GUELPH, Ont.- In what could have very well been considered, and perhaps was a must win game, the Guelph Gryphons did exactly what they needed to do Saturday night at Alumni Stadium. Led by a ferocious defence and a tremendous performance from receiver Clark Barnes, the Gryphons (2-2) took care of the No. 10-nationally ranked Waterloo Warriors (2-2) 27-10.
Forcing six Waterloo turnovers, the Guelph defence swarmed the Warriors all night long. Meanwhile, Clark Barnes caught a touchdown and returned a kick-off 109 yards for a major to provide a big chunk of the offence. Along with his big return on special teams, Barnes finished the game with six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
"We needed to win this game," Barnes said. "If we didn't get this one, things would be looking a lot different. It's great that we got this one and it shows the type of team we have. We had a job that we had to get done and we got it done today."
Getting majority of the first half snaps, Gryphon's quarterback, Shawn Lal led the offence on both of their touchdown drives, while throwing for 100 yards and two touchdowns on eight of 14 passing. Guelph also cycled in DeAndre Rose and Ettore Casati III throughout the contest.
Coming into the game, the Gryphons knew if they wanted to have any chance against Waterloo, they would have to slow down the Warrior's dual threat quarterback, Tre Ford. Although Ford was able to create yards, throwing for 159 and rushing for another 171, Guelph was able to keep his Waterloo offence out of the end zone on every drive but one.
"What we are getting out of our team right now is championship caliber defence." Gryphon's Head Coach Ryan Sheahan said. "We have a great kicker, but we are a little inexperienced in some key spots. The quarterbacks are giving it their all, but getting really good at offensive football takes time. Tonight though was all about perseverance and battling, and I'm proud we won this game."
After trying to piece together offensive drives over the last two weeks, the Gryphons were able to take advantage of their opportunities Saturday night, building up a lead and then allowing their defence to take over the rest of the way. The recipients of some good fortune, the Gryphons watched Waterloo miss two field goals in the first half before scoring a pair of second quarter touchdowns to build up their lead. With those scores, the confidence on the offensive side of the ball seemed to grow and ultimately played a major role in Guelph securing a crucial win.
On what was a cool, windy and at times rainy night at Alumni Stadium, the Gryphon's defence made a statement from the very beginning, allowing their offence a chance to get rolling. Turning Waterloo's first three drives into an interception, turnover on downs and a punt, the defence gave the offence the opportunity to jump out to a 3-0 lead. After Waterloo tied the game with a field goal of their own late in the first quarter, the two teams exchanged punts until Waterloo ran into field goal trouble. In the final three minutes of the second quarter, the Warriors watched back to back drives end with field goal attempts going off the left upright and ultimately no good.
Taking advantage of the Warrior's misses, the Gryphons put together the first touchdown drive of the game. Highlighted by a 48-yard catch and run from Lal to Barnes, the Gryphons eventually found the end zone when Lal connected with Barnes again, this time in the flat and Clark walked it in from eleven yards out for the score. Then with only 20 seconds left in the half and Waterloo pinned deep in their own end and having to punt, the ball was dropped prior to being kicked away and the Gryphons brought down the punter on the Waterloo five-yard line creating a glorious chance, and one they would not pass up.
Just two plays later, Lal hit Barnes in the back corner of the end zone from five yards out to put Guelph up 17-3 at the half.
Beginning the second half, Tre Ford drove his Warriors down the field and scored their lone touchdown of the contest. However, all momentum that was created for the visitors quickly and dramatically swung back into Guelph's favour in a matter of seconds. On the ensuing kick-off, Barnes fielded the ball from his own one-yard line before flying down the field 109-yards for the return touchdown.
"I just had to catch the ball and make my way up the field." Said Barnes of his touchdown return. "I looked at my blocks, they set up perfectly, and I saw the hole and just had to hit it."
The moment Barnes carried the ball across the Waterloo goal line, the Gryphon's defence quickly put the game on lockdown the rest of the way.
After Tre Ford was removed from the game due to an apparent injury, Guelph took advantage of the inexperience of Waterloo back-up quarterback, Nolan Kaban. Surrendering less than 100 yards of offence the rest of the way, while also picking off Kaban twice, the Gryphs never gave the Warriors a chance to get back in the game.
Guelph would round out the scoring with a fourth quarter field goal from Eric Stranz as he connected from 50-yards away.
With the victory, the Gryphons pulled themselves right back into the thick of the West Division after dropping their last two contests. By getting to 2-2, while also bringing Waterloo down to 2-2, there is now a four-way tie between Guelph and Waterloo, along with Laurier and Windsor for 2nd through 5th in the division.
"It's a very tough division," Sheahan said. "The OUA is always a tough conference, but the situation we are in, playing in the West, it seems like it could be anyone's ball game."
"This is going to be an interesting couple of weeks of OUA football, and all that matters now is next week's game against Toronto."
The Gryphons will now round out the home portion of their 2021 OUA regular season schedule on Saturday afternoon. Hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues (2-2), the Gryphons will go for their third win of the season with kick-off scheduled for 1:00pm from Alumni Stadium.
