HAMILTON, Ont. - With just three games left on the Marauders' schedule, it is crunch time for the maroon and grey. Last Saturday's game versus the #1 ranked Western Mustangs at Ron Joyce Stadium did not go the way of the hosts . The defending Vanier Cup Champions controlled every statistical category and owned the ground game with 240 net rushing yards to McMaster's 48. This weekend, the Marauders will need to close the chapter on Western and look fully forward to the Thanksgiving contest with the Gryphons - a team that shares McMaster's 1-4 record and is well within the maroon and grey's sights.
McMaster @ Guelph
Alumni Stadium | Guelph, Ont.
October 7th, 2022 @ 6pm
McMaster and Guelph closed out the 2021 season in Hamilton on October 30. McMaster won that contest 27-22 thanks in part to a 70-yard pass from
Andreas Dueck (Winnipeg, Man.) to
Jackson Cooling (Burlington, Ont) in the closing minutes of the game. The Marauders and Gryphons have had some close contests over the past few years but McMaster does own the all-time series 33-19 and has won nine of the last ten contests.
Last Saturday,
Devonte Ballantyne (Strathroy, Ont.) and
DeEmetrius Masuka (Hamilton, Ont.) led the defence with sixteen combined tackles.
Andreas Dueck went 15 of 21 for 179 yards and one touchdown.
Keagan Hall (Burlington, Ont.) relieved Dueck in the fourth quarter, passed for 45 yards and recorded a 12-yard rush for a touchdown.
Guelph (1-4) is coming off the bye week after dropping the two previous contests to the Ottawa Gee-Gees (46-10) and Queen's Gaels (62-11). Despite the Gryphons' record, the black, red and yellow have the second best red zone touchdown percentage in the country at 73%, scoring on 8 of 11 visits to the red zone.
The Marauders have one of the top performing offences in the country, averaging 25.6 points per game, 7th best in the nation. In search of the second win of the season, McMaster will need to fire on all cylinders to improve to 2-4.
Defensively, the Guelph Gryphons are quite the threat. Linebacker, Brandon Ferigo, is third in the conference in tackles this season, averaging 6.8 per game. He also leads the OUA in assists with 20. Teammate, Scott Murray, has found his way to the quarterback numerous times this season, recording 3.5 sacks for a loss of 16 yards. The Marauders will need to hold steady on the line and move the ball quickly to avoid the defensive pressure from the Gryphons.
The Marauders will head down the 401 next weekend to Kingston for a contest with the Queen's Gaels on Saturday October 15. This will be the final road game of the regular season for the Marauders.
All Time
The Marauders and Warriors first met in 1965 and Friday night's game will mark the 53rd meeting between the two. McMaster leads the all-time series 33-19.
Last Time Out
Despite being scoreless at the half last weekend, McMaster quarterback
Andreas Dueck of Winnipeg broke the offensive shutout at 5:56 of the third, finding
Nicholas Adair of Kingston for a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Marauders have scored at least 14 points in each of their games this season.
Game Coverage
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https://oua.yaretv.com/
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