KINGSTON, Ont. (September 14, 2019) – The Queen's Gaels (0-3) defeated the Windsor Lancers (1-2) 15-8 on Canadian Tire Kids Day in front of 2317 fans at Richardson Stadium.
CANADIAN TIRE KIDS DAY
With the help of Canadian Tire and a partnership with the Kingston Boys and Girls Club, Kids Day featured a pre-game fan fest with inflatables, games, autographs, face painting and prizes. Kids were also on the field running through the Gaels tunnel following the game.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels opened the first quarter on the attack as
James Keenan marched the Gaels offence down the field. Keenan connected with wide receiver
Richard Burton on a 27-yard pass and
Nick Liberatore closed the drive with a 31-yard field goal to put the Gaels up 3-0.
Keenan also gained yards on the ground in the first quarter scrambling out of the pocket and broke away from the defence for a 27-yard run.
Queen's continued their momentum in the second quarter with a six-play drive for 31 yards that ended with Liberatore missing a 44-yard field goal. Liberatore would rebound converting on a 23-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter and Queen's entered halftime with a 6-0 lead over the Lancers.
Following a two-and-out on Queen's first drive of the third quarter, Liberatore was hit following a 41-yard punt, a play that resulted in a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty. Liberatore was carried off by his teammates and did not return to the game. The Gaels rallied following the injury, as Keenan found Burton again down the sideline for a 38-yard reception at the Windsor three-yard line. Keenan closed the drive floating a pass to
Marko Xidos in the back of the corner of the end zone to push the lead to 13-0.
On the next possession, the Gaels defence forced the Lancers to concede a safety, increasing the Gaels lead to 15-0. Lancer kicker Griffin Fenton scored a single as his field goal attempt sailed out of the end zone.
Lancers quarterback Sam Girard completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Kaeden Walls as the third quarter ended with the Gaels up 15-8.
Girard attempted to lead the Lancers on a fourth quarterback with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but his pass to the endzone was intercepted by
Thompson McCallum for a touchback. Girard drove the ball down the field on the Lancers final possession of the game. With 11 seconds remaining Girard drove the Lancers to the Queen's 40-yard line but his pass towards the end zone was picked off by
Ejaz Causer to seal the victory for the Gaels.
MUST SEE
BY THE NUMBERS
257 - The most yards thrown by a Gaels quarterback this season
52 - Yard catch-and-run for rookie
Sebastian Hansen, a career-high
44 - Boucher stepped in for an injured
Nick Liberatore punting twice for a total of 42 yards
2 - The Gaels defence made two interceptions in the game including
Ejaz Causer on the final play of the game.
1 - The first victory of the season for the Gaels and Coach Snyder's first U SPORTS victory as head coach
FIRST WIN
It was a historic victory for Gaels head coach
Steve Snyder as it marked his first career U SPORTS victory.
FINAL SAY
"It feels good to just play football and obviously come out with a win," said head coach
Steve Snyder. "I thought defensively to line up like that and limit that offence which has shown itself to be very explosive, to drive the field and put points up, to limit them to one point until the fourth was a great job defensively."
UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action next Saturday when they travel to Toronto to take on Old Four rivals the Toronto Varsity Blues. Kick-off is set for 1 pm and the action can be seen live on OUA.tv.
