In front of a packed stadium of almost 3,000 fans, the Ravens football team defeated the Queen’s University Gaels 42-39 at Carleton’s homecoming game on Sep. 15.
“I feel like this is like a statement game for us, for the OUA,” Ravens running back Nathan Carter said. “We started off not on the best foot. For us to be 3-1 now, I feel like that’s a statement that we are here. We’re not the same Carleton team from last year, so, I feel that that’s the biggest part of this win today.”
Carleton would get on the board first when kicker Michael Domagala picked up a singlet to take a 1-0 lead halfway into the first half.
Queen’s took the lead shortly after, when receiver Matteo Del Brocco caught the ball from quarterback Nate Hobbs and ran it into the end zone.
Three minutes before the end of the first half, Carleton answered back with a touchdown of their own when Carter fumbled the ball and wide receiver Chad Manchulenko picked it up and ran 64 yards into the end zone.
This would be the second longest fumble recovery touchdown in the history of Ravens football and brought the score up to 8-7.
The Ravens would later get their second touchdown of the game to head into the second quarter leading 15-7.
Halfway into the second quarter, the Gaels moved to within one point when Del Brocco picked up his second touchdown of the game.
Carleton would then extend their lead to 18-14 when Domagala sent the ball through the uprights for a field goal.
The Ravens continued to score as they got two more touchdowns to head into the second half up 32-14.
Halfway into the third quarter, Domagala picked up his second rouge point to bring the score to 33-14.
Queen’s would then answer back when Del Brocco scored his third touchdown of the game to bring the score to within 12 to close out the third quarter.
Two minutes into the final quarter, Liberatore scored the Gaels first rouge to bring the score to 33-22.
Three minutes later, Domagala then extended Carleton’s lead on another field goal to bring the score to 36-22.
Queen’s would then tie the game up with two more touchdowns to bring the game into overtime.
The Gaels took an early lead into overtime when kicker Nick Liberatore scored a field goal, but it would eventually be the Ravens that took the victory when running back Mathieu Pickens rushed seven yards into the end zone to end the game with a touchdown.
With the win, the Ravens now sit in third place in the Ontario University Athletics with a 3-1 record.
“It was very important,” head coach Steve Sumarah said about the game. “I mean, at this point in the season, every win is a big win and the fact that [it was] homecoming just added another level to it. I thought our guys handled the adversity at the very end and found a way to get it done.”
The Ravens will look to extend their record to 4-1 when they take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in an afternoon match-up in Toronto on Sep. 22.
Photo by Jeff Pelletier
