OTTAWA - Trailing by 13 with 2:14 to play the Carleton Ravens clawed all the way back to stun the Guelph Gryphons 29-27 on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Ravens finish 6th in the OUA with a 4-4 record and will face Windsor on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
Guelph controlled much of the first quarter but was held to only a safety and rouge to lead 3-0 for more of the opening fifteen. Before the quarter was over, Carleton found their way onto the board when Alex Gayle scored on a four-yard run to take a 7-3 lead.
The rest of the first half was a fairly quiet contest with Brandon Forcier field goals bookending a Donavin Malloy one-yard touchdown. At the half, the Ravens led 13-10.
Guelph would take over in the third quarter, beginning to drive momentum and pulling ahead late in the fourth quarter with a Marshall McCray touchdown which put them ahead 27-14.
Trailing by two scores the Ravens went to work, returning the Gryphons kickoff 19-yards and taking possession with only two minutes on the clock. Carleton started their drive well with back-to-back completions for first downs before Jaden Simon would gain 15-yards and the Ravens would advance into the red zone. On their second play from the red zone, Tristan Lefebvre's pass would be broken up in the end zone, but the ensuing illegal contact penalty would move the Ravens to the Guelph five-yard line. Lefebvre would then find Hunter Brown in the end zone to make it a one-score game.
After the Ravens failed to recover their onside kick the Carleton defense stood tall, forcing Guelph to punt the ball away setting up a Carleton possession with thirty-seven seconds to play.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lefebvre found Kaseem Ferdinand to his left for a massive 42-yard gain to the Guelph 50-yard line. Carleton would gain a few yards on the ground on the next play before Tristan Lefebvre airmailed a 50-yard pass to Frederik Hachey in the end-zone for the game-tying touchdown.
The Ravens would take the lead with Forcier's extra point with twelve seconds to play.
Forcier would use the day's strong winds to unload a 74-yard kickoff deep into the Guelph endzone for a rouge and a two-point lead. Looking to win the game, the Gryphons would go deep twice, first to Willem Arsenau, who dropped the pass amidst triple coverage, before a last-ditch effort to Kaine Stevenson which was broken up by Louis Lavaud to secure the win.
The Ravens now begin the playoffs powered by TAAG as they prepare for a Saturday afternoon matchup in Windsor. The 4:00 p.m. kickoff will be aired on OUA.tv.