Gaels celebrate Vanier Cup banner raising with 40-7 victory over Windsor

Photo credit Queen's Athletics

KINGSTON, Ont. – On a day when Queen's celebrated their 2009 championship season, the Gaels (1-1) put on a show as they defeated the Windsor Lancers (1-2) 40-7 in their 2010 home opener at Richardson Stadium.

Gaels quarterback Justin Chapdelaine of Abbotsford, B.C., making his first career start at Richardson Stadium, starred for the Gaels, throwing for 189 yards and a touchdown while racking up 74 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Playing into the wind to start the game, Jimmy Therrien of Montreal opened the scoring from 11 yards out to give the Gaels an early lead.

After a Queen's fumble inside their own 30 yard line, the Lancers were able to take advantage of the miscue and tie the game when rookie quarterback Austin Kennedy of Windsor, Ont., connected with Nick Baldassi of Windsor, Ont., for a 25 yard touchdown.

From there, the offence took over for the Gaels as the team scored 33 unanswered points, highlighted by touchdowns by running back Ryan Granberg of Sherwood Park, Alta., receiver Christopher Ioannides of Toronto and Chapdelaine, who set up a one yard plunge in the third quarter with a 29 yard run two plays earlier.

The scoring was capped late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Billy McPhee of Burlington, Ont., in the game for Chapdelaine, drove the Gaels down the field in his first CIS action to set up an 18 yard field goal by Dan Village of Abbotsford, B.C.

Queen's was able to contain the Lancers offence for a majority of the afternoon, thanks to strong play from Frank Pankewich of Thunder Bay, Ont., and reigning CIS Defensive Player of the Week Sam Sabourin of Stittsville, Ont. Pankewich recorded two more sacks, bringing his season total to four while Sabourin registered 6.5 tackles and a sack. Both players also added two tackles for losses.

Kennedy's play was the highlight of the game for Windsor as the diminutive quarterback finished the game 15 of 24 for 138 yards.

Village kicked an 86 yard punt with the wind mid-way through the second quarter giving the Gaels a one-point 8-7 advantage over Windsor at the time. The punt ranks as the 15th longest all-time in CIS history tied with Nathan Ngieng (UBC) and Jon Ryan (Regina). His punt is the longest in school history and third longest in the OUA.

The 2009 Vanier Cup Championship team were honoured with a pre-game ceremony which included former Gaels Danny Brannagan (Burlington, Ont.) and Osie Ukwuoma (Mississauga, Ont.) circling the track with the Yates, Mitchell Bowl and Vanier Cups. Fans also saw the raising of the championshp banner which sits above 1992, 1978 and the 1968 Vanier Cup Banners.

NOTES: Attendance at the game was 5,427 with over 4,000 sitting on the student side... Dan Bederman (OL) of Toronto and Alex Daprato (DB) were named the Gaels' team captains prior to the game... Billy McPhee's first CIS completion was a six-yard strike to Devan Sheahan of Kingston...Kennedy made his first career start for Windsor as Sam Malian of LaSalle, Ont., missed the game due to injury.

Source:

Queen's Sports Info