2019 Panda Game: OttawaU 32, Carleton 10

I am gathering from many sources to recap the 51st Panda Game.

The first is quite simply the USports website an only credited to staff rather than a specific person. Pictures will be credited individually.

A record (and sellout) crowd of 24,600 showed up at Ottawa’s TD Place for the game, and there were plenty of big names present. That included a pair of Ottawa alumni who handled the pre-game coin toss: Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and Ottawa Redblacks’ kicker Lewis Ward. 

...the Gee-Gees opened the scoring on a rouge, but the Ravens responded with a first-quarter field goal and then a second-quarter touchdown pass from Tanner DeJong to Quinton Soares, taking a 10-1 lead. 

Ottawa struck back after that, though; a safety put them back within seven, and then Carleton running back Nathan Carter fumbled in the end zone and the Gee-Gees’ Tramayne Stephen recovered for a game-tying touchdown. 

After that, Réshaan Davis forced a fumble from DeJong and Francis Perron recovered and took the ball 22 yards for a touchdown that put Ottawa into the lead. Gee-Gees’ running backs Jordan Burgher and Donald Shaw then added further touchdowns, leading to Ottawa’s eventual 32-10 win. 

The Gee-Gees gained only 211 offensive yards on the day compared to the Ravens’ 405, but their defence came up big time after time, and their offence capitalized when it counted.

Photography by Parker Townes

Darren Desaulniers takes over for the Ottawa Sun

“Burn the tape,” was the response from Ravens coach Steve Sumarah after his football team was outscored 31-0 in the second half and lost 32-10 in the 51st edition of the game at TD Place in front of an announced crowd of 24,626. 

As bad as it was in the second half for the Ravens, it wasn’t much better for the Gee-Gees in the first. In fact, it could have been much worse than a 10-1 deficit had Ravens kicker Keiran Flannery-Fleck not missed three of his four field-goal attempts in the half. 

“We left a lot of points on the board and they just fed off our mistakes in the second half. It was embarrassing,” Sumarah said. “We didn’t have them ready to play, and that’s on us as coaches. 

“I’m at a loss. It’s probably one of the worst collapses I’ve ever been involved in. More credit has to go to (uOttawa), and they did some good things in the second half and, at the end of the day, they were the better team.” 

The defence was in good hands for both sides. After the Ravens conceded a safety rather than punt from their end zone, the Ravens’ defence intercepted a Ben Maracle pass at their own one-yard line. 

On the very next play, though, the Ravens fumbled in the end zone and Tramayne Stephen fell on the ball for a Gee-Gees TD that tied the game 10-10. 

Another missed field goal by Campbell Fair resulted in another single, and the Gee-Gees were up 11-10. On the next play, DeJong was hit hard and fumbled before Francis Perron scooped up the ball and ran 22 yards for the score for an 18-10 lead.

The Gee-Gees' own recap of the points at that "The Ottawa defence took advantage of six Carleton turnovers, with captains Cody Cranston, Thomas Carrier, and Luke Griese logging the interceptions for the Gee-Gees."

As a result of his substantial contributions, Stephen was named the defensive player of the week in the conference.

Big time players show up on big stages! Six solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and an unforgettable fumble recovery touchdown makes Tramayne the OUA Defensive Player of the Week!