PREVIEW: Gee-Gees set to battle Waterloo in OUA quarterfinal matchup

The 2019 Yates Cup Playoffs gets underway at Gee-Gees Field on Saturday, as the fourth-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees take on the fifth-seeded Waterloo Warriors at 1 p.m.

It is a matchup between teams that are not particularity familiar with each other, with their last matchup coming over two years ago in October 2017, a 40-30 win for the Gee-Gees.

The quarterfinal matchup will be one of two on tap for Saturday, as teams play to see who will travel to take on Western and McMaster with a trip to the Yates Cup on the line.

Offensively, the Warriors are a strong bunch, they led the OUA in yards per game with 481.9. Once in the red zone Waterloo executes better than any team, scoring touchdowns 76 per cent of the time. The Gee-Gees score at the second most effective clip, with 67 per cent. 

On defence, it is another story for the Warriors, they rank third-to-last in yards against, giving up 497.8 per contest. They have also given up the second most points of all teams this season averaging 35.4 points against per game.

The Gee-Gees field a relatively low-yardage, yet opportunistic offence, that has consistently produced points against lower-ranked defensive teams in the OUA. The Gee-Gees put up scores of 54, 56, and 44 against Windsor (11th), York (9th), and Queen's (7th).

Defensively, there is no better team at taking the ball away and turning it into points than the Gee-Gees. Finishing with six defensive touchdowns, and 28 total takeaways, the Warriors will have to be wise to not give the ball away.

To balance Waterloo's attack, the Gee-Gees will field a defence that gives up the fourth fewest points (24.6) in the OUA. Waterloo's offence has struggled against top defensive teams, scoring only 13 and 14 points against Guelph and McMaster, the lone outlier being a 42-point performance in a loss to Western. 

History is squarely on the Gee-Gees side heading into the matchup, as Waterloo has not defeated Ottawa since 1966, overall, the Gee-Gees are 24-1 against the Warriors. 

Kick off is set for 1 p.m. and will be streaming live at OUA.tv. Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.geegees.ca