Gaels win homecoming game by the skin of their teeth

A punt block for a touchdown and a huge turnover late in the game helped seal the victory for Queen's.

It was a homecoming game not for the faint of heart.

The visiting Guelph Gryphons were looking to spoil Queen's 100th Homecoming game at Richardson Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Gryphons were driving down the field at the Gaels' 28 yard line down by one point with 32 seconds left in the 4th quarter. Linebacker Brandon Spence knocked the ball out of the hands of Gryphons running back Kayne Nethersole and free safety Wilson Heslop scooped the loose ball to secure a 42-41 Queen's victory.

Heslop says with Guelph in field goal territory, they were determined to force a turnover.

That was not only the big play in the game for the Gaels. Jeremy Hiscox blocked a punt attempt by Trey Thompson with 21 seconds left in the second quarter. Eli Bennett picked up the ball and ran in 25 yards for a touchdown which tied the game at 24-24 going into the half.

Bennett says that play provided a big momentum swing for the Gaels.

Head coach Steve Snyder says the special teams play really made a difference.

The game did not start off well for the Gaels. 

On the first drive, running back Jayce Baldwin lost the ball after making a catch at the Gaels' 31 yard line. The Gryphons recovered the ball and on their first play quarterback Tristan Aboud connected with receiver Monroe Corncliffe with a 31-yard catch and run giving Guelph an early 7-0 lead.

The Gaels had a 10-point lead with 4:30 left in the 4th quarter. Thomas Nitschke sacked Aboud on the first play from scrimmage at the 15 yard line for a loss of 10 yards. 

But three plays later, Aboud turned a broken play into a 54-yard run for the score to cut Queen's lead to 42-39 with 2:38 remaining. He finished with 429 yards passing on 24 completions with two touchdown passes.

Gaels receiver Ben Falkowsky had 106 yards on five catches with a pair of touchdowns and says the Gaels never got down when both kept trading scores.

Snyder says his team stayed focused even when the chips were down.

Gaels quarterback Alex Vreeken was back under centre after missing last week's game against Windsor. He completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 348 yards with three touchdowns.

The Gaels will wrap up the season next Saturday with another huge game against the McMaster Maurders in Hamilton with first place in the conference on the line.

Story by Ken Hashizume