CIS football playoff roundup

HALIFAX - It wasn’t pretty, but the Saint Mary’s Huskies held off a resilient St FX X-Men team to win today’s AUS Semi Final at Huskies Stadium.
 
The Huskies received 70 and 55 yards on the ground from Devon Jones (St.Albert, Alb.) and Craig Leger (Salmon River,  N.S) respectively to hold off a 2nd half charge by the X-Men and win 25-2 in front of 1503 fans on a frigid afternoon in Halifax.
 
The pivotal moment came midway through the 3rd quarter with the Huskies leading 12-0. The X-Men took advantage of great field position and drove deep into Huskies territory behind the relentless running attack of Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, Ont.) and Andrew Hickey (Fredericton, N.B.).

But on 3rd and four from the six yard line, Neil King (Sherwood Park, Alb.) tackled Hickey two yards short of a first down and the Huskies had their biggest defensive stand of the season.
 
Saint Mary’s conceded a safety shortly thereafter to give the X-Men all the scoring they would muster on the day.
 
Dixon would finish with 145 yards rushing on 29 carries for the X-Men while Ron Omara (Aylmer, QC.) registered 10 tackles to lead St FX defensively.
 
The youthful X-Men made huge strides one year after going winless in 2010 and are poised to be legitimate AUS championship contenders in 2012.
 
Rob Jubenville (Oshawa, Ont.) was named Subway Player of the Game as he led the Huskies defense with 8.5 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
 
The Huskies will play Acadia next week in the 2011 Loney Bowl.  The game can be see Eastlink here in the Maritimes and on www.sportstream.ca
 
Source: SMU Communications

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs football team ended the Windsor Lancers post-season with a 33-27 victory this afternoon at TD Waterhouse Stadium in front of 4,768 in the OUA Football Semi-Final. The Mustangs will now have the chance to defend their Yates Cup title from last year next Saturday at 1:00 PM on their home turf. [Click for full game stats]
 
Coming off a 37-0 loss to the Queen’s Gaels two weeks ago, the Mustangs’ first shut out loss since 1973, it was a do-or-die for the Mustangs. The Lancers (5-3), hot off a 50-33 OUA Quarter-Final win over the Ottawa Gee Gees, were looking to continue their playoff run right to the Yates Cup next weekend.
 
The Mustangs took early control of the game, with Tyler Varga picking up close to 50 rushing yards in the first three minutes of the quarter. However a fumble in Lancers territory derailed the drive and on the ensuing drive Lancer’s quarterback Austin Kennedy rushed for 74-yards before being thrown to the ground by David Lee. Two plays later the Lancers had to punt, missing a golden chance to put points on the board.
 
Two possessions later, cornerback Simon Bahru grabbed his first interception of the season, giving the ball to the Mustangs, ending up as a 35-yard Lirim Hajrullahu field goal at 8:36 of the first.
 
Finally, at 11:39, Varga scored the first touchdown of the game on a 10-yard rush.  Windsor responded with a field goal with less than a minute to go in the quarter as Western led 10-3 at the end of 15 minutes.
 
The Lancers earned their second field goal of the game early in the second to come within four points of the Mustangs. That would be the closest the Lancers would get.
 
Varga’s 17th touchdown of the season (regular season and playoffs) at 11:32 sent him to the top of the CIS scoring list with 17 touchdowns and 102 points on the season. Western followed up the touchdown with another two points, as Windsor conceded a team safety.
 
Although Windsor put up nearly 140 passing yards in the second quarter they were unable to capitalize and put the ball in the end zone until the final minutes of the half. The Lancers’ Dylan Whitfield scored on a 12-yard pass from Kennedy, to make it 19-13 in favour of the Mustangs.
 
The final play of the half did not go as the Lancers had planned as an attempted field goal was kicked short, caught by Sean Blake and Blake returned it 65-yards for the touchdown. Giving the Mustangs a much needed boost and cushion, leading the Lancers 26-13 at the half.
 
 The Mustangs scored on their first possession of the second half as quarterback Ben Rossong threw a 73-yard pass into the hands of Andrew Thibaudeau. The seven points boosted the lead to 33-13 and the game was starting to look as though the Mustangs were fully in control.
 
Windsor’s T. J. Simpson (Brandon, Man.) and Udoka Nwaesei (Windsor, Ont.) had huge interceptions in the quarter; however the Lancers were only able to turn one of the turnovers into points. After three quarters, Western continued to lead 33-20.
 
The Lancers scored the lone touchdown in the fourth and were able to shut down the Mustangs offensively, but they came up just short as the Mustangs held on to win 33-27.
 
The Mustangs will head to the Yates Cup Final next weekend for the fifth straight year.  Western will be hosting the McMaster Marauders at TD Waterhouse Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1:00 PM. McMaster defeated Queen's 40-13 in today's other Semi-Final.

Source: Western Sports Info

HAMILTON, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders advanced to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Yates Cup Championship game for the first time since 2003 with a 40-13 defeat of the Queen's Gaels in the second OUA semi-final on Saturday evening.
 
McMaster will face the No. 3 Western Mustangs in London for the Yates Cup title. Kickoff is 1:00 pm at Western's TD Waterhouse Stadium.
 
The Marauders didn't waste any time in the first quarter against Queen's scoring on the opening drive of the game. A 38-yard Kyle Quinlan (South Woodslee, Ont.) completion to Brad Fochesato (Windsor, Ont.) setup the Marauders first attempt in the red zone. Quinlan took full advantage running a bootleg after a fake handoff and crossed the goal-line for the six yard touchdown run. It was the first rushing touchdown the Gaels defence had surrendered all season.
 
Quinlan finished 14 of 23 for 214 yards with two passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed the ball nine times for 96 yards and a touchdown.
 
Gaels starting quarterback Ryan Mitchell (Toronto, Ont.) wasn't on his game in the first quarter as Porter Player of the Game Joey Cupido (Hamilton, Ont.) intercepted Mitchell on his first pass of the day.
 
The first Cupido interception resulted in a Teddy Peters (Mississauga, Ont.) 29 yard field goal to give McMaster an early 10-0 lead. Peters was appearing in his first career CIS game replacing starting kicker Tyler Crapigna (Ottawa, Ont.) who was unavailable due to an illness. Peters connected on both of his field goal attempts in the game.
 
The Marauders intercepted Mitchell five more times in the half with four total coming from Cupido. His four interceptions set a new McMaster record, and tied the CIS and OUA records for most interceptions in a game.
 
Cupido's second interception setup a drive start at the Queen's 35 that Quinlan quickly converted into his second passing touchdown of the day. He found Chris Pezzetta for the nine yard touchdown strike to cap the five play drive.
 
The McMaster special teams also contributed. Backup quarterback Marshal Ferguson, handling the punting duties for the first time, completed a 13 yard pass to Tyler Loveday (Kitchener, Ont.) on a fake punt to keep the ensuing McMaser drive alive. Pezzetta found the end zone again, this time with his legs, carrying the ball four times for 35 yards after the fake. He capped off the drive with a a two yard touchdown run.
 
With McMaster already ahead 23-3, Aram Eisho (Hamilton, Ont.) picked off Mitchell and returned it 58 yards for the touchdown to increase the Marauder lead to 30-3.
 
Dan Village (Abbotsford, B.C.) hit a 30 yard field goal for the Gaels only points of the half.
 
In the third quarter after the Marauders fumbled the opening kickoff the Gaels would recover. The Marauder defence would hold and Queen's was forced to settle for another Village field goal on the drive.
 
The Marauders kept the pressure coming as Quinlan hit Michael DiCroce (Hamilton, Ont.) for his second passing touchdown of the day making it 40-6. DiCroce finished with six catches for 103 yards and the touchdown. Combined with his three rushes for 27 yards, DiCroce led the Marauders in all-purpose yardage with 131.
 
Ryan Granberg (Sherwood Park, Alta.) looked to spark a comeback giving the Gaels back-to-back first downs pushing the ball deep into the Marauders end. Granberg would finish off the drive with a six yard touchdown run making it 40-13 for McMaster. That was the extent of scoring in the game as the 40-13 score held until the final whistle.
 
The Marauder defence had contributors on all fronts. Aram Eisho (Hamilton, Ont.) was the top tackler with seven and the one interception. Steven Ventresca (Hamilton, Ont.) added the sixth Marauder interception of the ball game that he returned 41 yards to setup Petter's second field goal of the game from 33 yards.
 
Granberg was the Gaels most productive player on offence with 128 yards and the Gaels' lone touchdown rushing on 20 carries. Mitchell finished with 143 yards on 15 completions. Chris Patrician (Toronto) was his favourite target with four catches and 69 yards.
 Frank Pankewich (Thunder Bay, Ont.) was the team's top tackler with eight tackles and a sack.
 
The 104th Yates Cup Championship game will be broadcast live on the Score starting at 1:00 pm. 

Source: McMaster Sports Info

VANCOUVER – The No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds advanced to the Canada West conference final with a 27-22 win over the No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday afternoon.
 
 “We did enough,” said UBC head coach Shawn Olson after the game.  “At the end of the day, that's all you can ask for.  We battled, which has been a characteristic of this squad over the last two years.  It's a testament to the character and pride and the desire of our players.”
 
 UBC got touchdowns from Jordan Grieve, Billy Greene and David Scott, along with two field goals from Billy Pavlopoulos.
 
 Saskatchewan's touchdowns came from Shane Dueck and Garrett Burgess.  Cole Samson kicked two field goals.
 
 With the score 20-15 in favour of UBC late in the game, Saskatchewan quarterback Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren was stripped of the ball on the Huskies' 17-yard line by UBC's Alex Babalos.
 
 “He's a fast guy so I just ran with him,” said Babalos, of Gilbert-Knorren.  “A couple of guys held him up and we always practice running and when a guy's up with the ball, get a rip at the ball and it came right to my lap so I was fortunate enough to get that.”
 
 Two plays later, with 1:21 left in the game, UBC quarterback Billy Greene found David Scott in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown to make the score 27-15.
 
 “Dave's 6'4” and the defender was backpedalling really slowly so I knew if I put the ball up to the outside, Dave's got some long arms and good leaping ability, I knew he was going to come down with it,” said Greene, describing Scott's catch.
 
 A late Huskies touchdown to Garrett Burgess rounded out the scoring after the ensuing onside kick was recovered by UBC.  The win set off a loud celebration among the players and the crowd of 3,006 at Thunderbird Stadium.
 
 “I wasn't really on in the first quarter but I knew if I just kept on throwing the ball, it would come around,” said Greene.
 
 A slow 3-3 first half was characterized by missed opportunities.
 
 The Thunderbirds intercepted Saskatchewan starting quarterback Trent Peterson three times in the second quarter, including once a diving catch by Adam Konar, but could not score any points.
 
 But the picks from Babalos and Chris Mark did come deep in UBC territory and killed potential scoring drives by Saskatchewan.  A fourth interception, by Thomas Harris, took place in the final quarter with UBC up 20-6.
 
 Mark also led the team with 8.5 tackles, while Harris had eight tackles.
 
 Serge Kaminsky, Martin Park and Spencer Wilson each recorded sacks.
 
 “Our defence played very well,” said Olson.  “It was opportunistic and solid and tackled well and did a very solid job versus the run and that's where everything starts for us.“
 
 UBC took its first lead of the game when Greene threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Grieve with 9:56 left in the third quarter.
 
 Then on the final play of the third quarter, Greene dove right tackle for a one-yard touchdown plunge to increase UBC's lead to 17-6.
 
 Greene ended the day with 27 completions on 44 passes for 342 yards and two touchdown throws along with one TD run.
 
 Pavlopoulos' second and final field goal of the day made it 20-6 for UBC with about 12 minutes to go but the Huskies got life when Thunderbird Spencer Betts fumbled a punt with 7:42 left in the game.
 
 Gilbert-Knorren, replacing Peterson, quickly got Saskatchewan into the end zone, when he threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Shane Dueck.
 
 An ensuing safety given up by UBC cut the Thunderbirds lead to just 20-15.
 
 Sam Adu rushed for 65 yards on ten carries for UBC while Shuster hauled in four passes for 117 yards.
 
 Ben Coakwell recorded 101 rushing yards on 14 carries for Saskatchewan while Jeffrey Moore had eight catches for 137 yards.
 
 Peterson was 16 of 28 with three interceptions, while Gilbert-Knorren was 11 of 15 with two touchdowns and one pick.
 
 Saturday's win marks the first time UBC has beaten Saskatchewan in a playoff game since 1976.  The losing streak had reached eight games before being broken.
 
 UBC will now play in the 75th Hardy Cup game, emblematic of Canada West football supremacy, on Friday, Nov. 11 in Calgary against the Dinos.
 
 Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on TSN and CiTR 101.9 FM. 

Source: UBC Sports Info