The Men’s Football team defeated the Carleton Ravens 45-0 at Richardson Stadium on Saturday.

With their win over the Ottawa-based team, the Gaels improve to 5-0 on the season and clinch the top berth of the OAU East division. 

“I thought they played really hard. They played really smart football as well,” head coach Steve Snyder said when asked about his team’s performance in a post-game interview with The Journal.

“Offensively, we kind of used the first quarter to settle in. Not really the plan […] but we got a feel for what they were doing and then we were able to attack them with the pass game.”

Carleton took the game’s kick-off before both teams settled into a quiet opening quarter. The Gaels and Ravens traded two-and-outs on their respective first drives.

As has been the usual for Queen’s this year, the defensive squad struck first, making some admirable plays for the Gaels to start off the second quarter. Gaels’ defensive end Ethan Martin nearly sacked Carleton quarterback Reid Vankoughnett before defensive back Thompson McCallum intercepted Carleton just outside the Ravens’ redzone.

Queen’s defensive lineman Anthony Federico continued the pressure from there, sacking Vankoughnett to force a two-and-out. After Carleton voluntarily conceded two safeties, Queen’s Nick Liberatore kicked a 30-yard field goal to truly open the scoreboard.

With two minutes left in the half, Queen’s quarterback James Keenan then threw a 42-yard touchdown to receiver Sebastian Hansen. Following a Queen’s interception by linebacker Nolan Bedard shortly after, Keenan threw another touchdown to receiver Sahkia Kwemo.

After a fumble by Carleton on the punt return, Queen’s recovered the ball and Liberatore then kicked a 12-yard field goal. Not to be outdone, Gaels’ defensive back Ashton Miller-Melancon intercepted Vankoughnett again, leading to another Liberatore field goal to end the half.

After both teams traded stalled drives through the start of the third quarter, the Ravens voluntarily conceded another safety to give Queen’s possession—though Keenan threw an interception to end the drive early.

Once more, the Gaels’ defence gave the offensive squad some momentum. Desperate to score, Carleton failed to convert on a third down due to the Gaels’ pressure, and an interception by Gaels linebacker Walter Karabin set up a rushing touchdown from Rasheed Tucker to end the quarter.

Starting with possession for the fourth quarter, the Gaels’ offense capped off their stellar performance with a rushing touchdown from running back Anthony Soles. After another interception by Miller-Melancon and a failed effort by Carleton’s new quarterback Tristan Rinaldis, Carleton conceded another safety to end the game.

Although happy with the win, Snyder was still circumspect about the team’s result.

 “It looks great on the scoreboard and whatnot, but when you get back to the film, you’re going to see a lot of room for improvement,” he explained.

“When you force that many turnovers, it lets you really get the score going up, but […] take away some of those turnovers and it’s a bit of a different game.”

Snyder also spoke briefly about the homecoming celebration by mentioning his emphasis on the traditions of Queen’s football within team meetings.

“It’s important for our guys to know about the tam, and who the key alumni are and how much they care, and I thought our students did a good job turning out as well […] not your typical homecoming, but you could still feel the energy,” he said.

The Gaels will travel to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees on Oct. 21 for their final regular season game. Kickoff will be at 6:00 p.m. at TD Place in Lansdowne Park.