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KINGSTON, Ont. (October 17, 2009) – The No. 4 Queen's Gaels (7-0) remained perfect, capturing a 27-26 victory over the No. 5 Western Mustangs (5-2) at Richardson Stadium on Saturday in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football action.

With 13 seconds left, Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont., connected with receiver Blaise Morrison of Bedford, N.S., on a 30-yard catch-and-run scoring play to earn the win. The play capped off an impressive 84-yard game-winning drive for the Gaels.

Despite trailing 14-3 at the half, Western had taken a 26-21 lead with just under a minute remaining after a Nathan Riva (LaSalle, Ont.) 10-yard touchdown run.

“We knew we had enough time there to put together a drive,” said Brannagan. “We do that (hurry-up) drill in practice pretty frequently… we're used to having to score in limited time and tight situations. We were pretty confident the offence would be able to go out there and execute.”

Head Coach Pat Sheahan elaborated on Brannagan's comments and was pleased with how his team executed a drill that is common at Gaels practice.

“The time on the clock (in practice) is 1:10 and we start on our own 20-yard line,” said Sheahan. “I know the kids still have to perform against real live guys coming after them, but I'd like to think we were ready for that situation in the ball game and the results were pretty good.”

In the race for 10,000 both Brannagan and Western QB Michael Faulds of Eden Mills, Ont.m surpassed the mark and now sit second and third respectively on the CIS all-time passing list. Brannagan has 10,424 career passing yards and is just 31-yards shy of Matt Connell who racked up 10,455 yards in his career for McGill. Faulds is right behind Brannagan at 10,261.

Brannagan made 35 completions for 435 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on the day. Faulds finished at 384 going 25 for 40.

Queen's extended its regular season winning streak to 17 straight games and clinched first place in the OUA along securing a first round-bye in the playoffs along with home field advantage throughout.

The Gaels led 14-3 at the half but went to the dressing room disappointed after failing to punch in a touchdown from the one-yard line as time expired. Western then exploded for 10 points unanswered points in the third quarter to move to within one point (14-13).

Queen's started the fourth quarter with a 47-yard drive, capped by a four-yard Marty Gordon (Kingston, Ont.) touchdown run to make the score 21-13. Western responded with two touchdowns to give themselves a five point cushion with just a 1:05 to play.

Gordon finished with two touchdowns and 86-yards on the ground while Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont., was Queen's top receiver making 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown.

Western's top rusher was Riva, posting 107-yards on the ground and 64 in the air collecting one touchdown. Zach Bull of Colborne, Ont., recorded five catches netting 131-yards for the Mustangs.

Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont., was the defensive star for Queen's tallying two interceptions giving him a league leading five interceptions.

Next week the Gaels' travel to Waterloo, Ont., to face the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2) in final game of the regular season. Queen's are looking to extend their regular season winning streak to 18 games and become only the second football team in school history to repeat an undefeated regular season.

NOTES: Chris Ioannides of Toronto turned in one of his best performances in a Gaels uniform tallying 125-yards on 11 catches… Valberg is now 17 yards shy of moving into second place on the Gaels all-time receiving-yards. Currently he sits third behind James McLean (3,138) and Brad Smith (2,683) having past Jock Climie (2,340) this year… Queen's celebrated 'Legacy Weekend' which saw football alumni from years past honoured at halftime along with a tribute to legendary coaches Hal McCarney and Bill Miklas Sr... Attendance was 3,816