The Carleton Ravens have finally ended their Panda Game drought, bringing Pedro home for the first time since 2017.
In front of a sold-out crowd of over 24,000 fans at TD Place in Ottawa, the Ravens leaned on a smothering defence and exceptional special teams play to eke out a 20-14 win over the rival Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Following a quiet first quarter, the Gee-Gees drew first blood in the second after an ill-advised throw from Carleton quarterback Tristan Lefebvre ended up in the arms of defensive back Nicolas Dion. Robin Collioud made him pay on the next play, catching a pass from Josh Janssen and weaving 43 yards to the end zone. Ottawa added the extra point and a rouge on the kickoff.
Ravens head coach Corey Grant had seen enough and benched his starter, Lefebvre, on the next series, ending his afternoon at three-of-eight for 38 yards. Elijah Barnes came off the sideline and led the team down the field on his second series, deftly dropping the ball over the goalposts for a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tristan Ready with 1:37 left in the half.
Carleton failed to connect on the two-point conversion, but more points were just around the corner. After Ottawa failed to generate any momentum offensively, Joel Chekwi came through untouched up the middle to block the punt, and Ethan Boxall recovered for the 22-yard touchdown. Frederick Hachey tacked on the two points, and the Ravens led 14-8 at the half.
Things went quiet again in the second half, as Carleton extended their modest lead with a pair of chip-shot Brandon Forcier field goals, and DeAndre McKenzie got his mitt up in traffic to block an attempt from Ottawa kicker Zachary Copeland.
The Gee-Gees finally awoke inside the three-minute warning, and Janssen connected with Tristan Gilbert Thibault for a 16-yard major with 47 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, a bad snap on the extra point led to chaos and Copeland’s panicked pass went incomplete, taking valuable points off the board. Down five, Ottawa failed to execute the onside kick and their Hail Mary attempt on the final drive was batted down, prompting the Carleton faithful to rush the field.
Janssen finished 24-of-43 for 375 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Collioud led all players with five catches for 159 yards and a major.
Barnes was 13-of-19 for 189 yards and a touchdown off the bench, while Hachey caught six passes for 107 yards in the victory. Linebacker Xavier Malone led the defence with eight tackles, but punter Joey Sciandra was the true star of the game for the Ravens, averaging 42.9 yards per kick and pinning four of them inside the 20.
The Panda Game was first played as an annual rivalry clash between the two Ottawa universities in 1955 and was revived in 2013 after the return of the Ravens program. Ottawa currently leads the all-time series 38-18.
The Ravens and Gee-Gees are now tied in the OUA standings at 3-3 with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
