The Ravens defeated the McMaster University Marauders 30-25 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-finals matchup.
A key player to this Ravens playoff victory was running back Nathan Carter, who scored three touchdowns, recording 172 rushing yards on his way to helping his team.
“When you’re in a playoff game, you need to be able to run the ball. Nathan just pounded the rock for us all day,” head coach Steve Sumarah said. “Your best players have to be the best players in these games.”
It also marked the first appearance for McMaster interim head coaches Tom Flaxman and Scott Brady after former head coach Greg Knox was fired last week due to an altercation with a sideline game official.
The Ravens quickly opened up the scoring seconds into the first quarter as they picked up a rouge point to take a 1-0 lead.
The Marauders took the lead back six minutes into the first quarter, when kicker Adam Preocanin sent the ball sailing through the uprights on a 24-yard field goal to put his team up 3-1.
Less than a minute later, McMaster took a safety to extend their lead to 5-1.
Shortly before the end of the first quarter, the Ravens scored the first touchdown of the game when Carter made a one-yard dash into the end zone to give the Ravens an 8-5 lead heading into the second quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Ravens took an 11-5 lead when kicker Michael Domagala sent the ball through the uprights from the 18-yard line.
Carter scored his second touchdown of the game four minutes later to extend the Ravens’ lead to 18-5.
With two minutes remaining before halftime, Domagala converted a 22-yard field goal as the Ravens walked off the field up 21-5 going into the second half.
The Ravens came back strong two minutes into the third quarter when the team extended their lead to 23-5 on a safety.
Two minutes later, Carter dashed 27 yards into the end zone for his third and final touchdown of the game to give the Ravens a comfortable 30-5 lead over the Marauders.
“I think Nathan Carter’s been clearing our offence all year—he’s been doing really well. Hopefully he can keep it up with our semi-final game in London,” linebacker Jack Cassar said.
With five minutes left in the third quarter, McMaster scored their first touchdown when running back Jordan Lyons entered the end zone on a two-yard run.
Lyons then scored his second touchdown five minutes into the final quarter, as his team moved within two scores of tying the game.
The Marauders scored one final touchdown with two minutes left in the game as wide receiver Michael Bazzo drew McMaster within five points of the Ravens.
McMaster’s efforts to tie up the game would be fruitless, however, as the game ended with the Ravens taking the victory at 30-25.
“Western has been the team to beat all year and we’ll go in as heavy underdogs, and that’s okay. We’ve kind of been that way all year and we’ll put a plan together and we’ll just go battle and see what happens,” Sumarah said.
The Ravens will now head down to London, Ont., to face off against the Western University Mustangs in the OUA semi-finals on Nov. 3.
“Western’s a really simple team,” Carter said. “They play really well, they have a really well-run team. We just have to run ours better.”
Photo by Jeff Pelletier
