Photos from the 2007 season opener vs. the Western Mustangs at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, ON, September 3, 2007.

The Queen's Golden Gaels got off to a fantastic start in the OUA, as they defeated the Western Ontario Mustangs 26-20 in overtime Monday night at TD Waterhouse Stadium. Gaels running back Mike Giffin ended the game in the first overtime period when he scored his second touchdown of the game on a 22 yard run. Giffin finished with a career best 156 yards on 24 carries as Queen's came from 20-6 down in the last 17 minutes.

The Gaels struggled in the first half falling behind 3-0 late in the first quarter on a 34 yard field goal by Mustang kicker Derek Schiavone. Three minutes into the second quarter Western running back Randy McAuley who ran for a game high 214 yards scored on a 6 yard carry and with Schiavone's convert the home team led 10-0. The two teams exchanged field goals with Queen's redshirt freshman Dan Village making a 31 yarder but Schiavone answering that with a nine yard kick of his own and it was 13-3 Western at halftime. Village made his second field goal midway through the third quarter from 17 yards out but McAuley scored his second major six minutes later from seven yards out to make it 20-6 with 2:16 left in the third.

Queen's started to turn things around shortly after getting a 20 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Danny Brannagan to slotback Scott Stinson with three seconds left in the third quarter. The Gaels tied the game midway through the final period on a one yard run by Giffin but Western had a chance on the last play of regulation but Schiavone's field goal attempt was blocked and the two teams headed for overtime for the first time in their storied rivalry. Western took possession first in the opening period of extra time but Schiavone missed a field goal and the Gaels returned it out of the endzone to keep it tied at 20. Taking over at the Western 35, Giffin ran ten yards on the first play and then shortly after finished the night off with his longest carry of the game, a 22 yard toudown. For the Tricolour, Brannagan was 10 for 26 for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception, completing passes to five different receivers. The Gaels finished the game with 28 rushing plays to go with Brannagan's 26 pass attempts and the win over Western is their second straight over the London school after last October's 28-9 win at Richardson Stadium.

Queen's takes their 1-0 record into their home opener on Sunday September 9th at 1:25pm against the Guelph Gryphons who lost Monday to defending league champion Ottawa 30-23. -- Bill Miklas

GOLDEN GAELS WIN A WILD ONE

Claude Scilley, Kingston Whig-Standard Sports - September 4, 2007.

A stunning comeback, capped by a 23-yard touchdown run by Mike Giffin in overtime, gave the Queen's Golden Gaels a 26-20 win over the Western Mustangs in the opening game of the Ontario University Athletics football season last night. A sell-out crowd of 9,413 watched the No. 7-ranked Mustangs squander a 20-6 third-quarter lead as the Gaels won for the fourth time in their last five games, dating to last season.

"That was a helluva one to be a part of," said Queen's linebacker D.J. Mullholland, whose block of a Derek Schiavone field goal attempt with no time on the clock sent the game into overtime. The Gaels used their two timeouts after time expired to give the Western kicker time to consider his situation. "The best two timeouts of my career," said Gaels coach Pat Sheahan. Mulholland said the Gaels did nothing unusual on the play that led to the crucial block. Twice earlier Queen's rushers got to Schiavone, but both times they were called for contacting the kicker. "They have no film on us," Mulholland said. "They just missed an assignment on the left side and I got through clean."

Sheahan said the Gaels, down 13-3 at halftime, regrouped nicely. "We realized in the locker room we hadn't played anywhere near our potential, and on a positive note, no one felt it was over. "The defence hung in all night and kept us within striking distance." Jimmy Allin almost ended the game before the Queen's offence got on the field. He took Schiavone's miss about 15 yards deep in the end zone and almost took it the length of the field before he was stopped at the Western 20-yard line. "It would have been apropos if we'd won it with our defence," Sheahan said. Indeed, the Gaels were fortunate to escape the first half down just 13-3. Only a splendid performance by the Queen's defence prevented the game from being a rout by halftime.

The Gaels had 86 yards of total offence, 23 of it on their first two plays of the game, as Giffin carried for 12 and 11 yards. Queen's didn't have another first down until the final three minutes of the half. The Queen's defence, meanwhile, was mostly marvellous. The Gaels sacked the quarterback three times in the first half and twice in the second quarter denied Western a touchdown inside its 10-yard line. The first came on Western's first possession after its touchdown when Dee Stirling and Neil Puffer combined to stop Randy McAuley at the five on third-and-two. The second came in the final two minutes of the half, with the Mustangs leading 10-3, when Queen's held Western to a field goal from first-and-goal from the six.

The Gaels' only weakness in the opening 30 minutes was their inability to corral McAuley. The speedy Western back rushed for 161 yards - gaining roughly twice as much yardage by himself as the Gaels did collectively - including a 75-yard dash up the middle that set up his first touchdown of the game.

On a calm, warm night, Queen's possessed just two real weapon in the first half, the kicking toe of rookie Dan Village and the return magic of veteran Rob Bagg. Village averaged 38 yards on six punts and Bagg returned three kicks for 146 yards. The Queen's offence, however, was able to turn only one of them - a 73-yard punt return - into a score. The Queen's offence came to life late in the third quarter. The Gaels moved 70 yards in six plays with quarterback Brannagan completing four passes, the last a 21-yard TD strike to a wide-open Scott Stinson.

The Gaels defence held Western to two-and-out on the next two possessions and the offence then marched 62 yards in seven plays - two of them first-down completions to reserve fullback Trevor Potts - with Giffin scoring his first touchdown on a one-yard run.

Gaels 26 Western 20

Queen's: Two rushing TDs by Mike Giffin, Scott Stinson scores on a pass from Danny Brannagan; Dan Village kicks FGs of 32 and 18 yards. Mustangs: Two rushing TDs by Randy McAuley; Derek Schiavone kicks FGs of 32 and 9 yards.

The game: Gaels trail 13-3 at halftime and 20-6 late in the third quarter; Gaels tie the game and win it in overtime on a 23-yard run by Giffin.

Big play: D.J. Mulholland blocks a 43-yard FG attempt by Schiavone with no time left on the clock.

And then: Schiavone,the all-Canadian kicker, misses a 35-yard FG in overtime

STATS:

QUEEN'S 26 WESTERN 20 (OT)

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL
Queen\'s 0 3 10 7 6 26
Western 3 10 7 0 0 20

Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
13:03 WES - Derek Schiavone 34 yd field goal, 6-23 2:57, QUE 0 - WES 3
2nd Quarter
2:58 WES - Randy McAuley 6 yd run (Derek Schiavone kick), 3-92 1:42, QUE 0 - WES 10
7:58 QUE - D. Village 31 yd field goal, 3-2 1:22, QUE 3 - WES 10
13:39 WES - Derek Schiavone 9 yd field goal, 5-44 0:54, QUE 3 - WES 13
3rd Quarter
6:38 QUE - D. Village 17 yd field goal, 5-43 2:23, QUE 6 - WES 13
12:44 WES - Randy McAuley 7 yd run (Derek Schiavone kick), 13-75 6:06, QUE 6 - WES 20
14:57 QUE - S. Stinson 20 yd pass from D. Brannagan (D. Village kick), 6-70 2:05, QUE 13 - WES 20
4th Quarter
7:29 QUE - M. Giffin 1 yd run (D. Village kick), 7-62 3:10, QUE 20 - WES 20
Overtime
QUE - M. Giffin 22 yd run, 2-35 0:00, QUE 26 - WES 20

TEAM STATISTICS
QUE WES
FIRST DOWNS 20 21
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 31-170 33-196
PASSING YDS (NET) 122 187
Passes Att-Comp-Int 26-10-1 31-18-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 59-259 68-355
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 9-168 8-67
Kickoff Returns-Yards 3-86 3-51
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 9-36.7 9-40.3
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 14-71 10-90
Possession Time 36:27 33:35
Third-Down Conversions 1 of 2 2 of 4
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 3-3 3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards 4-28 2-17

OFFENCE
RUSHING: Queen\'s-M. Giffin 24-156; D. Brannagan 1-14; M. Gordon 1-1; C.Smith 2-minus 8. Western-Randy McAuley 29-214; Mike Faulds 2-11; D. McCall 1-minus 11; TEAM 1-minus 18.
PASSING: Queen\'s-D. Brannagan 10-26-1-122. Western-Mike Faulds 18-31-0-187.
RECEIVING: Queen\'s-S. Valberg 3-29; T. Potts 2-29; S. Stinson 2-25; D. Sheahan 1-42; R. Bagg 1-25; W. VanRuyven 1-minus 28. Western-Jesse Bellamy 7-98; Anthony Adderley 3-34; Randy McAuley 2-12; Matt Carapella 1-17; Ryan Clutterbuck 1-12; M. Baxter 1-9; Dave Clayton 1-9; Brad Barkauskas 1-4; Corey McNair 1-minus 8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Queen\'s-None. Western-Chris Greenwood 1-0.
FUMBLES: Queen\'s-R. Bagg 1-1. Western-Randy McAuley 1-1; Derek Schiavone 1-1.
Attendance: 9413
Kickoff time: 7:07PM End of Game: 10:01 Total elapsed time:
Officials: Referee: A. Kirkpatrick; Umpire: J. Lindsay; Linesman: G. Hill; Line judge: G. Montani; Back judge: G. MacRae; Field judge: H. Murphy; Side judge: R. McVinnie;

DEFENCE
SACKS (UA-A): Queens-N. Puffer 1-1; B. Adams 0-1; TEAM 1-0; D. Sterling 0-1; T. Carter 0-1. Western-J. Kosec 1-0; Tom Dolezel 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Queens-T. Carter 7-1; J. Allin 7-1; M. Vickers 5-2; C. Smith 5-2; TEAM 5-0; N. Puffer 3-0; D. Sterling 2-2; O. Ukwuoma 2-1; B. Adams 2-1; DJ Mullholland 2-1; M. Botting 2-1; A. Daprato 2-0; A. Rich 1-2; Paul Boshyk 1-0; Peter Boshyk 1-0; R. Bagg 1-0; TJ Leeper 0-1; S. Laporte 0-1; M. Walker 0-1; J. Oduwole 0-1. Western-Corey McNair 5-3; Chris Greenwood 5-1; C. Butler 3-2; Andrew Bain 3-3; Chris Greaves 2-2; J. Kosec 2-2; J. Surla 2-0; V. Martin 2-0; TEAM 2-0; Nick Kordic 1-2; G. Larocque 1-2; Brad Barkauskas 1-0; Derek Schiavone 1-0; 13 1-0; Kelvin Mwangi 1-0; J. Hipperson 1-0; Mike Hegarty 1-0; J. Mitchell 1-0; Matt Carapella 1-0; 44 1-1; Adam Hrytzak 1-1; Cory Watson 1-1.


All photos are Copyright (c) Jeff Chan 2007, but may be used for personal non-commercial use, or by Queen's University or the Vanier Cup with appropriate photo credit, unless otherwise authorized.