamilton, Ont.) to score his first touchdown since returning from injury. The McMaster defense held the Gryphons scoreless in the first quarter giving them an early 21-0 advantage.

Guelph found the scoreboard midway through the second quarter when Jedd Gardner (Niagara Falls, Ont.) returned a missed field goal attempt 130-yards for a touchdown matching the OUA return record. McMaster's only points in the quarter came from a Guelph safety, and a 33-yard field goal from Crapigna to give them a 26-7 lead at halftime.

McMaster built their lead to 26 points early in the third quarter when Quinlan connected on a 20-yard pass to Nemet. Two minutes later Nemet found himself in the end zone again, following a 66-yard rush, with a one-yard touchdown run to give the Marauders a commanding 40-7 lead.

As the game progressed the Gryphons continued to adjust on offence, and began to cut into McMaster's hefty lead. With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, Guelph quarterback Chris Rosetti (Mississauga, Ont.) threw a 17-yard pass to Gardner and then connected with Dillon Dimitroff (Burlington, Ont.) for the two-point conversion.

Down 40-15, Guelph scored again early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown reception from Dimitroff reducing the McMaster lead to nineteen points.

The Marauders would only score three points in the final quarter on a Tyler Crapigna (Ottawa, Ont.) field goal and the Gryphons would find the end zone twice more.

Guelph got within eight points when Rossetti connected with Kevin Campbell (Pickering, Ont.) on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:24 left in the game.

McMaster ran down the clock, but was forced to punt with 14 seconds left. On the ensuing play the Guelph specials team attempted to block the Crapigna punt, but ended up knocking him down, and out of the game, with a serious injury. The referees choose to call the game with three seconds remaining on the clock.

With the win McMaster improved to 5-2 on the season and secured a home playoff date. Guelph fell to 3-3 on the season and continue to battle for a spot in the post season.

McMaster returns to action next Saturday, October 16 th when they travel to the Varsity Centre in Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues. Kick is at 1:00 pm.

Notes: McMaster reached a single season attendance record at Ron Joyce Stadium with 17, 563 fans for their four regular season home dates.

Source: Jessica Barrett, McMaster Athletic Communications