The Carleton Ravens football team was destroyed on Saturday afternoon, falling 45-0 at the hands of the Queen’s University Gaels at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont.
It was the second time the two teams faced off this year, the first being an 18-6 loss in the season opener at Ravens Perch. This marks the first time since 1997 that the two teams have played each other twice in one season.
The Ravens came into the game riding high off a 27-24 home win the week prior against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and had hopes of locking up a playoff spot with another win. That was not meant to be on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we were outplayed on three sides of the ball,” Ravens head coach Steve Sumarah said. “We weren’t ready to go out and compete.”
The score remained tied 0-0 through the first quarter, with Carleton showing strong potential on both sides of the ball. The defence held up strong with good coverage in the secondary while the defensive line applied pressure on Gaels quarterback James Keenan, forcing lacklustre throws.
The offence also started the game strong on both the ground and the air but could not put points on the board. Momentum clearly shifted when Ravens quarterback Reid Vankoughnett threw his first interception of the day, a pass intended for Ravens receiver Glodin Mulali.
Things started to go awry early in the second quarter.
The Ravens surrendered 27 unanswered points in the quarter, including three turnovers in the last two minutes of the half. They found themselves down 27-0 at halftime.
“The wheels fell off and we couldn’t get back on,” Sumarah said.
Saturday highlighted a greater issue for the Ravens, who have now been outscored 42-10 in the second quarter this season.
“We usually play a decent first and a decent fourth, but that second quarter is hurting us and obviously it hurt us a lot today,” Sumarah said.
It was more of the same in the third quarter, with the Ravens unable to move the ball on offence and struggling to make plays on defence.
“There’s a lot of things that we need to fix or things are gonna continue to just stay the same,” Sumarah said.
While Carleton made its fair share of mistakes, Keenan and Gaels running back Rasheed Tucker were both outstanding.
In the fourth quarter, Ravens quarterback Vankoughnett was lifted in favour of backup Tristan Rinaldis. Sumarah said Rinaldis is “a great player.”
“He’s got some skills and we want to try to utilize that as best we can,” Sumarah said.
One of those skills is his speed, as Rinaldis rushed for 24 yards to get the ball moving for the Ravens in the waning minutes of the game.
It’s clear the Ravens will continue to utilize a hybrid game plan of dividing playing time between Vankoughnett and Rinaldis, two first-year quarterbacks, through the remainder of the season, with starting quarterback Tanner DeJong out the rest of the year with an ankle injury.
One bright spot from the game came during the first quarter, when Ravens punter Vincent Plouffe kicked his 4000th career yard, a testament to his consistency and long tenure with the team.
Still, in total, the Ravens turned the ball over six times, including five interceptions.
“It obviously says that we’re not where we want to be and we have a lot of work to do,” Sumarah said.
The Ravens head into their bye week with a 2-3 record on the season and sit second in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.
While Carleton is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, home field advantage in the quarterfinals could be up for grabs when they face the uOttawa Gee-Gees in a rematch of the Panda Game at TD Place on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.
Sumarah said the team will try to forget and move on from Saturday’s loss.
“There’s not a whole lot you can take from a game like today,” Sumarah said.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated Carleton’s playoff position. The Charlatan regrets the error. The article was last updated on Oct. 18.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
