The last time Queen’s faced the Ottawa Gee-Gees in an OUA football semifinal was a rather different scenario than this Saturday will be. In 2006, Ottawa soared to a OUA-leading 7-1 record, scoring 276 points while only allowing 97, and earned a first-round bye in the process.
Meanwhile, Queen’s struggled to a 4-4 record and squeaked into the final playoff berth for their first postseason appearance in three years. The sixth-seeded Gaels upset the third-seeded McMaster Marauders in the quarterfinals, but then had to travel to play Ottawa in the semifinals and lost 23-10.
Head coach Pat Sheahan said that history’s on the team’s mind.
“Ottawa’s had some pretty significant success against Queen’s over the years, particularly at this time of year,” he said. “Ottawa has been a thorn in Queen’s paw at times.”
This time around, it’s Ottawa that comes in as the underdog.
Number-two ranked Queen’s pulled off a perfect 8-0 regular-season record to earn a first-round bye, while the unranked Gee-Gees only clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the season with a 39-30 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues that improved their record to 4-4. Ottawa won a close 42-37 match on the road last weekend in Guelph to set up Saturday’s tilt at Richardson Stadium.
Sheahan said the tables have turned to some extent.
“I think about going back two years and what a complete reversal this is,” he said. “This brings a lot of ammunition to the table. Our guys are fired up.”
Sheahan said Ottawa’s record isn’t indicative of their play, though.
“At times, they are very, very good,” he said. “They are the kind of team one cannot take lightly regardless of the W and L in the stat column. … This team is not going to lie down for us.”
One area of concern is the health of Queen’s running back Mike Giffin, who rushed for an OUA-leading 1,061 yards this season but suffered a knee injury in the final regular-season game against the Waterloo Warriors. Sheahan said Giffin may not play Saturday.
“He’s making great progress. His status is undecided for the weekend,” Sheahan said, adding that Giffin hasn’t yet participated in a full- practice.
Sheahan said Giffin’s absence would take away a threat that Ottawa’s defensive line and linebackers would have to focus on.
“One of those things that Mike Giffin brings to the table, whether he’s carrying the ball or not, is that those seven guys, the front, they all have their eyes in the backfield,” he said. “That helps the ing game, too, because those guys that are supposed to be getting underneath those in routes, they’re a step or two slower getting there when they see 21.” Sheahan said he doesn’t think the Gaels will be overconfident, despite the disparity in the teams’ regular-season records.
“They understand this is going to be a battle and they prepared that way,” he said. “We as a coaching staff and we as a team have not taken them lightly, not for one day this week.”
Sheahan said the team’s 38-16 regular-season victory over Ottawa this year, their first win against the Gee-Gees in six years, proved that they can play with Ottawa.
“We know it will be harder this time, we’re bracing ourselves, but there’s no lack of confidence and there’s no fear,” he said.
Fourth-year defensive back Jimmy Allin said the team’s determined to show they’ve come a long way since 2006.
“I think our team’s done a lot of growing up,” he said. “We’re obviously a much-improved team from that year. That year, I don’t think too many people expected us to make it that far. This year, our team’s extremely confident and we think we can win this one.”
Fifth-year offensive lineman Ross Corley has extra motivation to beat Ottawa. He figured the 2006 playoff loss, which he missed most of due to injury, would be his last game as a Gael. Corley entered the working world the next year but came back this season to play out the last year of his eligibility.
“My career ended on the sideline watching us lose that game,” he said. “Now I have an opportunity to even the score.”
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