parpho1992@yahoo.ca

KINGSTON Ont. (September 5, 2011) – The No. 3 McMaster Marauders (1-0) knocked off the Queen's Gaels (0-1) 26-2 during a windy opening day of OUA football.

Kyle Quinlan of South Woodslee, Ont., was 20 for 31 throwing for 349-yards and tossing one touchdown to lead McMaster to its first win at Richardson Stadium since 2003. The loss was the Gaels first home opener defeat since 2005 when the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks beat them 45-0.

McMaster's Tyler Crapigna of Nepean, Ont., scored 14 points converting four field goals and two extra points in a game that saw winds as high as 24km/hour.

McMaster's 23 point run over three quarters silenced the 8,517 Queen's fans in attendance. The Marauders' Ben D'Aguilar of Hamilton opened the scoring when he picked off Queen's quarterback Billy McPhee of Burlington, Ont., and returned it 57-yards for the touchdown. Crapigna would then post 10 straight points including a convert and three field goals to push the score to 23-0 in the third quarter.

The Gaels only points of the day came from a safety when Crapigna took a knee in the endzone. Prior to that play Queen's had pinned McMaster deep in their own zone.

McPhee finished his first game as a starter going 13 for 32 amassing 152-yards and two interceptions.

Last year's opening day Gaels pivot Justin Chapdelaine of Abbotsfored, B.C. looked sharp in his debut as a receiver making five catches for 64 yards and rushing the ball 26 yards on four attempts. Chapdelaine even converted a pass for 13-yards on a hitch-and-pitch play.

Quinlan's longest pass was a 76-yard bomb to Michael DiCroce of Hamlton which setup Crapigna's first of four field goals on the day. Crapigna hit field goals of 16, 29, 35 and 20-yards.

Dicroce was McMaster's top reciever hauling in 114-yards on four receptions. Jarred Jones of Scarborough, Ont., recorded the only receiving touchdown finishing with 76 total yards on four receptions including the 60-yard major just before halftime.

Defensively, the Gaels looked sharp despite the score with three players recording five or more tackles. Osie Ukwuoma of Mississauga, Ont. recorded one of the Gaels two sacks on the day which moved him into second place amongst the Queen's all-time sacks leaders. Ukwuoma needs 12 sacks to tie Jim Aru for the all-time lead.

Next week the Gaels travel to meet the Ottawa Gee Gees (1-0) at Frank Claire Stadium in Ottawa with kickoff set for 1:00pm.

NOTES: The loss was Queen's first in a home opener since September 5, 2005 against Wilfrid Laurier… in that game Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont. relieved Ali Clarkson in a lopsided Laurier which was Brannagan's debut as a freshman… McMaster's last win at Richardson came five games ago on September 20, 2003 in a 30-27 overtime thriller. The Gaels have now lost three in-a-row against McMaster and their all-time record falls to 14-10 since 1952.