Kingston, Ont. (October 25, 2007) – The No. 8 ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels will face a familiar foe in their first home playoff game in four years. Queen's (6-2) will entertain the Western Ontario Mustangs (4-4) this Saturday in the OUA quarterfinals at Richardson Stadium at 1pm.

The Gaels ended the regular season with a 54-24 win over the host Toronto Varsity Blues that saw the offence gain almost 700 yards. Queen's quarterback Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont., had a second straight efficient performance completing 14 of 22 for 440 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

Brannagan's favourite target against the Blues was slotback Rob Bagg of Kingston who caught touchdowns passes of 90, 89 and 70 yards. In all Bagg finished the game with nine catches for 341 yards the second best performance in CIS history by a receiver, only former Gael James McLean racked up more yardage in a game with 377 in 2001 against Guelph.

The Mustangs enter the postseason having won their last four games of the regular season including last Saturday's 37-3 dismantling of the host Waterloo Warriors. The game with Waterloo was a pseudo playoff game with the winner getting sixth place and the loser having their season come to an end.

Queen's and Western opened the 2007 OUA season with a game in London on Labour Day where the Gaels won a 26-20 overtime thriller on a Mike Giffin (Kingston) touchdown. In that meeting, Western led 13-3 at halftime and 20-6 late in the third quarter before the Gaels mounted their comeback.

Saturday's game will feature two of the best running backs in Canada with Giffin and Western back Randy McAuley of London, Ont. Giffin finished the regular season second in the CIS with 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns while McAuley gained 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns to finish fourth in the country. The comparisons between the two are just as similar in the receiving department with McAuley having 28 catches for 314-yards, two touchdowns and Giffin catching 20 passes for 305 yards, four touchdowns.

Defensively the two teams are among the league leaders with Western having given up the fewest total yards through eight games at 2081 and the Gaels third at 2,311. This season Queen's has given up just 18 more rushing yards than Western's total of 859. In the Labour Day game Western gave up 206-yards to Giffin and the Gaels backs while the Mustangs rushed for 226-yards on the Tricolour.

The game will be the first home playoff game for the Gaels since November 1st, 2003 when the Laurier Golden Hawks upset the Gaels 36-33 in double overtime. Laurier receiver David Agro broke Queen's hearts that afternoon catching the winning touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Pyear.

Saturday's matchup will kickoff at 1pm at Richardson Stadium. New for this week the Gaels Club will be converted into a family fun zone with lots of games for kids and the entire family.

Tickets for the first football playoff game at Queen's since 2003 are on sale at the Physical Education Centre or by calling 613-533-2500