HAMILTON (September 10, 2022) - The Ottawa Gee Gees dealt the McMaster Marauders a tough 20-14 loss in Week 3 of OUA football action.
McMaster had a chance to pull out a last second victory, recovering an onside kick on the Ottawa 48 yard-line with just 13 seconds left. They failed to reach the endzone on two plays with their last attempt being broken up as time expired, handing the Marauders the loss.
McMaster is now 0-3 on the year after having to forfeit their first two games due to the participation of an ineligible player.
The Gee-Gees would strike early to open the scoring when JP Cimankinda of Ottawa had a 1-yard touchdown run just 3:30 into the first quarter. They would build a 13-0 lead heading into halftime, with Campbell Fair (Carrying Place, Ont.) adding a rouge and a field goal while the Gee-Gee defence forced a safety.
McMaster got themselves on the scoreboard in the third quarter with
Jackson Cooling of Burlington, Ont. hauling in a nine-yard touchdown pass from
Andreas Dueck of Winnipeg, Man. that capped a seven play, 66-yard drive.
In the fourth quarter, the Gee-Gees added a touchdown by Daniel Oladejo of Ottawa, catching a 17 yard pass from Ben Maracle of Tyendinaga, Ont. With the clock ticking down, McMaster responded with Dueck scrambling for a five-yard touchdown to set up the onside kick.
NEXT UP: McMaster will hit the road in Week 4 to meet the No. 8 Waterloo Warriors (1-1) at Warrior Field. Waterloo is coming off a 41-35 loss against the Guelph Gryphons. McMaster is 54-19-1 all-time against Waterloo and won 34-13 in their last meeting back on October 2nd, 2021 at Ron Joyce Stadium.
MAKING IT DRAMATIC: McMaster's onside kick was perfectly executed to set up two shots at the end zone and potentially win the game in the final seconds. Kicker Ben MacDonald of Kamloops, BC, hit a high hanger with defensive back
DeEmetrius Masuka of Hamilton making an athletic play to take possession.
BY THE NUMBERS:
11- The number of home losses the McMaster Marauders have suffered at Ron Joyce Stadium since it opened in 2008.
19 - The number of first downs converted by the McMaster Marauders.
248 - Passing yards Dueck added to his league leading total; which now sits at 837.
76 - All purpose yards recorded by running back
Daniel Bosett of Brantford, Ont.
THEY SAID IT:
Stef Ptaszek - Head Coach
Breaking down today's game:
"I thought our defence once they got settled in were excellent… they had to play it a little more often than they should. I thought the special teams were working hard but the one big return hurt us a bit and roughing the kicker hurt us a bit. Offensively we've got to put more points up."
"I thought the second half was better. The mistake on the interceptions for me was game changing. So there's some things we got to sort through. I thought Dueck competed like he always does. I think he wants those two throws back for sure."
"All of it means we played okay… and you can't do that against a good football team (Ottawa) and the outcome reflects that."
On what's in front of the team after a tough start to the season.
"If we want to have a shot, we've got to find a way to win four of our last five and certainly some of our best opponents are coming down the pipe. So we'll circle the wagon and work towards doing that. It's one day at a time."
"The best way to start building towards that is to get a win against Waterloo. We got a bye week coming that we desperately need and so if we can beat Waterloo and get to the bye 1-3, that means we've got to win three out of four on the backside. We've got the ability to do that."
DeEmetrius Masuka - Defensive Back, Second Year
On Ottawa's running back J-P Cimankinda
"He's a hard guy to tackle. He's the guy that you have to get in to tackle. You have to pursue the ball. He's not a guy that's going to stop in the hole on first contact and I felt like they had one drive early in the game where he got us on a few runs. That was tough."
Daniel Bosett - Running Back, Third Year
On today's game…
"Got to finish. It comes down to that. Our defence had our back all day; and as an offence, we just got to do better. That starts with me, starts with everything. I thought we picked up the blitz well today, I thought everybody was doing their job out there. It just comes down to the little things that we couldn't execute. And I think that was the difference."
On execution and what the team needs to do moving forward…
"I know as an individual and as a guy on the team, an older guy on the team, just focusing on the little things…. We just gotta execute. It's as simple as that."
