The Carleton Ravens football team came off a big loss in their previous week against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks to claim a 53-32 victory Oct. 3 against the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues.
Three first half fumbles, including one returned by Ravens linebacker Emilio Gallotta for a second quarter touchdown, and 133 yards in penalties sunk U of T early on.
The highlight of the first half came late in the second quarter when Ravens quarterback Nick Gorgichuk sent a lateral pass to the left side of the field, where receiver Kyle Van Wynsberghe then tossed a pass down-field for fellow receiver Nate Behar. The London native hauled in the pass and scampered 76 yards to the endzone, giving the Ravens a commanding 30-7 lead.
“It’s something we’ve had in our back pocket for a while,” Van Wynsberghe said. “We ran it against McMaster a while back, and today we unleashed the beast again.”
The game settled down in the second half, with Toronto outscoring the Ravens 22-16 in a half that saw multiple injuries to both teams along with flashes of brilliance from U of T quarterback Simon Nassar, who would set a Canadian Interuniversity Sport record with 49 completions in the game.
Dampened by the rain, the game slowed in the fourth quarter with the Ravens ahead.
Overshadowed by the Ravens’ dominating performance was the effort of Nassar, who finished the afternoon with 547 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort. The Blues’ senior quarterback did his best to lead a second half comeback for the visitors, but his defense’s inability to stop the Ravens hurt his comeback bid.
Ravens head coach Steve Sumarah said the win is a big step forward, but the team is not at the level it could be just yet.
“We still have a long way to go,” he said. “We’re excited to be over .500 at this time of the year.”
Ravens running back Jahvari Bennett, who rushed for 145 yards, said it was a solid team game.
“It was a heck of a team effort—we ran the ball, we passed the ball. We were just all focused and dialed-in mentally,” he said.
Now with a record of 3-2, the Ravens are just behind the 4-2 University of Ottawa Gee-Gees with three games remaining, and a playoff bid on the line.
Carleton will face a tough test this coming weekend as they head back on the road to take on the University of Guelph Gryphons, before the Ravens’ Homecoming game Oct. 18 against the Windsor Lancers.
“Guelph is a very good team, and we’ll have to come up with a really great effort to beat them,” Sumarah said post-game.
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