The Ottawa Gee-Gees (2-0) won their home opener – the first held at Gee-Gees field since 2019 – over the York Lions (1-1) on Saturday afternoon by a score of 33-17.
Standout performances from Gee-Gees defenders Riley Hildebrandt, Daniel Briere, Marc Djonay Rondeau and Louis Prince had the Lions offence in a pressure cooker throughout the game, while Gee-Gees receiver Noah Avery hauled in 8 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.
The Gee-Gees got to Lions quarterback Keagan Hall early and often, sacking him once on the Lions opening drive and generating two other pressures.
After forcing a punt, Charles Asselin had a big run to set up Ottawa in Lions territory, and Josh Janssen found receiver Robin Collioud on a screen pass to his right which Collioud took 38 yards to the house.
The extra point by Zach Copeland put the Gee-Gees up 7-0 inside four minutes, and they never looked back: York didn't get within 10 points for the remainder of the game.
Defensive excellence
Despite concerns of lost personnel after last season, the Gee-Gees secondary looked good as ever.
Speaking after the game, Ottawa head coach Marcel Bellefeuille praised the secondary for taking away Hall's first look. "As soon as he had to tuck the ball away... the D-line were able to get to him" said Bellefeuille, adding that the Gee-Gees four sacks can be attributed to their work.
When Hall did have time to throw to his first look, especially in the red zone, there was almost always a Gee-Gee defender ready to break up his passes or get the receiver down quickly.
By the final whistle, Hall's final stat line read 18-of-29 for 149 yards and two touchdowns – one of which came with less than 30 seconds in the fourth quarter while York was trailing 33-10.
Briere takes it to the house again
The feather in the cap for the Gee-Gees defence & special teams was a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the dying seconds of the first half.
A meager 13-3 lead with five seconds left in the half didn't instill much confidence within the Gee-Gees fans in attendance, but as the snap went back to York punter Nathan Walker, Ottawa linebacker Daniel Briere managed to get through the Lions' line untouched and block the punt with his chest.
The ball then bounced right in front of Briere, who snatched it at the Lions' 15-yard line and took it to the endzone unopposed.
The play was reminiscent of the 2024 Panda Game in which Briere scored a touchdown off a Carleton punt blocked by Jaxxon Brashear, drawing the Gee-Gees back into the game and sending Ottawa's fans into a frenzy.
When asked about his touchdown today after the game, Briere humbly stated that "I do my part, everyone else does their part, and everyone else doing their job is why I got in there."
That collective mentality was apparent for the Gee-Gees, as even Zach Copeland chipped in two tackles following his own punts.
An offence turning the corner?
On the other side of the field, Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Janssen completed 17-of-28 pass attempts for 249 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Janssen looked much more comfortable in the pocket than he did a week ago against Waterloo, finding soft spots in York's zone defense and throwing confidently over the middle.
Three Gee-Gee receivers (Noah Avery, Romeo Lussier and Robin Collioud) finished the day with over 55 receiving yards apiece, with both Avery and Collioud adding a touchdown.
On the ground, running back Souleymane Camara led Ottawa with 84 yards rushing on nine attempts, while Charles Asselin added 80 yards on 12 attempts.
Growing pains
York never got a chance to settle into this match, and despite coming in with a 1-0 record, their narrow 31-24 week one win over McMaster seems more mediocre following Queen's 38-4 drubbing of the Marauders today.
Certainly, they have more talent on this roster than they have had in the past, but even elite players need time to get used to new systems, new teammates and new coaches.
The Lions have the skill (and perhaps the schedule) to get into the playoffs, but head coach Dexter Janke will need to make some adjustments in coming weeks to achieve that goal.
Looking ahead
The Gee-Gees now face the toughest part of their schedule: the next three weeks see them at Western, at Guelph, then home to Laurier. While a 2-0 start bodes well, the real test of their mettle is yet to come.
York returns home next week to take on Toronto, a projected bottom-dweller that turned a lot of heads in week one following Scott Barnett's record-setting offensive outburst.
All eyes will be on the Red and Blue Bowl as fans and pundits alike will want to get a sense of the true nature of both teams.