It was a tale of two halves for the Guelph Gryphons as they opened their OUA football season with a 16-15 loss to the McMaster Marauders at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium Sunday.
“We thought from a physicality standpoint and everything, it was a game that we had a better chance to compete than the score kind of (indicated we) did,” Gryphon interim head coach Todd Galloway said. “We just made too many mistakes.”
“There are a lot of mixed feelings, defensively and offensively, but the best thing we can do is everybody just keep their heads up and try to think of the positives we can get out of this game,” Gryphon defensive back Elijah Walker said. “Every losing game we have to take as a learning experience, and not just everybody getting down on themselves.”
“We’ve lost here 11 years straight now, so that’s a little disappointing,” Gryphon receiver Kade Belyk said. “We’ve just got to stay positive. It’s trust. We’ve just got to trust each other and we’ll be fine.”
The Gryphs grabbed a lead in the first half, but fail to nurse it through the second half as McMaster came back, scoring the winning touchdown with 8:53 to go in the game.
The Gryphs had shot ahead 12-3 in the opening half on a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Theo Landers and a 37-yard field goal, two rouges on missed field goals and a point on a convert by Gabe Ferraro.
“What we learned is we have a veteran (offensive) line, but we have a lot of guys in new positions,” Galloway said. “When the game got hot and the game got tired, guys started making mental mistakes so we just need to keep it simple, run the ball a little bit more in certain situations and take the pressure off everybody else.”
McMaster kicker Adam Preocanin started McMaster’s comeback when he hit a 17-yard field goal with seven seconds to go in the first half to narrow the score to 12-6. He added another field goal, this one from 18 yards, midway through the third quarter, but Ferraro got that one back with a 34-yard field goal four minutes later.
Michael Bazzo hauled in a three-yard pass from quarterback Jackson White for McMaster’s winning touchdown. Actually, it was Preocanin’s convert that put McMaster ahead for the first time in the game. He also scored a 21-yard field goal in the first half.
Ferraro had a chance to win it for the Gryphs, but his 56-yard attempt came up short. If he had made it, it would’ve been the longest successful field goal in both Gryphon and OUA history.
While the Gryphs gained 173 yards rushing, 63 more than McMaster, they were held to 81 yards passing, 160 fewer than their hosts.
Next up for the Gryphs is their home opener on Labour Day Monday, Sept. 3, when they’re to tangle with the York Lions, also 0-1 following a 42-21 loss to the Queen’s Gaels Sunday. Game time at Alumni Stadium is 1 p.m.
“We’ve just got to go harder,” Walker said looking ahead to that game. “We’ve all just got run more and we’ve all got to get more conditioned and work on the little details. I found it was the details throwing us off every now and then. During practice this week we’ve got to work on the little details just to polish up our team.”
“We’ve just got to move forward and look to the next game,” Belyk said. “We’ve got the potential all around. I can see it.”
