Gryphons Earn First Win of the Season in 31-17 Victory over Windsor

WINDSOR, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons picked up their first win of the season in a hard fought 31-17 road win over the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night (Sept. 6). The Gryphons scored 24 points in the second half, turning a seven-point halftime deficit into a decisive 14-point victory to move to 1-2 on the season led by a returning Donavin Milloy and a stout defensive performance.

The Gryphons would overcome a slow start with Windsor jumping out to a 14-0 lead midway through the opening quarter. Donavin Milloy playing in his first game of the season, finds the end zone as he scores from 5-yards out to cut the deficit in half, with 7:12 left in the second quarter. With halftime approaching and the Lancers driving, the Gryphon defence would come up with a key stop right before the half. Guelph native Anakin Guthrie off the deflection in the end zone, picks off the pass and returns it back all the way to the other end zone as it appeared Guelph tied the game up. However, a block in the back penalty on the return negated the touchdown and the Gryphons head into the half trailing 14-7.

With the Gryphons trailing 17-7 midway through the 3^rd quarter, they needed a spark and got it in the form of Harry Varty. The second-year marketing management major was able to get behind the defence as the Gryphons did a tremendous job to pick up the blitz which gave Tristan Aboud time to hit Varty for the 54-yard touchdown to cut the Windsor lead down to three. Varty finished with a team high 7 receptions 103 yards and a TD. Ben Lane tied up the game at 17 all with a 30-yard field goal late in the quarter. With the game still tied in the 4^th quarter, the biggest play of the game would come from the Gryphon run game. Fourth year running back Donavin Milloy finds a seam and breaks a long one as he turned on the jets for a 63-yard touchdown run that gave Guelph a 24-17 lead. Milloy made a successful return to the lineup finishing as the game's leading rushing with 15 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns.   

The Gryphon defence was tremendous all night, limiting the Lancers to 3 points in the final three quarters of the game. With under two minutes left in the game and Windsor driving at the Guelph 27-yard line, the defence won the battle at the line of scrimmage as they chased down Lancers QB Nick Dimovski for the sack to force a 3^rd and long situation where they forced the incompletion to get the turnover on downs. The Gryphons offence with 1:16 left would make it a two possession game when Isaiah Smith shook off the Lancers defence as he broke out a 58 yards touchdown run to give the visitors a 31-17 lead. Anakin Guthrie's second interception of the game in the end zone clinched the 31-17 win for Guelph.

The Gryphons (1-2) returns home to Alumni Stadium when they host the Ottawa Gee-Gees (2-1) on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 13) with kickoff set for 1pm. The Gee-Gees come into Guelph off a 55-29 road loss to No. 3-ranked Western Mustangs. The Gryphons and Gee-Gees matchup on Saturday can be seen online at oua.tv and tickets for the game are available at gryphons.ca/tickets.