RECAP: Late touchdown leads football to victory over Lions

A week after the dramatics of the 52^nd Panda Game, the Gee-Gees turned in another last-minute drive to seal a pulse-pounding victory.

A clutch Nicholas Gendron touchdown snag with just over a minute to go in the fourth quarter gave the Gee-Gees the late lead, and an Alex Douglas interception moments later secured a 20-17 win for uOttawa over the York Lions at TD Place Saturday evening.

"I'm happy the team is learning to be resilient, and they're learning how to finish games now, which is great," said Gee-Gees head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. "On the flip side, we have to eliminate penalties and execution mistakes. That part has to get fixed so we're not always playing in drama." 

Ottawa found themselves trailing 17-12 after the Lions returned a tipped ball to the house in the fourth quarter, but the Gee-Gees caught a break of their own. A ball was tipped to Maxim Malenfant to get uOttawa into the red zone, and Gendron's sure hands off a bullet pass from Ben Maracle sent the Gee-Gees faithful into a frenzy.

"It was third down and we needed five yards to get to the end zone," said Gendron, a Gatineau, Que., product. "We've been in this situation before; we knew we were going to execute. These two wins are huge, they really put an identity on who we are."

The game was a tight one, with neither team leading by more than a single score at any point. The score was 9-6 for the visitors at the half, with two Campbell Fair field goals providing the scoring for the Garnet and Grey.

Two more Fair three-pointers made the score 12-9, when disaster struck for Ottawa in the fourth quarter. A tipped ball fell into the hands of Mack Bannatyne, who returned it for the touchdown. A rouge gave York their 17-12 lead, despite their kicker, Dante Mastrogiuseppe being banged up and unable to kick consistently.

Looking to engineer a late drive, Maracle spread the ball around and was assisted by tough running from Amlicar Polk. Finding themselves on the Lions five-yard line and facing third-and-goal, Maracle hit Gendron for the pivotal score.

York got the ball back, but Douglas became the third different Gee-Gee to pick off Lions quarterback Noah Craney on the day.

"I feel like they need pressure to perform higher, instead of performing like this all the time," said Bellefeuille. "As the pressure mounts, they perform higher, which is good. We've really worked on that, because before I got here, I felt like the team didn't play well under pressure."

Ottawa improves to 2-2 on the season as they head into the bye week. They'll be back in action to face the undefeated Queen's Gaels at TD Place Stadium on Oct. 21. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.