November 8, 2014

No. 3 McMaster advances to Yates Cup with 42-31 over No. 10 Ottawa

The No. 3 McMaster Marauders advanced to the 107th Yates Cup with a 42-31 win over No. 10 Ottawa Gee Gees at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday.

Ottawa 6-4

McMaster 8-1

Final

Ottawa (6-4)

McMaster (8-1)

Photo by Richard Zazulak

The No. 3 McMaster Marauders advanced to the 107^th Yates Cup with a 42-31 win over No. 10 Ottawa Gee Gees at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday.

After seeing an 18 point second quarter lead vanish and the game tied at 28 in the fourth quarter, McMaster quarterback Marshall Ferguson of Kingston, Ont., found Joshua Vandeweerd of Burlington, Ont. in the end zone with 6:57 remaining in the game.

McMaster would withstand an Ottawa push and tack on a late touchdown to clinch its third trip to the OUA championship in the past four seasons.

In the other OUA semi-final game, No. 5 Guelph Gryphons knocked off No. 7 Western Mustangs 51-26 with the Gryphons heading to McMaster for the 107^th Yates Cup set for next Saturday (Nov. 15). Kickoff is set for 1:00pm

McMaster used a trio of running backs combining for three touchdowns and 299 yards on the ground to help propel them to the win. Chris Pezetta of Burlington, Ont., notched a touchdown and a game high 143 yards rushing to lead McMaster. Wayne Moore of Etobicoke, Ont. had 99 yards while Declan Cross of Oakville, Ont. finished with 55 yards with both contributing touchdowns.

Ferguson tossed two touchdowns in the win for McMaster going 21-34 with 287 yards with two interceptions.

Ottawa's Derek Wendel of Belleville, Ont. was the game's top quarterback throwing 443 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.

Two of Wendel's touchdowns were caught by Ian Stewart of Burlington, Ont., who had 187 yards receiving.

McMaster built an 18-0 lead late into the second quarter, but Ottawa would breakout for 20 points in the stretch of three minutes to overtake the Marauders 20-18 in the third quarter.

Ottawa got their first major with just 2:23 to play in the half as Ian Stewart slipped behind the McMaster secondary to receive a 58-yard touchdown pass from Wendel. The Gee Gees would tack on two field goals from Lewis Ward of Kingston, Ont., to make the score 18-13 headed into half.

Wendel then connected with Tristan Bailey on a 32 yard pass in the opening minutes of the third quarter to hand them a 20-18 lead.

The Gee-Gees would build on that lead in the third with a rouge and Wendel hitting Stewart for a 15 yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-19.

Moore punched in his touchdown on a 13 yard rush to pus the score within two points (28-26) before the third quarter closed out. Tyler Crapigna added two rouges to tie the game at 28 with 10:43 to play in the game.

NOTES: Next week's Yates Cup between Guelph and McMaster will be a rematch of the 2012 OUA championship which saw the Marauders beat the Gryphons 30-13… This will be McMaster's eighth Yates Cup appearance in school history holding a 6-1 Yates Cup win/loss record… McMaster now has a home field record of 31-4 since the opening of Ron Joyce Stadium in September 2008.

Source: McMaster Marauders