RECAP: #7 Gee-Gees fall to #1 Western in regular season finale
The Gee-Gees football team became the eighth team to fall to the nationally top-ranked Western Mustangs on Saturday at TD Place.
Ottawa closed the regular season with a 6-2 record, securing the 3rd seed in the OUA playoffs, while Western completed their undefeated 8-0 regular season and locked up a first-round bye.
The Gee-Gees responded to the Mustangs jumping out to an early 10-0 lead with J-P Cimankinda punching in a short touchdown following a bad snap on a Western punt attempt.
Through the majority of the first half, the Gee-Gees kept the game within one score, but Western was able to pull away through the middle stages of the second half to build a comfortable lead.
Ultimately, Ottawa fought to the end with Cimankinda finding the end zone again with 25 seconds left on the clock.
Western outgained Ottawa 482-251 on the day, doing most of their work on the ground finishing with 279 yards.
Ottawa quarterbacks Ben Maracle and Matt Mahler finished with 120 and 81 yards respectively, while Cimankinda finished with 47 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nicholas Gendron led the way for Gee-Gees receivers with 66 yards, and James Peter paced Ottawa's defensive effort with nine total tackles.
"I can't take any credit away from them for what they did," said Gee-Gees head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. "On our side, we did some things well, we didn't take too many penalties, we didn't turn the ball over, but our execution in all three phases lacked."
Up next, the Gee-Gees will take on the Windsor Lancers in the OUA quarterfinals. Ottawa traveled to Windsor to open their season at the end of August, earning a 19-16 win over the Lancers.
Due to scheduling conflicts at TD Place next weekend, Saturday's football game against Windsor will be played at Gee-Gees Field (200 Lees Ave.) at 1 p.m.
On-site parking is extremely limited. We encourage parking at the Mann Garage (Minto Sports Complex) where shuttles will be running to Gee-Gees Field ahead of the game. For those requiring accessible parking, there are spaces available on-site.
Tickets for Saturday's game are for sale at tickets.geegees.ca.