The McMaster Football team has performed some literary larceny for the theme of its next home game as the Queen's Gaels come to Hamilton for the Maroon version of Friday Night Lights on Friday, October 7th with kick-off set for 7 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium.

The 8th-ranked Marauders will bring a 4 and 1 record into the contest, while Queen's is 2 and 3 and still in position to make the post-season.   The stakes are high in this game as McMaster needs to win if it wants to finish at the top of the OUA standings and get a playoff bye, while the Gaels knows a loss will likely scuttle any chance to grab a playoff position.

Being the final conference home game for the Marauders before the playoffs, the McMaster Football program will recognize the graduating seniors on the 2016 team in a pre-game ceremony.

The weather forecast for Friday night is for a beautiful clear evening with mild temperatures, which should be perfect for OUA football action.Good seats for the game are still available and can be purchased online or at the stadium box office 2 hours before kick-off.  Click on the LINK for ticket information.

The presenting partner of the McMaster Friday Night Lights game is the Leggatt Auto Group.
 

GAME NOTES-

• LAST WEEK:  The Marauders celebrated Homecoming and used a tenacious defensive effort to defeat the Guelph Gryphons 27-15 and improve to 4 and 1 in the OUA.  Queen's defeated Waterloo 54-20 to move to 2 and 3, getting back into the OUA playoff race.
• LAST MATCH-UP:  The Marauders and Queen's missed playing each other in 2015, but in 2014 the Gaels came to Hamilton for McMaster's Homecoming game and the Marauders captured a hard-fought 28-19 victory . 
• HISTORY: Since 1971 McMaster leads the head to head OUA match-up with Queen's, having won 10 games and losing 6.  McMaster and Queen's have met five times in the post-season with the Marauders winning in 2002, 2010, and 2011, and Queen's winning in 2006 and 2009.
• TOP-TEN:  McMaster's win over Guelph kept  the Marauders at the No. 8 spot in the weekly CIS top-ten.    McMaster remains one of five OUA teams that make up the top-ten, including: Western (#3), Carleton (#6), Laurier (#7), and Ottawa (#9).
• MAC SACK MASTER:  5th-year defensive end Mike Kashak (Courtice, On) is the CIS leader in sacks with 7, which ties him with John Biewald from Western.  Kashak had 3 sacks in last week's win over Guelph, and he was recognized as a co-recipient of the Mark Timpany Trophy as the outstanding player at Homecoming, and as McMaster's Athlete of the Week.  Kashak is poised to surpass his season high of 8.5 sacks, that he set in 2015.
• GROUND GAME ASSERTED:  The Marauder offense had a running back go over 100 yards rushing for the second consecutive game, as Chris Pezzetta rushed for 143 yards and one TD in the win over Guelph, and was a co-recipient of the Timpany Trophy as Homecoming MVP.  On September 17, the Marauders got a 105 yard effort from Jordan Lyons in the 35-0 win over Waterloo.
• RECORD PACE: Receiver Danny Vandervoort (Barrie, ON) caught his 28th career touchdown pass in his 29th OUA game. Vandervoort continues to add to the McMaster career record for TD catches that he broke in 2015, and he sits tied for 3rd on the CIS list for career touchdown receptions, with his former coach Stef Ptaszek.
• AIR CORPS CLIMBING:  Four Marauder receivers  have now moved into the McMaster top-ten list for career receptions.  Vandervoort stands No. 6 with 130 career receptions, followed by Max Cameron (No. 7 with 128), Dan Petermann (No. 8 with 125), with Josh Vandeweerd coming in at No. 10 with 106 catches. The all-time reception leader is McMaster Hall of Famer Ryan Janzen, who snared 150 balls between 1996 and 2000.
• OUA PRIDE:  McMaster and Queen's have the distinction of being the last two OUA teams to win the Vanier Cup.  McMaster captured the big prize for the first time in school history with the epic 2011 overtime victory over Laval by 41-38, while Queen's took the title in 2009 with a 33-31 comeback win over Calgary.