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Game Recap: Football | 9/29/2018 4:35:00 PM | Mike Pattison (Sports Information Intern)
Gaels push No.1 Western to the brink but come up short 26-23



KINGSTON, Ont. (September 29, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (3-3) fell to the No.1 Western Mustangs (5-0) in a heartbreaking 26-23 loss on Saturday afternoon. It was an eventful afternoon as 2,349 fans piled into Richardson Stadium.

The game also was the conclusion to the Blood Battle. After weeks of the Canadian Blood Services taking appointments from fans both Queen's and Western tied! Queen's Football alumnus and Chief Supply Chain Officer & VP, Donor Relations for Canadian Blood Services Rick Prizen was on-site to announce the winners of the Blood Battle.

Before the game, Queen's welcomed members of the 1963 Yates Cup, 1968 Vanier Cup, 1978 Vanier Cup and 1983 Dunsmore Cup championship teams on to the field for a pre-game Queen's Football Alumni Celebration.

Principal Daniel Wolfe and captains Rob Brooks, Bob Clime of the 1968 Vanier Cup team and Jim D'Andrea of the 1978 Vanier cup team participated in the coin toss.

GAME FLOW
After the Gaels opened the scoring on an early rouge, the Mustangs drove down the field for 75 yards on eight plays. Cedric Joseph capped off the lengthy drive with a 1-yard touchdown rush to give Western a 7-1 lead.

The Gaels chipped into the deficit to start the second quarter as Nick Liberatore sent a 26-yard field goal through the uprights to make it 7-4.

After a Western rouge, the Gaels scored their first touchdown on the day as Nate Hobbs capped off a 93-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Western's Marc Liegghio converted on a 20-yard field goal before half to send the two teams into the locker room tied 11-11.

The Gaels grabbed a hold of the momentum out of the break as Nate Hobbs ran in his second one-yard touchdown rush of the game to give the Gaels as 18-11 lead. The touchdown was Hobbs' eighth rushing touchdown of the season which leads the OUA.

The Gaels then pinned the Mustangs deep in their own zone forcing them to concede a safety bringing the Gaels lead to 20-11.

In the fourth, the Gaels built their lead up to 23-12, but the Mustangs would have the last laugh as they controlled the final nine minutes of the game.

First, Alex Taylor found a hole for a 20-yard touchdown run cutting the Gaels lead to 23-18.

Then after stopping the Gaels defensively, the Mustangs took the following possession down the field for the go-ahead score.

Mustangs' quarterback Chris Merchant kept the ball himself for a 12-yard touchdown run which was enough to seal the ballgame.

BY THE NUMBERS
141 – Matteo Del Brocco set a new career-high with 141 receiving yards.
2 – Cameron Lawson had his strongest game of the season with two sacks and six tackles.
947 – Despite what was a fairly low-scoring game both teams combined for 947 total yards. Defences stood their ground in the red zone.

FINAL SAY
"We laid it all out on the field but when you play against a top team you've got to be almost perfect, they made a few plays there at the end and we had a couple of tough calls," said head coach Pat Sheahan. "It was a great football game played hard right until the end, they are a great team and we were right there step for step with them. We were good enough to beat them today and that was the message to the team, and we just need to play just a little sharper."