“Who’s house? our house”
The battle for Pedro the Panda on Sunday marked the 55th anniversary of the beloved Panda Game tradition — and what an electric game it was, as the rivalling schools of Carleton and the University of Ottawa faced off.
The Gees pulled a second half masterclass scoring a total of 24, turning the game around. With a final score of 35-32 coming down to the wire with yet another field goal (this time from the Ravens), the Gee-Gees would take the win, marking six consecutive years of Pedro possession. ‘Who’s house, our house,’ says the team.
The Gee-Gees would receive to start the game, but were held up after two downs, and forced to punt. Unfortunately, it would be the Ravens starting the scoring with a receiving touchdown from Kaseem Ferdinand following a pass from Ravens quarterback Elijah Barnes.
The Gees would almost have a touchdown of their own but the pass was dropped, and their proceeding field goal attempt would be no good, keeping the score for the Gees empty. A sack made by the Gees defensive end Lliam Horrocks forced a punt from the Ravens, followed up by a stellar return by Kaseem’s brother Denny — who transferred across the city to the Gees before this season..
Josh Janssen picked up some rushing yards of his own after escaping a tackle. The Gees would be held up at the 30-yard line forced to kick but kicker Zach Copeland had some jitters as he missed the kick five yards short of the poles. However, Copeland earned a rare rouge point, putting the Gees on the board 7-1.
Second Quarter:
To start the second quarter, the Gees defence was on lockdown as an interception was made by Patrick Cumberbatch in the Ravens half. After the Ravens defence committed several penalties, the Gees ended up on first and goal, and it would be rushed in by Gee-Gees running back Charles Asselin, and with a conversion from Copeland the Gees were up 8-7.
The following Ravens drive was looking dangerous as they gained ground quickly, they were within goal, and a completion from Tristan Ready granted the Ravens their second touchdown of the game, with the conversion from Forcier the score was 14-8.
A 25-yard return by Asselin was cut short, and they were forced to punt, giving the Ravens the ball once more. Unfortunately, it would be the Ravens once again plowing through the Gees, generating a receiving touchdown from Ben Huckabone making the score 21-8 as the half was closing. To finish off the half, Copeland was successful from 25 to enter the half 21-11. Going into the half down 10, the Gees had to step up if they wanted a chance to take the game.
Third Quarter:
The Ravens would start the half with a field goal from Forcier, putting a 13 point lead on the Gees. However, it wouldn’t be long as the Gees came out swinging, it was none other than Asselin plowing through the Ravens defensive line for his second touchdown; with a conversion from Copeland the score was 24-18.
The Ravens responded with a 30-yard kick return from Keyshawn Reid, but the drive would be unsuccessful after being held off by the mighty Gees defence. After a little defensive tic-tac-toe, it was the linebacker Daniel Briere rushing for 40 yards to the end zone from a blocked and unlikely recovered punt touchdown; with a conversion from Copeland the Gees regained the lead 25-24.
The Gees defence was on fire, getting yet another stop after knocking a throw out of the Ravens receiver’s hands. As the third quarter came to a close, the Gees gained some great yards from a reception caught by first-year Romeo Lussier, bringing them to the 11-yard line, looking to enter the last quarter with an immediate touchdown.
Fourth Quarter:
Without much fight or might from the Ravens, receiver Noah Avery was in for a touchdown from a nine yard pass from Janssen with the second play of the quarter, and a conversion from Copeland increased the Gees lead to 32-24.
The Ravens on their next offensive drive would reach the Gees half, before an incomplete throw and a sack from the Gees forced an unsuccessful field goal attempt. The Gees lead was well intact, and were in the driver’s seat to kill the Ravens dream of breaking the Gees Panda Game streak of five.
The hopes of a six consecutive win for the Gees was looking more likely than ever after an interception from none other than the man Denny Ferdinand. With only a minute remaining a field goal from Copeland put the Gees up 35-24.
The Ravens were not finished yet, with whatever remained in the tank, the Ravens two play drive for 79 yards finished in a 40-yard receiving touchdown from Frederik Hachey, with a two point conversion rush by Elijah Barnes the Ravens pushed the score to 35-32.
The Ravens then recovered an onside kick that gave them hopes to tie the game with a field goal. However, the 54 yard attempt from Forcier was short, unlike the Gee-Gees last-minute 55-yard kick a year ago, crushing the Ravens hopes of winning. It was the Gees winning their six consecutive Panda Game.
That wraps up the forever entertaining Panda Game, which has turned year over year into another brutal beatdown from the Gee-Gees. On the offensive side for the Gees, Janssen threw for 295 passing yards on 23-of-30 passing. “Panda is always exciting man,” Janssen said postgame. “Of course we feel like we’re the better team, but we know it’s gonna come down to that fourth quarter. Today, I felt like the fourth quarter we just held it together to the very end, did our job. We’re a team that builds off each other, all it takes for us is one play, and once that play happens, we’re rolling.”
Star running back Charles Asselin rushed for 51 yards on 14 attacks, netting two touchdowns for the squad, and added 4 receptions and 42 receiving yards. “I think it was a great team win,” said the third-year. “It always comes down to a field goal for some reason, but we pulled through [and] that’s what matters. We still got some things to work on but that was a great game. I’m happy we came out on top.”
Rookie receiver Romeo Lussier led the receiving corps with 93 yards on four catches in just his third game in the starting lineup. “After making the first catch I was pretty confident,” said Lussier. “It was awesome, I liked the intensity, and [we] played just so damn good after the [first] half we knew we were going to win.”
On the defensive side, defensive back Kevin Victome had five solo tackles, and linebacker Jaxxon Brashear racked up six solo tackles — and an extremely clutch blocked punt, earning himself the OUA’s defensive player of the week award. Briere had himself a game with a solo tackle, four assisted tackles, and a 40 yard recovery touchdown from Brashear’s blocked punt.
“Brashear was the guy that got there — thanks to him, he was the reason I could get [the touchdown],” said Briere after the game. “I’m just the pretty face that made it look good. Crossing the line I got tackled so that didn’t feel great, but it was exciting. It means the most, I’ll give anything up for these guys, straight up.”
When speaking about the team’s depth, which has been tested due to injuries in recent weeks, Briere said “second string is always ready, second string guy gets up, third string guys ready to go cause he’s the new second string, that’s how we play, everyone’s ready to step up. I think we’ve proved that.”
This game was crucial for the program as they will now fight to earn a potential playoff spot in a match against the Toronto Varsity Blues Oct. 19. Head coach Marcel Bellefeuille spoke on the significance of this game as such; “[this game] gives us the inside track on the playoffs, the last three weeks [we’ve been] playing some playoff type games, hopefully that will get us our metal so that when we get to that level, we’ll be ready for it.”
That concludes the 55th edition of the Panda Game. The Gees now have an all-time Panda record of 38-17 against the Ravens. I hope all fans enjoyed the game as much as I did, till next year…
