After finishing the regular season with a 5-3 record, Queen’s as the fifth seed, poised to play the fourth-seeded Windsor Lancers in the quarterfinals on Oct. 26.
This matchup was a rematch of their season opener, where the Gaels fell 21-25, marking their first loss of the season. This time, they hoped for a different outcome. With this season being the last in their two-year window to compete for a Vanier Cup in front of a home crowd at Richardson Stadium, the Gaels faced increased pressure to perform. They closed the regular season with a dominant 54-7 victory over the Waterloo Warriors at Homecoming, but recent blowout losses to the Laurier Golden Hawks and the Western Mustangs—ahead of potential playoff matchups—lingered in their minds.
The Lancers also had a tough end to the regular season, playing their final three games against the top three seeds: Laurier, Western, and Guelph, losing each without the morale boost of a Homecoming game. Both teams, battered from the regular season, came into this playoff match determined to shift momentum, with the winner moving on to a semi final showdown against top-seeded Laurier.
Queen’s opened the scoring with a rouge followed by a safety, taking an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter. However, Windsor’s fifth year running back Christopher John responded with a five-yard touchdown run, putting the Gaels down by four.
The second and third quarters became a kicking duel, with Windsor’s Brady Lidster, and Queen’s Tyler Mullan, ArtSci ’26, trading field goals back and forth. Lidster hit four from 27, 42, 50, and 51 yards, while Mullan made three from 18, 21, and 34 yards, leaving the score at 19-12 in Windsor’s favour heading into the final quarter.
Down by seven, the Gaels looked to comeback with a touchdown, however, they couldn’t find much momentum. That was until forced the Lancers into a safety, to cut the deficit down to five with just over four minutes left of the game.
The two teams then exchanged punts until the Gaels found themselves with the ball on their own 24-yard line with a minute and one second left in the game.
Lead by backup quarterback Russell Weir, ArtSci ’26, the Gaels drove down the field to Windsor’s 37-yard line, needing a touchdown to stay alive. After a sack and a short run from Weir, they were left at third and 12 with only one play left before time expired.
The Gaels would need a miracle to come away with a win, needing 39 yards in one play. And a miracle is exactly what happened after Weir launched a deep to Logan Walton, ArtSci ’28, who completed the catch to seal the comeback victory.
With this win, Queen’s Football advances to the OUA semi-finals in a matchup against the Laurier Golden Hawks for a chance to win their first Yates Cup, since the national championship team in 2009.
Queen’s hopes to keep their playoff magic alive against the Golden Hawks on Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. at Knight-Newbrough Field in Waterloo, Ont. You can watch them play at OUA.tv.
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