The Windsor Lancer Football team stunned the No. 6 Guelph Gryphons 33-29 in the Labour Day Classic Monday at Alumni Field.
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Both teams now hold identical 1-1 records in the OUA standings. Windsor will now take to the road and face the York Lions at 1:00pm on Saturday September 10th.
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Tarrence Crawford led the game with 123 yards rushing, 57 yards receiving, and a touchdown, while Lancer newcomer
Jalen Brady led the Blue & Gold in the air with 249 yards and a touchdown, going 18-for-28 and one interception. James Roberts finished the game with 362 yards and two touchdowns for the Gryphons.
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Colton Jones opened the scoring for the defending OUA champs with a 22-yard touchdown reception just four minutes into the game to give the Gryphons an early lead. Windsor retaliated with a pair of 37-yard field goals from
Clark Green to trail only 7-6 after one quarter of play.
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The boisterous Lancer crowd of 3,807 were brought to their feet early in the second as defensive back
Lekan Idowu intercepted a Guelph pass, and proceeded to run the ball back 62-yards to give Windsor a 13-7 lead.
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Another field goal from Green increased Windsor's lead to nine before the Gryphons replied with a field goal of their own. A rouge late in the quarter sent the Lancers into the locker room up 17-10 at the half.
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The Gryphons seemed to find their stride again in the third, opening the half with an 11-0 run. Gabriel Ferraro kicked a 17-yard field goal before Jamal Hooker went 4-yards on their next drive to take a 20-17 lead. Ferraro added the game's second rouge to make it a four point game.
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With only five seconds remaining in the third quarter, Crawford finished off a 75-yard Lancer drive with a 2-yard leap into the endzone to put the home team back on top.
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The biggest play of the game came with 6:41 remaining in regulation when Windsor receiver
Noah Akharoh hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass to give the Lancers a 33-21 lead.
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The Gryphons did not back down, however, and with 2:30 remaining, Roberts connected with receiver Thomas Bresciani for a 20-yard touchdown to once again make it a one-score game at 33-27. The Gryphons followed that up with a successful onside kick attempt, giving them the ball and the momentum. With 1:20 left in the final quarter, Guelph appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown, but Daniel Palmer-Salmon's 13-yard TD run was called back due to a holding.
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From there, the Lancers played a solid defensive game and essentially ran out the clock to secure the win.
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Defensively, rookie linebacker
Daniel Metcalfe led the way with 11.5 tackles while teammate
Frank Renaud kicked in 10.5. Lukas Korol also had 10.5 tackles for the visiting Gryphons.
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With a short turnaround of only five days, the Lancers will now prepare for the York Lions. The Blue & Gold head up the 401 to Toronto, and will kick-off on Saturday at 1:00pm. The game can be seen live on OUA.tv.
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