Much was made this offseason of the 2016 Carleton Ravens football team.
The most veteran team in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference was being tapped by many as an outside shot at an OUA Championship.
That all came to a grinding halt on Sunday night in Hamilton, where the Ravens were handed a decisive 40-10 defeat by the McMaster Marauders during the opening weekend of the regular season.
“Honestly, we got embarrassed and that’s the reality of that game,” Carleton head coach Steve Sumarah said. “They played very well against us, put us on our heels, and [our] guys were unfortunately just playing timid.”
Carleton’s defence was nothing short of a failure; the highly-touted secondary was shredded throughout the evening by McMaster quarterback Asher Hastings for four pass touchdowns, while the defensive line failed to create any meaningful penetration.
“I just felt like we lacked a little bit of effort,” Sumarah said. “We have confidence in these guys, we know they’re better than that, but at some point they’ve got to step up and compete.”
After the two squads combined for four two-and-out series’ to begin the ballgame, Hastings and the McMaster offence went to work. Capitalizing on a blown Carleton coverage, the Marauder pivot found a streaking Danny Vandervoort, who ran the final 40-odd yards to the end zone on an 86-yard opening score.
McMaster doubled its lead to 14-0 in the closing stages of the first quarter, when Hastings found receiver Max Cameron wide open on a comeback route for a 10-yard pass touchdown.
Carleton put its first points on the board with a 32-yard field goal from Mike Domagala early in the second quarter, but as was often the case on Sunday night, the Marauders responded immediately on their home turf.
Hastings drove the length of the field on the following McMaster drive, which he capped with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Cameron, pushing the Marauder lead to 21-3.
Some offensive innovation then earned the Ravens their only touchdown of the night, as quarterback Jesse Mills swung the ball wide-side to receiver Kyle Van Wynsberghe, who drew in defenders before finding wideout Nate Behar in-stride for a 63-yard touchdown.
Domagala added the extra point and Carleton had cut its deficit to 11.
In keeping with the evening’s theme, McMaster responded on the very next play through return man Aaron Baker, who returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards down to the Carleton five-yard line. While the Ravens would limit the Marauders to a 37-yard Adam Preocanin field goal on the drive, any momentum they’d gained had disappeared into thin air with Baker’s return.
Another Preocanin field goal from 45-yards sent McMaster to the locker room at half time leading 27-10.
The second half was more of the same from the Marauders; Hastings found Vandervoort—wide open again—for a 69-yard touchdown reception to make it 34-10.
Preocanin added two rouges, a kickoff single, and a fourth-quarter field goal for six total points to round out the night’s scoring.
The Ravens now move to an immense challenge in week two when they take on the Western Mustangs, a team that won their first game over the Windsor Lancers by a score of 78-6.
“It’s got to be a completely different mindset, a different attitude,” Sumarah said. “We haven’t played well against Western the last two times [out], and we’re definitely going to have to bring our A-game if we want a chance.”
