Alumni and national TV observe lopsided loss
By Ryan Rogers
Sports Editor
September 26, 2007
 The Lancers Football program was felled decidedly by the undefeated Queen’s Golden Gaels last weekend by losing 38-3 in front of not only their alumni in attendance who were invited out, but also on national television.
Queen’s quarterback Dan Brannagan passed for 358 yards with 11 completions, an interception and two touchdowns as they stormed past the Lancers.
Golden Gael Mike Griffin rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns of his own to round out the offensive powerhouse that has improved their record to 4-0 on the season, and to place their team in the Top 10 in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports rankings.
In what has been traditionally named ‘Homecoming,’ the Department of Athletics and Recreation opted to name the event ‘Alumni Weekend,’ inviting University of Windsor alumni back to their alma mater.
The name change has been adopted mostly because “The event is a Lancer event and it’s about inviting Lancer Alumni back,” said Sports Information Officer, Elisa Mitton.
Leading into the game, head coach Mike Morencie said that he was very disappointed with their previous loss to the Waterloo Warriors, where they dropped a 23 point lead in the second half and lost by three.
“I think it was the lack of consistency on both sides of the ball – it’s been feast or famine,” said Morencie. But this night there was no feasting for the Lancers.
After sitting out the last game with an undisclosed injury, quarterback Dan Lumley returned into the lineup.
“From a leadership perspective,” said coach Morencie, “he’s really important for us. He tends to settle us down … we play with a great deal of anxiety and Danny does a good job of keeping everyone on an even keel.”
Lumley might still be feeling some ill effects from that injury after only completing seven passes on 23 attempts, only passing for 78 yards and throwing three interceptions.
Lancer running back Daryl Stephenson rushed for 109 yards. That puts him over 4,000 career rushing yards for the fourth year CIS All-Canadian.
Queen’s hit their first touchdown in the first quarter when Griffin ran the ball 19 yards, and they exited the first down 7-1. In the second quarter the Golden Gaels built on their lead scoring three more touchdowns.
Griffin’s second and third scores came from one-yard punches into the end zone, while Scott Stinson received a 24-yard pass for the team’s fourth touchdown of the half.
Most of the game was played in the Lancers end, and even kicker Kevin Regier had to punt for 530 yards and kick another 131 to repel Queen’s as best as he could.
The longest completion of the game came in the fourth quarter when Brannagan passed to Rob Bragg for a 67-yard pass for a touchdown.
Despite missing the game against Waterloo, Lumley remains in the top 10 in the OUA for total passing yards, with 330. Stephenson is in third place in the OUA in rushing with 442 yards, despite only having two touchdowns, both of which came in the first game of the season. Defensively, Kyle Boutette is tied for second in total sacks, having a productive season on the defensive line.
The Lancers' next game sees them traveling to London to line up against the struggling Western Mustangs, who have yet to win a game this season, and are coming off of a 31-17 loss to the Guelph Gryphons last week.
The kick off is at 1 p.m. at the TD Waterhouse Stadium.
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