The Carleton Ravens football team defeated the York University Lions 35-20 in their final game of the regular season.
“At the end of the day it was a hard fought game, which all our games have been this year . . . So it was about managing going into the win and I thought our guys handled the situation pretty well,” head coach Steve Sumarah said. “And at the end of the day we did what we needed to do and that was get the win.”
Two minutes into the opening quarter, the Ravens picked up a rouge point from kicker Michael Domagala to take a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, the Ravens lead grew to 4-0 after a field goal by Domagala.
Carleton got the first touchdown of the game five minutes before the end of the first quarter, when wide receiver Phil Iloki received a 13-yard pass from quarterback Michael Arruda and made it into the end zone to extend the lead to 11-0.
Next, the Ravens picked up their second touchdown of the game on a 36-yard pass from Arruda to wide receiver Khalik Johnson. Carleton finished the first quarter up 18-0.
In the second quarter, however, the Lions kept the Ravens off the scoreboard as they scored two team safeties and a field goal. The Ravens went into the second half leading 18-7.
Halfway into the third quarter of play, Lions kicker Dante Mastrogiuseppe scored York’s second field goal to bring his team just eight points back from the Ravens.
Three minutes later, the Ravens picked up their first safety to grow their lead to 20-10.
Shortly before the end of the third, York grew closer to the Ravens’ lead, as Lions running back Kayden Johnson ran into the end zone for the team’s first touchdown of the game to bring the score to 20-17 in favour of the Ravens.
Carleton answered back with a touchdown of their own halfway into the final quarter, as wide receiver Quinton Soares caught a 10-yard pass from Arruda to extend the Ravens’ lead to 27-17.
With three minutes remaining in the fourth, Mastrogiuseppe converted on a successful field goal kick to bring the score to 27-20.
A minute later, the Ravens lead grew out of reach of the Lions, as running back Nathan Carter ran the ball 16 yards into the end zone to bring the score to 34-20. Carter finished the game with 128 rushing yards.
The Ravens then cemented their victory with a rouge on that same drive to take home a dominating 35-20 victory.
With the win, the Ravens ended the regular season with a record of 5-3 and clinched their third playoff spot in team history since being reinstated in 2013.
The Ravens now have a bye week heading into the final week of regular season action, and will play their quarterfinal matchup in two weeks.
“The biggest thing right now is, it’s always a ‘get back to fundamentals,’ you know—make sure you correct mistakes that you’ve had all year and also give the guys a rest,” Sumarah said on heading into the playoffs. “I think it’s important that they mentally and physically get a chance to take a bit of time and get geared up for a playoff run.”
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