Queen's Golden Gaels Football

Deja vu all over again; Gaels rally for third game in a row

Posted By Claude Scilley

They're a tease, these Queen's Golden Gaels.

For the third time this year they flirted with an opponent Saturday, leading the McMaster Marauders on, making them believe they had a chance to win a football game.

Then the Gaels turned cold, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back drives barely four minutes apart in the fourth quarter, jilting their guests into a 24-20 defeat.

These Gaels are 3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2003 yet even in so doing they've toyed with the emotions of their fans as well, tantalizing them with splendid displays of football yet frustrating them by wrapping that brilliance in layers of mediocrity.

Don't look for a simple explanation.

"It's the same story every week. We get down by two touchdowns and we start to come alive," said Queen's back Mike Giffin, who scored all of his team's touchdowns Saturday but was at a loss to understand the phenomenon.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "I don't know what it is. I couldn't explain it."

The Gaels have scored 17 points in the first half of their three games this year. They finally scored a touchdown in the first half Saturday, but apparently were so startled by doing so they botched the convert.

They've trailed every one of their games at halftime, in two of them they were behind entering the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the Gaels have outscored the opposition 29-7 in the final period, the only touchdown against them coming Saturday after they fumbled a punt on their own eight-yard line on the final play of the third quarter.

Are the Gaels more fit than the rest?

Are they responding to a sense of urgency?

Do they learn things and adapt as the game progresses?

"I couldn't say it like that," Giffin said. "I'd say we should be a little more prepared in the first quarter.

"We don't have to keep it so exciting for people."

Queen's coach Pat Sheahan said football is a game of momentum.

"I know it's a much-used explanation for the way things seem to go," he said, "but when your team is believing, it's better, there's no question about it."

Though they still trailed on the scoreboard, the Gaels essentially won Saturday's game in the third quarter. Though down 13-9, Queen's chose to start the second half playing into a stiff wind blowing out of the northwest.

"Normally when you're behind you're going to take the wind," Sheahan said. "Because the game was close, our strategy was to go out and defend the wind in the third quarter."

Confident the defence would keep the score close, Sheahan reasoned the wind would help his team catch up, if necessary, in the fourth.

The strategy worked. The Marauders failed to score in the third quarter and they even played into Queen's hands at one point, consuming almost six minutes with a drive that started at their own nine-yard line but died at the McMaster 45.

The Marauders eventually did score again. Mark Surya fumbled a punt on his own eight-yard line and on the very next play, Adam Archibald threw a touchdown pass to Rob Serviss, making the visitors' lead 20-9. For the third game in a row, however, the Gaels answered a potentially devastating touchdown with a score of their own, moving 68 yards in six plays.

McMaster was two-and-out on its next possession and on its next drive Queen's scored again, advancing 57 yards in five plays. In less than four minutes, the Gaels went from trailing by 11 to leading by three.

As this was happening, Sheahan said the mood shift on the sideline was palpable.

"The emotions are definitely involved," Sheahan said. "You felt it. [McMaster] looked like they were sputtering. It looked like it was all uphill for them in the fourth quarter. Then the punts don't seem to go as far, and that's when a guy breaks a tackle.

"When you've got a back like Giffin, he doesn't go down on an arm tackle. He gets better as the game goes on."

Typically, though, Queen's couldn't sustain the brilliance. After another defensive stand, a punt into the wind and a no-yards penalty gave Queen's the ball on the McMaster 26, the Gaels settled for a punt single four plays and 30 yards of penalties later.

The Queen's defence took over, however. The Marauders' last threat ended with two tackles behind the line of scrimmage and an intercepted pass in the final two minutes of the game.

McMaster coach Stefan Ptaszek admitted his team didn't take advantage of the wind in the third quarter as it should have.

"We got away with it at the end [when] they dropped the punt," he said. "At 20-9 heading into the fourth, I thought our defence was playing well and our offence could put up a few more points but they had the short field and ... it's downhill when you get the short field and the wind.

"Queen's executed and took their game to a different level in the fourth quarter, which is what teams need to do."