Photos from game 5 vs. the Laurier Golden Hawks at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, ON, September 29, 2007.

QUEEN’S TURNS OVER UNDEFEATED RECORD TO LAURIER

- Gaels fall to Laurier 23-4 in battle of undefeated teams -

Kingston, Ont. (Queen’s) – Turnovers spell defeat and that’s exactly what happened to the No. 7 ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels football squad losing 23-4 to the No. 4 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Saturday at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont.

Laurier scored 23 unanswered en route to handing the Gaels their first loss to put the Tri-colour’s record at 4-1 on the 2007 season. WLU defended their unblemished record and now sit tied with Ottawa as the remaining undefeated teams in the OUA; both Laurier and Ottawa are 5-0.

The Gaels recorded four turnovers which led to the disappointing loss seeing Quarterback Danny Brannagan (Burlington, Ont.) throw two interceptions and the offence fumble the ball three times with two recoveries by the Laurier defence.

The Gaels offence sputtered all day with Brannagan unable to find a groove going 10 for 30 with 159 yards gained in the air.

“Offensively we were a little off today,” said Head Coach Pat Sheahan after the game. “We didn’t get much going on the passing game. We weren’t sharp on offense today and paid a price against a very good football team.” “Despite a few mistakes on defence, I thought we played with them” continued Sheahan. “For them to come in and score 17-20 points, I don’t think anyone would have been shocked to hear that. For us to score four points, well, that is below par.”
The two fumble recoveries by Laurier were a deflating momentum killer to the Gaels offense. Both fumbles came after they recorded big yardage plays. The first came early in the second quarter when running back Mike Giffin of Kingston fumbled the ball after being mauled by the Laurier secondary. That fumble led to a 70-yard Laurier touchdown drive that put the Hawks up 7-4 and spurred on an additional major in their next possession. The Hawks went into the half, up 17-4.

The Gaels offensive saw another big play squandered when Brannagan threw from the Gaels own 21-yard line connecting with Devon Sheahan of Kingston. Sheahan made the catch and when tackled lost control of the ball only to fumble on the Laurier 35-yard line. On a positive side, the Gaels defence did manage solid stats against one of the country’s top offenses. They held one of the nation’s top Quarterback to only 200-yards in the air and one passing touchdown. They also only surrendered 129 yards on the rushing attack holding the country’s leading rusher to 88-yards.

Giffin was the Gaels shining light on the offensive side of the ball running for 171-yards against a tough Laurier defence. This marked his seventh straight 100-yard plus rushing game and fifth of the season. Scoring for Laurier were Quarterback Ian Noble of West Vancouver, B.C. a one-yard running play and then Noble hit Dante Luciani of Oakville, Ont. with an 8-yard pass for only the game’s second touchdown. Laurier’s kicker Chris Mamo of London, Ont. connected on three field goals to close the game’s scoring at 23-4. The Gaels opened the scoring with 14-yard field goal by Dan Village at 5:03 of the first quarter. Laurier conceded a single point two minutes later on a Village punt to make the score 4-0 in Queen’s favour.

The Gaels will have little rest going up against No. 3 ranked Ottawa GeeGee’s next week. The Thanksgiving weekend matchup goes Saturday in Ottawa beginning at 2:00pm. For tickets call the Gee Gee ticket office at 613-562-5800 x 4337

NOTES: Saturday’s game marked 125th anniversary of Queen’s Golden Gaels Football... A huge contingent of alumni made up the 5,582 spectators in attendance including long-time Gael “Moose” Hal McCarney. McCarney was a former assistant coach of the legendary Frank Tindall who was the Head Coach of the Tricolour in the 60’s and 70’s. McCarney was the ceremonial kicker in today’s game... Kingston’s Rob Bagg suffered a strained rib muscle early in the second quarter and remained off the field until the end of the fourth quarter. Head Trainer David Ross said Bagg’s injury is not serious and will need some rest and recovery.

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.