Guelph, Ont.- The Guelph Gryphons continued their momentum from last year with a win against the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks in the season-opener at Alumni Stadium with a final score of 21-7.
BOXSCORE
The Gryphons started out the scoring after a short Laurier possession that ended with Laurier’s quarterback Julien John (Oakville, Ont.) sacked by the Gryphons. Guelph’s first possession started on the 42-yard line in their own territory and ended with a touchdown with starting quarterback Jazz Lindsey (Brampton, Ont.) throwing a 7-yard pass down the field to Keith Walker (Burlington, Ont.). After a missed field goal attempt by Julian Tropea (Niagara Falls, Ont.), the score was 6-0 for the Gryphons. Tropea made up the lost point later with a rouge that put the score up to 7-0 for Guelph.
Laurier tied it up with a 38-yard interception return by Felix Odum (Pickering, Ont.) later on in the first quarter, with a field goal by Ronnie Pfeffer (Kitchener, Ont.) for the extra point. The score was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Golden Hawks failed to put any more points on the board throughout the rest of the game, but Guelph kept going strong. After Jazz Lindsey went down on a play in the first half, Lucas Nangle (London, Ont.) briefly took to the field and earned himself a touchdown with a quarterback sneak that had the Gryphons pulling ahead 14-7 after a field goal by Tropea.
In the second half, Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont.) took to the field to put another field goal on the board for Guelph, and the Gryphons scored two safeties to bring the final score to 21-7.
Rookie runningback, John Augustine (Welland, Ont.) lead the Gryphons in rushing yards with an impressive 129 yards, with a loss of two, netting him 127 yards. Augustine’s longest run was an impressive 25 yards, and he averaged 7.9 yards per run.
Despite missing part of the second quarter, Jazz Lindsey still finished 14-for-30 for 117 yards and one interception. Alex Charette (St. Catherines, Ont.) proved to be an effective target throughout the game, leading all receivers with five carries that totaled him 69 yards. Dillon Dimitroff (Burlington, Ont.) was close behind him with three carries and 45 yards in total.
The Gryphon defence looked strong throughout the entire game, not allowing any more points for the Golden Hawks past the first quarter. John Rush (Niagara, Ont.) led the defence with a total of seven tackles, two of which were assisted. Ian Marouf (Fort Erie, Ont.) recorded two sacks, with Patrick McGrath (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and Corey Davidson (Stevensville, Ont.) following close behind, both with one sack.
The Gryphons return home to host the Windsor Lancers next weekend on Monday, September 2nd at Alumni Stadium with kick-off set for 1:00 p.m.
Photo credit: Kyle Rodriguez
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