Despite a few glimmers of success in the second half of play, the Carleton Ravens football team fell to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 28-13 at Varsity Stadium on Sunday, Sep 4.
The first half was one of few points, with only a single point for the Blues in the second quarter. Aside from that, no one was able to find the end zone.
The score at the half might be reflective of a close back-and-forth game, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was actually a one-sided game dictated by penalties with Carleton suffering 144 yards lost from 11 penalities and the Varsity Blues suffering 105 from the same amount.
The Ravens offence couldn’t find their footing and weren’t able to advance on any of their drives, most of which ended up as two and outs.
The passing ability of Toronto quarterback Kinsale Philip and the speed of starting running back Adam Williams made it difficult for the Ravens, who couldn’t keep up on the offensive end.
The Ravens’ few successes came from Varsity Blues’ mistakes, such as fumbles and missed punt returns from the Blues, or penalties that drove the Ravens forward—all of which the Ravens failed to capitalize on.
Coming out of the half into the third quarter, the Ravens started to pick up their momentum when starting quarterback Tanner DeJong connected with wide receiver Hunter Brown for a 20-plus-yard reception that set them up in field goal territory.
After a couple good running plays from Ravens’ running back Joshua Ferguson, DeJong connected with receiver Kaseem Ferdinand for the Ravens’ first and only touchdown.
“[We came] out flat in the first half, trying to figure out who we are and what we wanted to do,” Ravens head coach Corey Grant said in a post-match interview with Go Ravens. “The defence held up as we started putting things together.”
A key factor at the end of the game was penalties, which Carleton led in despite both teams being affected. Costly mistakes also hindered the Ravens, as they either set the team back to a starting position or gave the Varsity Blues first down.
Penalty calls for holding and face masking forced Carleton to move back 15 yards, or Toronto to move 15 yards forward.
Grant took responsibility for the Ravens’ penalty situation and relayed a similar message to his squad.
“Overall, what cost us the game was penalties and, [when] playing against a good football team on the road, we’ve got to limit those,” Grant said. “After the game, I let them know that, when it comes down to penalties, that’s on me.”
Grant added he’ll look to better himself as a coach to avoid making the same mistakes and encountering the same problem.
“How we move forward is learning from them and making sure I’m coaching them better,” Grant said. “We are keeping ourselves out of situations where those penalties don’t become a problem moving forward,” Grant said.
The Carleton Ravens bounced back with a 45-14 win against the York Lions at TAAG Park on Sept. 10. The Ravens next game is against the Queen’s University Gaels at Richardson Stadium on Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.
Featured image by Tim Austen.
