parpho@rogers.com


No. 5 Queen's defeats No. 4 Guelph 37-23 for second place in OUA standings
Posted by: Shawn MacDonald (Sports Information Officer)

10/19/2013 4:40:00 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 19, 2013) – The No. 5 Queen's Gaels exploded for 30 unanswered points to come from behind and defeat the No. 4 Guelph Gryphons 37-23 as the OUA football regular season concluded on Saturday.

The win catapulted the Gaels into second place in the OUA standings improving to a 7-1 record, earning the playoff tiebreak against the Gryphons who also finish 7-1. Queen's will enjoy a bye next week while Guelph will host Windsor in the opening round of the OUA playoffs.

Billy McPhee (#10 Burlington, Ont.) tossed three touchdowns and 294-yards in the win going 24-35 with an interception.

"Billy was good, he was really good," said head coach Pat Sheahan on his quarterback. "I would go as far as to say that was Billy McPHee's best game here as a Queen's Gael."

"The one contsant throughout the game was Billy, I thought that he played really well and good players make other players around you better and he did that today."

The critical point of the game would come just before halftime with Guelph holding a 16-7 lead. Queen's mounted a 76-yard, seven play drive with McPhee connecting with Aaron Gazendam (#5 Kingston, Ont.) on a 16-yard pass to score with 52 seconds remaining. Fifty-one seconds later, Dillon Wamsley (#1 London, Ont.) hit a 19-yard field goal to take a 17-16 lead into the half.

In the second half, Queen's posted 20 more points to put the game out of reach for the Gryphons. Guelph tried to mount a late comeback, scoring a touchdown with 2:18 left in the game, but an interception with just over a minute to play by Yann Dika-Balotoken (#26 Toronto) would seal the game for the Gaels.

Guelph's Jazz Lindsey was 18 of 34 tossing 280 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Queen's defence terrorized the Guelph quarterback sacking Lindsay three times and picking him off another three in the win. Leading the way on defence for Queen's was Andrew Lue (#21 Markham, Ont.) who had two of the Gaels' three interceptions.

Ryan Granberg (#32 Sherwood Park, Alta.) rushed for 95-yards on 14 attempts for the Gaels while Scott Macdonell,#84, was Queen's top receiver with 96 yards and a touchdown on the Gaels' opening drive.

Guelph's Carl Trivieri was the game's top receiver hauling in 136 yards on six receptions with one touchdown in the loss.

NOTES: Home sweet home – Queen's is riding a 13 game winning streak at Richardson Stadium since opening week of the 2011 season… Announced attendance at the second Queen's homecoming game of the season was 9,037.