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OUA football's season finales marked by Will Finch injury, Carleton's band ban backfiring spectacularly
Two weeks ago, the Western Mustangs' gifted quarterback Will Finch was vowing "we won't lose again, that's for sure." A week ago, supporters of the young and enthusiastic Carleton Ravens believed their second-year team was playoff-bound after a win over the Windsor Lancers in front of enthusiastic alumni that included TSN's James Duthie.
Today, Western is looking at a post-season without its star quarterback; the Ravens are on the outside looking in after being eliminated by Queen's, which came into an otherwise nothing game filled with a "terrible resolve" by Carleton's confusing Bands ban. I guess the moral of the story is that everything is fluid in Ontario University Athletics football until the clock hits triple zeroes, especially after a final weekend of the regular season where the playoff picture was so complex.
First things first, the big takeaway is that Finch, the reigning OUA most valuable player, is out for the season. The risk is not worth it with third-seeded Western (6-2) heading into a quarter-final against Laurier (4-4). The Windsor Lancers (5-3) and fifth-year quarterback Austin Kennedy, who tied the OUA career record of 79 touichdown passes on Saturday, host Ottawa (also 5-3) in the 4 vs. 5 quarter.
From Morris Dalla Costa, on Finch:
The Hec Crighton nominee was carted off the field strapped to body board late in the second quarter at TD Waterloo Stadium.
Finch ran the ball and was hit by two Lancers. A knee apparently made contact with the back of his head. Finch lay on the field for 12 minutes as medical and training staff worked on him. He didn’t move.
But immediate reports indicated he was awake and talking but didn’t know where he was.
He was taken to hospital where tests on his neck and head showed no structural injuries. It looks almost certain that he suffered a concussion.
Three weeks ago Finch also missed a week with a head injury.
It was an emotionally-charged scene on the field and in the dressing room after the game.
Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall found it difficult to get through questions after the game.
“I went out there and . . . I looked down and said, ‘Will, it’s coach here,’ and he . . . he just looked at me,” Marshall said. “When you see something like that . . . you just don’t know. It’s really hard to think of anything else.” (London Free Press)
Injuries are part of the game but it is a rotten shame to see that happen. Finch, who has fostered hope of seeing a Canadian-born and -trained passer have a serious run in the Canadian Football League, has sustained another significant injury. He was also injured during Western's loss to Calgary in the 2013 Mitchell Bowl national semifinal.
In the here and now, Western has been a point-scoring machine when he is healthy and fully able to function. They still have a formidable running game, though, as per usual. The Mustangs were touted as a shoo-in to repeat as the OUA's representative in the national semifinals and perhaps make their first Vanier Cup trip since 2008. That hardly looks anywhere near as assured, with the prospect of having to face Laurier with backup quarterback Stevenson Bone and then, most likely, going into a semfinal on Nov. 8 against No. 4-ranked Guelph, which will be coming off a bye week.
Carleton thought 'this was going to be a cake walk'
In the nation's capital, meantime, the working assumption for several weeks was that Carleton's Hail Mary win over Ottawa in the Panda Game on Sept. 20 might ultimately decide the final playoff berth. That was in play coming into the day. Carleton needed to beat playing-for-pride Queen's to secure a spot, while Ottawa, playing at the same time, needed to down No. 3-ranked McMaster and get help.
The folly of that thinking was judging Queen's on its 2-5 record, which included a win over Windsor that turned into a loss due to the use of an ineligible player. There's no way of knowing how much the Bands controversy fed into Queen's motivation, but it built a 19-point halftime lead and never let Carleton get closer than a two-touchdown margin. Running back Jesse Andrews also ran for a career-high 221 yards in the 37-15 Gaels win.
Word of Queen's playing spoiler spread just as Ottawa, which got a 170-yard rushing day from rookie Bryce Veiera, pulled away from McMaster and won 38-18. The Gee-Gees got into the clear thanks to a 17-0 third quarter that included an 86-yard fumble-return touchdown from defensive back Tunch Akkaya and a 74-yard pass-and-run play from Derek Wendel to Ian Stewart.
For Carleton (4-4), the solace is that finishing .500 in its second season is no small feat. Coach Steve Sumarah's Ravens finished with double the win total that the powerhouse Laval Rouge et Or tallied as a second-year team in 1997. The lesson, though, is that the truly big-time programs show up every week. Carleton lost the contests following its landmark wins over Ottawa and Windsor by an aggregate 90-18.
"I think (the players) felt like they were going to come out and this was going to be a cake walk. Unfortunately, Queen’s is a very good team and they really gave it to us on three sides of the ball," Ravens coach Steve Sumarah told the Ottawa Citizen.
“I’ll have to be able to reflect back on this in a couple of weeks when the sting comes off, but the reality is it’s been a big success.
“It’s a huge step forward but we still have a long way to go.”
The Ravens coaches and players are getting it, know that much.
Meantime, the playoffs are full of unknowns, with Western having lost first-round bye and its quarterback in back-to-back weeks.
The Yates winner hosts the Atlantic conference rep in the Mitchell Bowl on Nov. 22. With Mount Allison undefeated, that tilt might be more competitive than anticipated back in August. There is no end to the surprises at this level of football, even if all roads lead to Laval.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
