Michael Grobe
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 17, 2009) – The No. 4 Queen’s Gaels (7-0) remained perfect, holding on for a thrilling 27-26 victory over the No. 5 Western Mustangs (5-2) at Richardson Stadium on Saturday in CIS football action.
With 13 seconds left, Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont., connected with receiver Blaise Morrison of Bedford, N.S., on a 30-yard catch-and-run scoring play to earn the win. His scoring play capped off an impressive 84-yard game-winning drive for the Gaels.
Despite trailing 14-3 at the half, Western had taken a 26-21 lead with just under a minute remaining after a Nathan Riva (LaSalle, Ont.) 10-yard touchdown run.
In the race for 10,000 both Brannagan and Western QB Michael Faulds of Eden Mills, Ont. surpassed the mark and now sit second and third respectively on the CIS all-time passing list. Brannagan has 10,424 career passing yards and is just 31-yards shy of Matt Connell who racked up 10,455 yards in his career for McGill. Faulds is right behind Brannagan at 10,261.
Brannagan was 35/52 for 435 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on the day. Faulds finished at 384 going 25/40.
Queen's extended its regular season winning streak to 17 straight games and clinched first place in the OUA along with a first round-by for the playoffs.
The Gaels led 14-3 at the half but went to the dressing room disappointed after failing to punch in a touchdown from the one-yard line as time expired. Western then exploded for 10 points unanswered points in the third quarter to move to within one point (14-13).
Queen’s started the fourth quarter with a 47-yard drive, capped by a four-yard Marty Gordon (Kingston, Ont.) touchdown run to make the score 21-13. Western responded with two touchdowns to give themselves a five point cushion with just a one-minute and five seconds to play.
Gordon finished with two touchdowns and 86-yards on the ground while Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont., was Queen’s top receiver making 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown.
Western’s top rusher was Nathan Riva of LaSalle, Ont., posting 107-yards on the ground and 64 in the air collecting one touchdown. Zach Bull of Colborne, Ont., recorded five catches netting 131-yards for the Mustangs.
Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont., was the defensive star for Queen’s tallying two interceptions giving him a league leading five interceptions.
Next week Queen’s travels to Waterloo, Ont., to face the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2) in their final regular season matchup of the season. The Gaels are looking to extend their regular season winning streak to 18 games and become only the second team in Queen’s history to have back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.
NOTES: Chris Ioannides of Toronto turned one of his best performances in a Gaels uniform against Western tallying 125-yards on 11 catches Valberg is now 17-yards shy of moving into second place on the Gaels all-time receiving yards list. He is currently third behind James McLean (3,138) and Brad Smith (2,683) having past Jock Climie (2,340) this year… Queen’s celebrated ‘Legacy Weekend’ which saw football alumni from years past honoured at halftime along with a tribute to legendary coaches Hal McCarney and Bill Miklas Sr... Attendance was 3,816
