OTTAWA – The Guelph Gryphons football team entered the postseason as one of the hottest teams in Canadian university football. The Gryphons went 5-1 in the final six games – and that momentum continued Saturday in their second trip to the nation's capital in eight days. Guelph stormed out of the gate and soundly beat Ottawa 30-8 in an OUA quarter-final at Gee-Gees Field Saturday afternoon.
 
The No. 5-seeded Gryphons earned a semi-final berth at No. 1 Western next week, the site of their 2015 Yates Cup win. Guelph lost the 2017 season opener to Ottawa 24-21 in double overtime at Alumni Stadium. But the script was different in the rematch as they took control of the playoff game immediately scoring the first 20 points.
 
"We're the more veteran team and we played like it," head coach Kevin MacNeill said after the game. "The guys did a great job. We controlled the ball and managed the clock well."
 
Fourth-year quarterback James Roberts returned to action and completed 10 of 19 passes, for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Scarfone (five catches for 83 yards) and Jordan Terrio (two grabs for 41 yards) were on the receiving end of the two scores, while fifth-year running back Johnny Augustine was a workhorse again, carrying the ball 21 times for 151 yards.

Gabriel Ferraro, who set the U SPORTS single-season field goal record last week with 33, while also tying the OUA single-game mark of seven made against Carleton, was good on five of six attempts. The fourth-year Mississauga, ON native hit from 18, 22, 19, 23, and 47 yards out.
 
Roberts had not played since leaving with an injury in Guelph's Homecoming game against McMaster on Sept. 23. But he showed little rust, orchestrating early drives well. Guelph did work in third-year backup Theodore Landers, who started the last three games of the regular season, all wins. The Maple Ridge, BC native chipped in 67 rushing yards on seven attempts.
 
"It was great having James back," said MacNeill. "He didn't miss a beat, and showed excellent control of the offence. We were able to put in Theo, as well. Having the combination of the two of them was exactly what we wanted to do today."
 
There wasn't much doubt about the outcome with the Gryphons producing one of their best performances of the season. But the Gee-Gees did have a couple chances to get back in the game in the fourth quarter. At 29-8, Ottawa was deep in Guelph territory and went for it on third down, only to be denied by a timely Alain Cimankinda sack. On another possession later in the fourth, the Gee-Gees faked a field goal attempt but Guelph defenders swarmed the ball carrier before reaching the first-down marker to kill the drive.
 
On the change of possession, Guelph began handing off to Augustine, who gained big chunks on the ground late. He had entered the game with at least 100 yards on the ground (404 in total) in the last three games of the regular season.
 
The experienced Gryphons defence was stellar. They demoralized the Ottawa offence, limiting rookie quarterback Alex Lavric to 118 passing yards before he left injured and was replaced by Ryan Astrom (105 passing yards). Veteran running back Bryce Vieira led all Gee-Gees rushers with 38 yards and the hosts had just 278 yards of total offence. 

Guelph's unit was led by the linebacking tandem of Job Reinhart and Luke Korol. The fourth-year Korol had two of the team's six sacks on the day to go with 7.5 tackles, while Reinhart, a third-year Guelph native, led all players with eight solo tackles.
 
"The defence balled out," said MacNeill. "They did a tremendous job of shutting Ottawa down."

The Gryphons came out flying and built a 20-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Ferraro got the hosts on the board with a short 18-yard field goal at 11:23. Guelph has showed an ability to strike for huge plays all season long and the visitors stretched the lead to 10-0 when Roberts found Scarfone from 31 yards out. It was an incredible, over-the-shoulder catch from the talented receiver, who made an adjustment to haul in the pass at 5:06.

Just over a minute later, Ferraro booted his second field goal of the quarter, this time from 22 yards. And with just 31 seconds left in the first, Roberts hit Terrio for a 10-yard touchdown, a tough blow for an Ottawa team that was trying to stop the bleeding. Guelph finishedthe opening 15 minutes with 180 yards of offence and 10 first downs.
 
The Gee-Gees finally put up some points when Lewis Ward hit a 22-yard field goal early in the second quarter. After Ferraro added his third of the day, this time from 19 yards out, Ward would make another 18-yarder to get Ottawa within 17 before halftime at 23-6. But the hosts could not string any offence together and went down quietly.
 
Guelph is eager to keep its run going. The Gryphons know it will be a challenge against the powerhouse Mustangs.
 
"Every game will be a battle here on out," said MacNeill. "They're one of the best teams in the country and we'll have to be at our best."