In front of another record-breaking, sell-out crowd, the Carleton Ravens marked their fourth consecutive Panda Game victory, defeating the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees by a score of 33-30 in double overtime.
“This game is such a rivalry, this game is talked about weeks in advance and when you walk on that field there’s a whole lot of pride in both programs,” said Carleton Ravens head coach Steve Sumarah.
But, this year’s Panda Game opened up with a deeper meaning to both sides.
Carleton, coming off a blowout win last season, looked to turn around their season after a disappointing 1-3 start.
For the U of O, tragedy rocked the team with the sudden death of defensive lineman Loic Kayembe on Sept. 24.
Taking the field with Kayembe’s jersey in their hands, there was a clear sense of which team had the better record coming into the game. The Gee-Gees, having started 4-1, looked loose and comfortable during warmup.
Carleton and the U of O traded two and outs to begin the game, with both defences looking to set the tone early with quarterback hurries and knocked down passes.
Following the first drives, Carleton opened the scoring with an 84-yard punt return by Quinton Soares, who slashed his way through his blockers, mirroring their opening from a year ago. The play was met with a massive roar from the Carleton side as the Ravens took the lead early.
“It’s crazy, I was thinking about it during the game, about how CFL and NFL players do it, it’s madness,” Ravens receiver Phil Iloki said of the noise levels. “I was just looking at the ball because it was hard to anticipate the snap count.”
Both Iloki and Ravens quarterback Michael Arruda praised the preparation put in by Carleton, which included practicing with large speakers and lots of noise to get used to the difficult and unique conditions of the Panda Game.
Carleton would strike again late in the first quarter with an 18-yard field goal to go up 10-0.
Penalty troubles would cost the Gee-Gees early, giving up 20 yards off the opening kick-off. Arruda would guide the Ravens on a carefully crafted 50-yard drive to go up 13-0 off a 32-yard field goal.
Midway through the quarter, Ottawa found their offence, following an interception by linebacker Thomas Carrier deep in the Carleton zone. A 25-yard throw from U of O quarterback Alex Lavric would put his team on the board to bring the score to 13-7.
The Ravens and the Gee-Gees would continue to trade blows, with the game finding a little more offensive rhythm for both squads. Another field goal would put Carleton up 16-7 with two minutes left to finish out the half.
The Gee-Gees defence came out firing in the third quarter, with a forced fumble deep in the Carleton zone, giving Lavric an easy eight-yard touchdown pass to bring the game close at a score of 16-14, with Carleton hanging on to the lead.
The game slowed down into a defensive struggle, with the two teams playing for inches. The U of O continued to plug away until a 75-yard drive ended in a 49-yard touchdown pass for the Gee-Gees’ first lead of the game at 21-16.
Despite forcing a two and out, the third quarter proved to be the worst quarter of football for the Ravens as they failed to put any points on the board while giving up two turnovers.
“At half-time some adjustments didn’t go quite as well as we’d hoped and they made some big plays on us,” Sumarah said.
The fourth quarter opened with a U of O punt, but play quickly slowed from there. The Gee-Gees started playing a much more aggressive defence, looking to limit the explosive plays that the Ravens were able to put together in the first half.
Despite being able to mount a drive into the red zone midway through the half, Ravens kicker Michael Domagala would kick a field goal wide and secure a single point to bring the score to 21-17.
With two minutes to go, Arruda would find Iloki, leaping over his defender to connect on a 75-yard touchdown run to give Carleton a lead of 24-21.
“That was more of a close my eyes and see if the ball sticks to my hand catch . . . I kept thinking ‘man, if I get tackled my mom is not gonna be too happy,’ “ Iloki said.
“It was magical,” Arruda said of the play. “It was exactly what we needed . . . I threw not the best ball, but Phil Iloki is the man to go to and that play changed everything for us.
With Carleton driving with less than a minute left, a missed punt by Domagala allowed the Gee-Gees to recover deep into their own zone and kick a field goal, bringing the game to overtime with a score of 24-24.
“We huddled together, and said ‘listen, it’s Panda. This is what’s supposed to happen, don’t worry about [it], let’s just go out and finish the plays,’ ” Sumarah said.
Overtime was an open affair, with Carleton starting on the ball. Lined up at the 35-yard line to start, the Ravens moved for one first down before kicking a field goal.
As the U of O lined up to answer the points scored by Carleton, Lavric put up two quick passes to get the Gee-Gees within 10 yards of the end zone. Close to the goal line, the Ravens proved they were up to the task, forcing a field goal kick after two short yardage stops.
Heading into double overtime with the game tied at 27-27, the Gee-Gees lined up quickly but penalties committed by the offensive line forced them into making a snap decision to go for the field goal.
Following the kick, Arruda led the Carleton offence back onto the field, hungry for the win. On the second down at the Gee-Gees’ six-yard line, Arruda saw the opening and took control, running through the Gee-Gees defenders and diving into the end zone to win the game for Carleton with a final score of 33-30.
“It’s special, it’s a game that I’m going to keep with me for the rest of my life,” Arruda said as he held the game ball in his hands. “My team is the one that pulled it in, the offensive line, at the last play, they’re the ones that made that push.”
The sell-out crowd of 24,420 also set a new modern-era attendance record for the game, beating last year’s crowd of 23,329.
“We’re gonna enjoy this for 24 hours and then it’s over. We’ve got to prepare for Western starting tomorrow night,” Sumarah said, as the team looks ahead to their next game on Oct. 6.
This marks the Ravens’ fourth consecutive Panda Game victory in a row and a way to reset the playoff battle and the season, they currently sit one spot behind Guelph for the sixth and final spot in the Ontario University Athletics playoffs.
