On a very blustery day in Windsor the uOttawa Gee-Gees blew out to a 14 -2 lead and didn't look back, riding an impressive offensive performance to an OUA quarterfinal victory over the Windsor Lancers.
Unlike the last time these two teams played, the Gee-Gees showed early that they wanted a quick start.
After a Mitchell Baines touchdown on their second drive of the game, the ensuing kickoff was recovered by the Gee-Gees on an onside kick. Bryce Vieira then took over and rumbled 20 yards for the touchdown, the Gee-Gees' second score in a minute and 50 seconds.
"It was big to get that start," said head coach Jamie Barresi. "We were playing right into the wind. They made the choice to play with it so we kind of turned the tables on them in the first couple possessions."
The relentless wind was a big factor. It blew out of the north at 30km per hour with gusts to 50km. It also made already cold day even colder. But that only seemed to really effect decisions in the kicking game.
Vieira was kept in check in the teams' last meeting but was able to run at will this time. He broke free for just under 100 yards this time and took in two touchdowns on the ground.
The Gee-Gees kept rolling in the second quarter, extending the lead to 15 with a Lewis Ward field goal and a 29-yard Wendel bullet to Ian Stewart for their third TD of the game.
Everything seemed to be going the Gee-Gees' way in the first half. The defence got off the field quickly not allowing any extended drives for the Lancers. That was until Vieira fumbled as the Gee-Gees were driving in Windsor territory with 2:44 to go in the half. Austin Crumb collected it and took it back 78 yards for the TD. That gave Windsor life but the teams entered half-time with uOttawa leading 30-16.
After Windsor and uOttawa traded early touchdowns in the third quarter, the Lancers couldn't generate much offence and their only chance to get back in it came early in the fourth when Matt Gayer forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to draw within 10.
But the Gee-Gees would take their opportunities to run out the clock and put the exclamation mark on the game with Vieira's second rushing TD with 2:36 left in the game.
Gee-Gees quarterback Derek Wendel turned in a solid performance going 28-for-40 for 264 yards, two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. His main targets were Ian Stewart and Ben Fisher who racked up 107 and 97 yards, respectively.
Middle linebacker Nick Lecour recorded 13.5 tackles while the rest of the Gee-Gees defence combined for four sacks on Windsor quarterback Austin Kennedy.
"The defence did a great job. Austin Kennedy is a good quarterback. We put a lot of pressure on them and were able to force them into situations they weren't comfortable. Again, our score zone issues was bothersome to me today. We had to end up settling for field goals a few times but overall we did some good things on offence."
Seeing a few of his players catch bad breaks and go down to devastating injuries, Barresi praised his training staff whom he said did an excellent job today with that and getting his other players ready to play.
The Gee-Gees now move on to the OUA semifinals to face the McMaster Marauders on the road. uOttawa handed the Marauders their only loss of the season when they topped them 38-18 in the final week of the season.
