Ravens Football Names New Coordinators

April 30th, 2025: Head coach Corey Grant and Carleton Athletics are proud to announce the completion of a national search to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators. The Ravens have hired Ronald Hilaire as the team’s new defensive coordinator, while Nathaniel Griffith will lead the program’s offence.  

“I’m excited to move forward with these two men,” said Corey Grant. “Their experience and leadership bring us great stability as our program prepares for the 2025 season.”  

Hilaire is the former head coach of the McGill Redbirds, having served in the position from 2015-2023. Most recently, Hilaire was the head coach for the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Team Canada 2 program. Prior to joining the Redbirds for one season as defensive coordinator, Hilaire was a member of the Montreal Carabins, where he also served as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.   

Griffith joins the Ravens from York University, where he most recently served as the Lions’ associate head coach and offensive coordinator. Griffith has spent the past decade at York, with stints as the special team’s coordinator and run game coordinator. Internationally, Griffith was also a member of the coaching staff for the 2024 IFAF U20 World Junior Team Canada 2. During his coaching career, Griffith has assisted at five East-West Bowl games.  

Griffith has served as the head coach of the Brampton Bulldogs since 2020. He held the same position with the York Region Lions from 2015-2018.

2014, Oct 4th: Toronto 32 @ Carleton 53

Capturing the summary of one of Carleton's first wins following the return of the school's football program. They were winless in 2013 but recorded four wins in 2014, including the one below.

The cropped text is from the football team's website, which was uncredited. Oddly, it focused on Toronto quarterback Simon Nassar's accomplishments rather than that of the Ravens.

The statistical data is from the USports website from when it was referred to as CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sports). 

...Carleton pivot Nick Gorgichuk was 21-of-28 for 302 yards, two touchdown and no interceptions, while Jesse Mills was 3-of-4 for 91 yards and Kyle Van Wynsberghe was 1-of-1 for 76 yards and one touchdown.

The Blues, playing their 1,000th game, had little reason to celebrate with the exception of quarterback Simon Nassar who set a single-game Canadian Interuniversity Sport record with 49 completions.

The fourth-year pivot from Toronto was 49-of-62 for 547 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He easily shattered the CIS mark of 41 completions set in 1981 by Varsity Blues pivot Dan Feraday and tied in 2012 by current Sherbrooke quarterback Jeremi Roch.

....

The Ravens jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and made it 23-0 early in the second quarter.

The Blues finally managed to get on the board late in the second, but the Ravens responded with Van Wynsberghe connecting with Nathaniel Behar for a 76-yard touchdown pass. Carleton extended its lead as Emilio Galotta had a 13-yard fumble return to make it 37-7.

Michael Domagala added 24 and 26 yard field goals in the third quarter, while Nassar had a 24-yard touchdown pass making it 43-17 at the end of three quarters.

Nassar added two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens responded with a touchdown and field goal of their own to keep the game out of reach.

Nov 8th, 1947, Ottawa Citizen: "Carleton College Crew Stops Queen's Team, 11-6"

1996, Oct 27th: "Gee-Gees Earn Another Shot at Ravens"

Another uOttawa/Carleton double bill best shared as a post.

1961, Oct 2nd: "U of O, Carleton Win College Grid Openers"

After a lengthy quiet spell, there may be a flurry of random-seeming activity on here over the next couple of days.

I'm doing a clean up of old scans from my days of visiting the library for newspaper archives. Anything not already copied here will be so I can finally declutter my little football closet.

The game summary includes both university teams so rather than choose one over the other, I thought it best to make a post of it to link on either page. 

Oct 5th, 2013: Return of the Panda

Oct 1st, 2022: "Gendron stars as Gee-Gees roll to Panda Game victory over Ravens"

Finding coverage of regular season university football can be tricky at the best of times. That doesn't normally apply to the well-hyped Panda Game, but unfortunately the coverage of post-game behaviour by students ended up dominating my search results.

The article below is originally from the Ottawa Sun but found through MSN dot com. It was written by Ken Warren and the full version can be read through this link.

In the entire 2021 season, Nicholas Gendron registered a grand total of 173 receiving yards for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Fast forward to Saturday’s Panda Game, when the Gatineau native had the game of his life in front of the packed, spirited house of 23,078 students at TD Place, where the Gee-Gees ran all over the Carleton Ravens in what ended up as a 37-7 victory.

Photography by Emir Atli 

...

Gendron finished the afternoon with eight catches for 211 yards, the fourth best receiving day in Gee-Gees history.

Thousands of students were lined up, still on their way into the stadium, when Gendron slipped behind the Ravens defence and hauled in an 81-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Maracle late in the first quarter.

The spectacular play erased an early 7-0 deficit, turning any and all momentum in the Gee-Gees’ favour.

“You know, when the ball is in the air, it’s kind of silent,” Gendron said. “But, when the ball is in your hands and the crowd erupts, it’s just so special. And being in the end zone and seeing my teammates being so happy, it was a great moment. The offensive line did such a great job on that play and the whole game protecting for Ben.”

Photography by Guillaume Sénéchal 

...

A support player a year ago — he caught one pass for 10 yards in the 2021 Panda Game — Gendron has become a key part of the offence for the Gee-Gees, who have won four straight games and are 5-1 overall in Ontario University Athletics conference play.

...

Gendron had plenty of company in posting big numbers on Saturday. Maracle was on his game throughout, completing 20 of 23 passes for 354 yards, adding a second touchdown toss to Willie-Pierre Dimbonji.

Workhorse running back J.P. Cimankinda punished the Ravens defence on the ground, rushing for 166 yards on 31 carries, including two touchdowns. Kicker Campbell Fair made three of five field-goal attempts.

...

The Ravens struck first when quarterback Tanner DeJong connected with Kaseem Ferdinand for a 26-yard touchdown with 6:10 remaining in the opening quarter, but that was it for Carleton scoring.

The Gee-Gees led 10-7 at half-time, as TD Place air was full of potent smells and the traditional colourful back and forth chants between Ravens faithful in the north-side stands and Gee-Gees backers in the southern seats.

But, as the Gee-Gees continued to shut down the Ravens offence and delivered a series of extended drives in the third and fourth quarters, there was little doubt about who would finish on top.

“Just too many mistakes,” first-year Ravens head coach Corey Grant said. “They did a really good job, they had a really good game plan coming in. They executed better than us, and, you know, things just got out of hand at the end there.”

Photography by Greg Mason

Sept 10th, 2022: York Lions 14 @ Carleton Ravens 45

Game summary from goravens.ca. Photo credit unavailable. 

York got the scoring started in the opening quarter. After taking an early 1-0 lead, Alfred Olay (Courtice, Ont.) returned a missed Carleton field goal 109 yards for a touchdown. The Lions would miss the extra point but held the lead.

The Ravens answered before the end of the quarter with some impressive special teams of their own. After the Lions fumbled a punt return, Shaiheem Charles-Brown pounced on and recovered the loose ball in the endzone for a touchdown and extra point to tie the game 7-7 at the end of the opening 15 minutes.

Carleton began to put this game out of reach in the 2nd quarter outscoring the Lions 28-0 in the frame. The Ravens’ passing attack began finding holes in the Lions’ secondary racking up 106 yards through the air just in the second quarter. Quarterback Tanner DeJong (Brockville, Ont.) first found Kasseem Ferdinand (Ottawa, Ont.) in the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown to put Carleton in front. DeJong went back to work later in the quarter finding Frederick Hachey (Laval, Que.) for a 75-yard score.

Special teams and defence both got involved in the scoring for Carleton as well. Eljames Aiguomudu (Montreal, Que.) returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown, and Denny Ferdinand (Ottawa, Ont.) returned a punt 57 yards as Carleton carried a commanding 35-7 lead into the half. With the touchdowns by Denny and Kasseem, the Ferdinand brothers became the first ever Carleton brothers to score a touchdown in the same game.

In the second half, the Ravens protected their lead with solid pass defence which hindered the Lions’ offence. Ben Huckabone (Pembroke, Ont.) blocked a second punt for the Ravens and returned it to the endzone which put the Ravens ahead 45-14, continuing what was a field day for Carleton’s Special Teams.

 

USports Players of the Week

Both uOttawa and Carleton had players honoured by the OUA earlier this week who then went on to be be named players of the week nationally by USports on August 31st.

Defensive Player of the Week – Shaiheem Charles-Brown, Carleton

A record-setting opening game performance for Carleton University defensive lineman Shaiheem Charles-Brown earns him the nod as U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week.

The senior Psychology student from Montreal made himself at home in the McMaster backfield, recording a school-record four sacks in the contest. The final sack of Marauders quarterback Andreas Dueck came late in the fourth period forcing McMaster into a late-game charge third and long situation that resulted in an interception as Carleton held on for a 24-18 victory.

Charles-Brown was in REDBLACKS training camp this past spring. This is a good start to ensuring that he gets another shot with someone in 2023. 

Special Teams Player of the Week – Campbell Fair, Ottawa

Veteran kicker Campbell Fair accounted for 13 of his team’s 19 points, including the winning field goal with seven ticks remaining in regulation time as the Ottawa Gee-Gees defeated Windsor 19-16 en route to earning the U SPORTS Football special teams player of the week award.

The fourth-year Arts student from Carrying Place, Ont. was four of six in field goal attempts including a pair from beyond 40-yards as he established his longest field goal in his career connecting from 46 yards in the second quarter. He would add 234 yards on six punts to his game totals.  

August 27th, 2022: McMaster 18 @ Carleton 24

The scoring summary below is copied from the OUA website whereas the game recap was obtained from goravens.ca. Click on this link for quotes and additional stats.

I believe the photograph is by Marc Lafleur but credit was not given on the Instagram account from which I found it.

The Carleton Ravens kicked off the 2022 season with a win, some firsts, and a record as they battled from behind in the second half to beat the McMaster Marauders 24-18 at TAAG Park.

Coach Corey Grant became the first Ravens head coach to win in his debut since Kim McCuaig in 1969. On defence, Shaheem Charles-Brown broke the Ravens single games record for sacks with four.

On offence, Ravens quarterback Tanner DeJong passed 3,000 yards and Mark Lee (3,001) for sixth all-time in Ravens passing yards.

The matchup was tight from the start with the Ravens kicking off the afternoon with a massive return by Denny Ferdinand, which generated a great starting field position. After Josh Ferguson was able to help the Ravens make gains, a deep punt from Vincent Plouffe would force the Marauders deep. The great defensive field position would help set up a sack of Andraes Dueck forcing Mac to concede a safety.

The two teams would trade short drives the rest of the first quarter before McMaster’s Jacob Patten would return a wobbly punt 53-yards for the first major of the afternoon. Despite a strong defensive quarter, the Ravens found themselves down after 15 minutes 7-2.

After exchanging possessions early in the second quarter the Marauders would capitalize on a Ravens fumble and begin a possession in the red zone. The Ravens’ defence would continue their strong play standing up the Marauders and forcing them to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Benjamin MacDonald for a 10-2 lead.

The Ravens would continue to build momentum holding the Marauders to a two-and-out allowing themselves to start a drive on the offensive half of the field. Working with no huddle the Ravens quickly worked their way into the red zone and veteran quarterback Tanner DeJong found his rhythm putting the Marauders under pressure. After finding Kaseem Ferdinand on the out, DeJong would go back to Ferdinand for the Ravens’ first major of the season.

The Ravens would look to tie on the conversion but come up a finger-tip short as DeJong’s pass sailed threw his receiver’s hands. The Ravens would trail 10-8. Dueck would work one more key drive for the Ravens driving into the Ravens’ red zone and setting up a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 5.

The Ravens’ offence started the third quarter by putting a jolt of electricity into TAAG Park as DeJong would drive into the Marauders’ red zone setting up a nice play-action pass to Josh Ferguson who scrambled his way to the 1-yard line setting up a Tristan Rinaldis keeper for the touchdown and 15-13 lead.

After a Ravens safety, MacDonald would hit his third field goal of the game to make it a one-point game. As the fourth quarter drove on, Kaseem Ferdinand would get the Ravens into McMaster territory with a great run after the catch. The Ravens would cap off a 9-play 75-yard drive with a Joshua Ferguson 7-yard run to put the Ravens up 24-16.

McMaster would force the Ravens to concede a safety with 1:04 to play, only to have Denny Ferdinand pick off Dueck with ten seconds left on the clock.

1990, Oct 13th: uOttawa 21 @ Carleton 34

What follows is another example of a game between Carleton and uOttawa which might have generated much more notoriety and recognition had it been played under the Panda game label.

Carleton broke a 19-game losing streak dating back to October 24th of 1987 with this victory against their chief rival.

That brought Carleton's record to 1-4. They would not win either of their remaining two games and would complete the season with a 1-6 record.

For that matter, they would not win a game again until the third game of the 1991 season when they beat...uOttawa by a score of 9-0.  They would lose their next 12 in a row until knocking off uOttawa once again in the second game of the 1993 season. 

In summary, after defeating Queen's 16-14 on October 10th, 1987, the Ravens would win only three game between that date and September 18th, 1993, and all three were against the University of Ottawa. Got to love rivalries!   

1994, Oct 15th: "Gee-Gees survive great scare from Ravens but just barely"

Not every meeting between the University of Ottawa and Carleton is a Panda game, but many of the non-Panda contests are noteworthy regardless. In reviewing results for either team, I often find that the non-Panda contest is the more entertaining of the two match-ups. 

Such was the case in 1994. Have yourself a read. The first image is of Chris Evraire getting past Scott Hogarth and the second is of Harry Von Hofwegen sacking quarterback Steve Clarke.  

Scott Alexander Named to Carleton Ravens Hall of Fame

Carleton University named its 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame class on May 12th and it included record-setting Ravens receiver Scott Alexander.

The following information was compiled by Ravens Sports Information.

In an era when football was primarily a running game, wide receiver Scott Alexander began his career with the Ravens in 1969 and set the bar for all other Carleton receivers to be compared. Over four seasons, Alexander rewrote the Carleton record book establishing records that still stand nearly 50 years later.

Alexander graduated as the school’s all-time scoring leader with 134 points, a record that still holds today. He also established Carleton records with ten touchdown catches and 62 points in a single season, as well as touchdowns in a career with 22. His single-season record of 10 touchdown catches and 62 points scored still stands today. Alexander’s 22 touchdowns in a career has been tied twice but remains unbroken. Alexander’s 89-yard touchdown in the 1972 Panda Game remains the longest passing play and touchdown in Panda Game history for either school.

That 89-yard touchdown pass in the 1972 Panda Game actually set the career touchdown record. The clip below is from the October 23rd Ottawa Journal.

So relatively speaking, he ended up shattering the old mark when he reached 22. That the record has not been broken since speaks for itself.  

2022 Drafts

This post will be updated frequently as information is made available.

1 (02) - OL Zack Pelehos - uOttawa

Graphic from Gee-Gees Football Twitter account 

cfl.ca: "The six-foot-six, 296-pound lineman was a 2021 OUA first-team selection...Pelehos played in all 370 of the GeeGees offensive plays in 2021 and was named the team’s MVP. He made his way to the CFL Draft via the Ontario Regional Combine.

As a freshman in 2018, Pelehos was an OUA second-team all-star, a member of the OUA all-rookie team and the team’s o-lineman of the year."

Ottawa Sports Pages article from December 2021.

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke: “Zack’s progression was evident through the combine, and what he brought to his program. He’s nasty, he’s going to be physical, and he brings the type of football we want to play.”

Redblacks Press Release: Pelehos starred at the 2022 Regional Combine. The 6’6 300lbs tackle finished first among offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash (5.34), three-cone drill (7.92), short shuttle (4.69), vertical jump (29.50in), and broad jump (8’ 9 ¾“), as well as tying for first place in the bench press (16 reps).

2 (11) - OL Cyrille Hogan-Saindon - Laval

Graphic from Laval Football Twitter account

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “Talking about our DNA, our physicality, there’s a big arrow up on (Hogan-Saindon). He’s a one-year starter. A lot of guys that come out of Laval and Montreal are a bit older because of the CGEP program, but he’s a little younger in age. He’ll take some time to develop, but he’s got huge upside. He’s extremely intelligent, an academic all-Canadian. He’ll come in and bring an edge to that position. To get him with that pick, we’re extremely excited.”

2 (20, Terr.) - LB Jesse Luketa - Penn State

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “You look at it and when you can get a player of that calibre with what you would maybe call an additional pick – we hope not to have that pick anymore in the future – but let’s take advantage of it. We looked at a couple other local kids. I think it’s important to acknowledge what Jesse’s doing for this community and football and to have him associated with the Redblacks brand and give hope and inspiration to our football community means a lot. I called Jesse right after and congratulated him. I said, ‘There aren’t too many guys that can say they were drafted twice in one week.’ He was jacked to be drafted by his hometown team. We talked about, ‘Hey, we don’t expect you here. We want you to make it as far as you can. But we want you to be an ambassador for not only the City of Ottawa, but our country and the sport we all love.’ ”

3 (22) - WR Keaton Bruggeling - Carleton 

Graphic from the Carleton Football Twitter account

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “You look at him and he’s 6-foot 3, 220 pounds. He’s got the body for this. You see the speed on the field when you watch his film. It’s still coming together for him. He took a big jump this season where he became more of your go-to guy. He’s still got some teaching to come along. Coach LaPolice and (receivers) coach (Alex) Suber, they’ll get him there. He’s guy who’s passionate about football. And he’s excited to get in our building as well.”

4 (31) - DB Daniel Valente - Western Ontario

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He’s a guy that just kept rising and rising as we got through the draft process. It was always, ‘What about that Valente kid, what about that Valente kid?’ He was just a guy we kept talking about and we knew there was a certain point in the draft where it was like, ‘We’ve got to take this guy.’ ”

5 (40) - LB Woodly Appolon - Tuskegee

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He started at Northern Illinois, and then made his way down (to Tuskegee) with his (twin) brother (Wesly). He’s something different. You don’t see 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 225-pound guys, that type of size. You’re always looking for size and athleticism. And he brings it. It’s something we don’t have in that group right now. He’s not going to be here this year, he’s going back to school. But he seems genuinely excited for the opportunity and we’ll track him for the year.”

6 (49) - LB Subomi Oyesoro - Calgary

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “He’s definitely a special teams guy, but he has some potential which I don’t think he’s reached yet. (University of) Calgary went through a bit of a difficult season; usually they’ve been a powerhouse and they fell back a little. It’ll be exciting to see how he reacts to the pro camp and what he learns from that. But in terms of athleticism, he’s a body type we’re looking for. We thought we were a little lacking in that.”

7 (58) - SB Connor Ross - St. Francis Xavier

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “Connor is a fullback but he’s also got some long-snapping skills. When we looked at our roster, we obviously have L.P. (Louis-Philippe Bourassa) who is great at what he does, but Maxime (Latour) got picked up by Toronto late last year and we thought we were a little light there. He’ll likely get a chance to go back to school. (Special teams co-ordinator) Jim Daley’s (at St. FX) and he’s a great special teams coach.”

8 (67) - RB Luca Perrier - Laval

Redblacks GM Shawn Burke (to the Ottawa Sun): “When we looked at special teams rankings, he just kept rising. He plays big — 210, 5-foot 11, and comes from a winning program. We do have two great special teamers as Canadians at running back – Gilly (Brendan Gillanders) and Jackson Bennett. Over the course of a season, you’re always going to have some ups and downs injury-wise and I believe (Perrier) gives us a chance that if he was sitting there available and ready to play, we wouldn’t see a huge fall off.”

Earlier in the day, Ottawa selected the following players in the global draft. 

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS made three picks during today’s 2022 CFL Global Draft, selecting offensive lineman Hector Zepeda (Round 1), defensive back Edris Jean-Alphonse (Round 2), and kicker Gabriel Ballinas (Round 3).

Zepada, 24, hails from Ensenada, Baja California, and was the only Mexican of the 13 international prospects to be selected into the 2022 NFL International Player Pathway program. The 6’4 290lbs offensive lineman spent his college career with Tecnólogico de Monterrey.

Graphic from mexfba IG account

Jean-Alphonse, 25, is a product of the Laval Rouge et Or. Born in Bobigny, France, the defensive back impressed at the CFL Global Combine, where he recorded the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.55), fastest short shuttle time (4.18), and placed fifth in the broad jump (9’ 11/12”).

Ballinas, 23, played his college football at Albany State, where he earned All-Conference First Team kicker/punter honours, and was also named HBCU All American, as well as HBCU Special Teams Player of the Year. Ballinas is a native of Guadalupe, Mexico.

The Redblacks did well in this draft last year with the selection of linebacker Tyron Vrede from the Netherlands. He was third on the team with 10 special teams tackles and added another five defensively. 

"Ravens Announce Six Local Recruits"

OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens football team is proud to announce they have added six local recruits for the 2022 season.

The six local recruits from the Ottawa-Gatineau region mark the first players announced ahead of the team’s ninth season since their return to OUA competition in 2013.

The Ravens have added defensive back Alex Boily, linebackers Andrew Christie and Ethan Boxall, offensive lineman Noah Fahey and wide receivers Daniel Sheehan and Nicholas Cerquozzi.

Defensive back Alex Boily joins the Ravens from Franco-Cité High School and the North Gloucester Giants. Boily grew up attending Ravens games and looks forward to the rush from Canada’s loudest and proudest fans this fall.

Andrew Christie of the North Gloucester Giants (NCAFA) was named to the All Ontario Community All Star team and was the leagues Top Defensive Player. A physical linebacker, Christie has the ability to make plays all over the field.

Sheehan joins the program from the highly successful John Abbott College Islanders team who were the 2017 and 2019 RSEQ Div 2 winners. A wide receiver, Sheehan had 22 catches for 300 yards in 2021.

Receiver Nicholas Cerquozzi joins the Ravens from the St. Marks Lions where he was voted 1st Team All-Star in the OHSFL. An incoming business student, Cerquozzi is a fast, twitchy slot receiver who will look to prove himself at the university level.

Rounding out the Ravens recruiting class are linebacker Ethan Boxall and offensive lineman Noah Fahey. Boxall and Fahey join the program from the Nepean Broncos and Holy Trinity Tornadoes but have long been members of the Carleton community. Both players are second-generation Ravens following in the footsteps of their fathers who played for the Ravens during their times at Carleton.

"Ravens Name Corey Grant as the New Head Coach"

OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens are proud to announce Corey Grant as the new head coach of the Carleton Ravens football team. Grant becomes the 14th head coach in the history of the Ravens varsity football program.

Grant joins the Ravens from the McMaster Marauders where he has served as the assistant coach and offensive coordinator since 2019. In addition to his role with the football team, Grant was also an Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Lead within McMaster’s Department of Athletics and Recreation. Prior to joining the Marauders, Grant spent six years coaching with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he served in various roles including assistant offensive coordinator.

Over the past two seasons with the Marauders, Grant’s offences were consistently ranked at the top of the OUA in total offence, passing yards and first downs. In 2019 Grant and the Marauders won the Yates Cup as OUA champions.

...

A former teacher with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Grant holds a Master of Science in Education and his teaching certification from Canisius College, along with a Bachelor of Arts, Sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Prior to his career in coaching, Grant had an 11-year CFL career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders. A two-time Grey Cup Champion, Grant was named the 1999 Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year after being drafted 7th overall in the 1999 CFL Draft.

In addition to his extensive football resume, Grant has a lengthy resume of community work, including being the Co-Chair of the OUA Black Biracial Indigenous Committee (BBI), Assistant Director of the Black Canadian Coaches Association, Chair of the Hamilton Black History Council, and the Founder of the Black Football Coaches of Canada, among many other highlights. His community leadership also includes having developed the OUA’s United Against Racism campaign idea and the Football Coaching Apprenticeship for Women at McMaster University.

Fattening the Panda

The results of the Panda Game, the annual rivalry game between Carleton University and uOttawa, were all tabulated some time ago on a page bearing that very name. Most entries now include at least a partial game summary as well.

So now that the basics are down, the goal moving forward is to provide greater detail surrounding those contests including the antics involving its coveted prize, Pedro the Panda. 

Starting at the beginning seemed to make sense. I tracked down what appears to be the first mention of Pedro in the Ottawa Citizen from October 4th, 1955. 

Sure enough, Pedro was stolen two days later. It took all of two days for a tradition of mascot-based shenanigans to begin.

I knew I'd found a picture of a couple of Carleton players posing with Pedro following this game so he had either been recovered or replaced in short order. In fact, he parachuted in some time during the fourth quarter. 

So a pretty eventful debut for the city's favourite stuffed (at the time) bear.

I'll continue looking for details of his adventures over the decades in which he was particularly active. For now, in addition to the articles above, a more detailed summary for the 1955 contest was added at the bottom of the Panda Game page. 

Nov 9th, 1985: Carleton 40, Bishop's 20

The gathering of Rough Riders results and the occasional game-summarizing articles continues with the 1984 and 1985 seasons having recently been added.

There isn't much glory to share from either season but in going over those years again, I took the time to copy some summaries from other teams, mostly the Sooners and the Carleton Ravens, both of which were quite successful during that spell. 

I want to focus on Carleton in particular at this time. They won two playoff games in 1985 before bowing to Calgary in a national championship semi-final. It occurred to me that this had to be the first time they recorded two playoff victories in a season in the school's football history (dating back to 1945) because, to be blunt, they'd have very few successful seasons to that point.

Then a paragraph in the article below added a little focus. Read on and we'll resume on the other side.

...First playoff victory since he was the team's head coach starting in 1959.

I initially misunderstood the context there. Harris, at bottom left, is not saying that Carleton last won a playoff game in 1959. That would be inaccurate, the team was winless that year. 

Rather, Harris is stating that he's not aware of a playoff victory from that starting point. Nor should he be, there weren't any.

So I looked at prior years. I still came up empty. It appears, then, that the Ravens literally did not win a playoff game in the first 50 years of their existence. Wikipedia, for what it's worth, appears to support this.

Everyone in Ottawa and the surrounding areas had Ravens fever as the Carleton team headed to Calgary to face the Dinosaurs in the Western Bowl (Vanier Cup semi-final). In -32C weather, the Ravens season came to an end with a 56-14 win for the Calgary Dinosaurs. However, all was not lost - the Ravens enjoyed the best season in the history of the club. They were the first to win a playoff game as well as a league championship, and the first to enter the Final Four.

I guess that never jumped out at me before, even as I (sporadically, in my defense) recorded their results one season at a time. Sure, they weren't always great. They weren't always putrid, either. They had the occasional burst of competence interspersed in there.

Unless I'm mistaken then, Carleton won their first playoff game in 1985 and their last in 1986. But that last one was against uOttawa so if any Ravens fans get chirped about this fact, it'll likely be by a Gee-Gees supporter and you have this to throw back at them.

"Carleton Ravens to Launch National Search for New Football Coach"

Can't say I saw that one coming. 

The Carleton University Department of Recreation and Athletics is launching a national search for a new Raven’s football head coach.

“We are thankful to Steve Sumarah for the role he played in bringing our football program back,” said Jennifer Brenning, Assistant Vice President of Recreation and Athletics. “Steve was instrumental in leading the successful return of the rebranded Ravens football program in 2013. We have a lot of respect for Steve and what he has achieved as a well-regarded member of the university sport community in Canada. We thank him for his contributions to the program over the past ten years and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

Until a new head coach is hired, the athletics department will work with the assistant coaching staff to continue to deliver a high-quality program and to support the student athletes.

He has a regular season record of 29-33 at the school and 3-5 in the playoffs. 

The team was knocked out of the playoffs on November 6th so I can't help but find the timing and suddenness of this announcement a little suspect.

Sept 1st, 2014: Carleton 33 @ Waterloo 14

With the two eras of Carleton teams now having separate pages, I thought I'd add some of the results for the current incarnation.

I added 2014's. This includes a victory in the first game of the season which was also the team's first since its return. That's certainly noteworthy so here's a partial recap of it, from the September 2nd, 2014, edition of The Record. Full version here.

Waterloo Warriors defender Matt Macera can't bring down Carleton Ravens Tunde Adeleke in the second half of Waterloo's loss last week  DAVID BEBEE / KITCHENER STAFF GRMP

The Ravens — yanked out of mothballs last season following 15 years in the cedar chest — survived the 18 penalties called against them for 220 yards on Monday.

But Carleton wasn't about to quibble with the outcome. With their million-dollar budget and roster of young game-breakers, the Ravens will use Monday's triumph as a stepping stone on the fast-track to respectability.

...

The Warriors, tagged with 14 penalties of their own, were more concerned about their lack of execution when it mattered.

Waterloo's first drive, a 10-play, 50-yard excursion ended abruptly on Carleton's 10-yard line when Warriors pivot Jamie Cook lobbed an interception to Justin Howell.

...

Ravens running back Jahvari Bennett scampered for 120 yards on Monday.

Carleton quarterback Jesse Mills threw two touchdown passes on the day, including a 39-yard strike to Andrew Ellis late in the first quarter to give the visitors a 10-0 cushion before 1,955 fans.

The Ravens built a 12-1 lead before Warriors linebacker/tight end Brendan Conway hauled in a four-yard TD pass from Cook for Waterloo's only touchdown.

Carleton conceded a safety late in the half and took a 12-11 lead into the locker-room at the break.

But the hosts wilted badly in the second half, scoring once, a Caleb Girard 16-yard field goal.

Eh eh eh! Make sure to mention that million-dollar budget! 😆

Another standout: Nate Hamlin had eight solo tackles. It's interesting to look back and see three defensive backs with heavy contributions in this game, arguably quite pivotal to the team's fortunes, go on to have pro careers in Hamlin (BC Lions), Adeleke (Calgary, Hamilton) and our very own Justin Howell.

RB Marley Patterson caught Mills' other touchdown pass. It was his only catch of the day, going for ten yards, but he also contributed an additional 57 yards on the ground on eight carries.