OTTAWA, ON – It was a cold, brisk clear night at TD Place where the Carleton Ravens were looking to spoil University of Ottawa’s senior night. This was the last regular season game of the 2021-22 schedule for the Carleton Ravens and no better opponent to close it off with other than their cross-town rival uOttawa Gee-Gees.

The first quarter was dominated largely by the Gee-Gees as they scored on their first drive and ate up an insane amount of clock which makes it hard on the Carleton Ravens offence to get anything going. In addition, having your first two drives of the game result in 2-and-outs makes it hard on the defence because you’re putting pressure on them to play perfect early on.

Thing were far from perfect for the Ravens in the early going as the defence would allow three straight scoring drives. The offence found its rhythm in the late stages of the first quarter as Nathan Carter and Freud Cesar along with a few completions has some momentum going for the offence that was desperately needed.

The best drive of the night for the Ravens stalled as Brandon Forcier registered his first miss of the season from the 47 yard line. J-P Cimakinda would once again be a force to be reckon with as he was very reliable in the run game for the Gee-Gees.

Carleton Ravens QB Reid Vankoughnett would launch a 45-yard missile to WR Glodin Mulali as he would be tackled down near the Gee-Gees 20 yard line but along with a penalty on the Gee-Gees, it put the Ravens in scoring range for the 1st time tonight. Reid Vankoughnett would sneak in for the touchdown to put the Ravens on the board in the 2nd quarter.

It seemed like momentum was finally about to turn for the Ravens but they missed out on a great scoring opportunity with over 1:30 left in the 2nd quarter but the drive resulted in a punt. Thankfully the defence did their job and held the Gee-Gees to a 54-yard attempt in which K Campbell Fair missed it wide left. Just as the 2nd quarter is coming to a close, Carleton Ravens QB Reid Vankoughnett would throw another beautiful long ball to WR Khalik Johnson. That would result in a clutch field goal from K Brandon Forcier to cut the lead to 17-10.

It was a defensive 3rd quarter which was good for the Ravens defence as earlier on in the game, they were getting bullied mostly from Gee-Gees RB J-P Cimakimba. Not much going for either teams as both punters are getting a good workout. The one highlight play that stood out for the 3rd quarter was a big rush by QB Reid Vankoughnett which set up a 10-yard field goal conversion by Brandon Forcier.

Gee-Gees QB Ben Maracle would lead the offence down the field and rushes in for the touchdown as they increased their lead to 24-13. It seemed during this game that when the defence got the stops, the offence would sputter and when the defence would allow points, the offence couldn’t match it.

Reid Vankoughnett led a masterful drive down the field with under 5 minutes remaining to cut into the Gee-Gees lead to make it 24-19. The defence got a big stop with 2 minutes to go but once again the offence sputtered and couldn’t do anything with it. A few first downs by the Gee-Ge’s offence would put the nail in the coffin as they sweep the season series against Carleton.

Playoff Implications

This loss means that there are 2 possible outcomes that decides who/where the Ravens are playing their next game, however both are dependent on what happens between the York Lions/Toronto Varsity Blues game tomorrow.

• 1. Ravens lose/Gee-Gees win and Varsity Blues win

A Ravens loss would see the team finish 2-4. Having both the Varsity Blues and Gee-Gees win, the University of Toronto would hold the advantage over uOttawa, hosting them while the Ravens would travel to Queen’s.

• 2. Ravens Lose/Gee-Gees win and Varsity Blues lose

The last-minute victory over the Varsity Blues would be a tie-breaker again if the Ravens and UofT both lose. Holding that important tie-breaker, the Ravens would finish third, and travel the short bus-ride to face uOttawa for a third time.

All remains to be seen as I’m sure the Ravens football team will be paying close attention to the York Lions/Toronto Varsity Blues game tomorrow.