parpho@rogers.com
Queen's back on track with 66-1 win over Varsity Blues
Posted by: Michael Grobe (Communications & Sports Information Officer)

10/9/2010 5:03:57 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 9, 2010) – Justin Chapdelaine of Abbotsford, Ont., threw for 284 yards and six touchdowns, while adding another on the ground, as the Queen's Gaels routed the Toronto Varsity Blues 66-1 on Saturday at Richardson Stadium.

The win lifts the Gaels to a 2-4 record and into a tie with the Varsity Blues in the OUA standings. It also gives Queen's the tiebreaker over Toronto in the OUA playoff race.

The victory is also the 100th career regular season win for Queen's Head Coach Pat Sheahan. 52 of those 100 victories have come during his 11-year career with the Gaels.

Chapdelaine's six touchdowns in the air are the most in the Gaels history and it ranks him eighth on the CIS single game records list tied with 19 others.

“We had a great start and that's what we needed,” said Chapdelaine. “A couple games we haven't played great in the second half. I felt like we played great throughout the entire game. We had a great 60 minutes of football today.”

The second-year quarterback had many targets throwing two touchdowns to Tomas Howes of Parham, Ont., and William vanRuyven of Port Colborne, Ont. Devan Sheahan of Kingston, Ont., and Giovanni Aprile of Toronto, also recorded a touchdown. Sheahan led all receivers with 124 yards on 10 receptions.

Queen's had two 100 yard rushers in the game with Jimmy Therrien of Montreal and Ryan Granberg cracking the 100 yard mark.

Therrien played the majority of the game tallying 23 carries, 127 yards and one touchdown.

Ryan Granberg of Sherwood Park, Alta., who relieved Therrien late had the longest run in the game with a 96 yard touchdown at 10:06 of the fourth quarter. Granberg finished with 167 yards and one touchdown.

Toronto struggled offensively tallying only six first downs the entire day. Overall they managed just 170 offensive yards. Varsity Blues' Andrew Gillis of Markham, Ont., was 11 for 24 with 88 yards and three interceptions.

CIS rookie of the year candidate Sam Sabourin of Stittsville, Ont., led the Gaels defence with 10.5 tackles and an interception. Stephen Laporte of Ottawa, also had an interception in the win.

“Definitely It was a must win game,” said fourth-year Matt O'Donnell of Kingston, Ont. “We had to make sure we beat these guys so that we have the head to head line up if we have the same record at the end of the year.”

The game was filled with a number of career firsts for a variety of players. On defence, Sabourn and Paul Hutchinson of Hamilton each recorded their first career interceptions. Granberg had is first 100-yard career rushing game while vanRuyven tallied his first career touchdown.

NOTES: Sabourin currently leads the CIS with 49 tackles which is a half tackle over Toronto's Wilkerson DeSouza of Mississauga, Ont... DeSouza is in his third season with the Varsity Blues. Dan Village of Abbotsford, B.C. added his 42nd field goal to his career totals.