Know your enemy: Guelph Gryphons
Homecoming is a celebration, and for the elite Ontario University Athletics football programs, it is a sign of dominance. The top teams typically schedule one of the bottom feeders to serve as punching bag for four hours, giving the fans lots to cheer about.
2016 should be different, though. McMaster hosts the reigning Yates Cup champion Guelph Gryphons in a key OUA match-up. The Gryphons are going through a major struggle after the departure of important defensive pieces and head coach Stu Lang. They are 2-3, but those two wins come against the Queen’s Gaels and University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Guelph is averaging 33.0 points against, the fifth-worst mark in the league.
The Marauders and Gryphons have a short but significant history. Guelph rose to prominence over the recent years because of a major anonymous investment in the school’s football program. The Globe and Mail reports that Stu Lang, the head coach from 2010-2015, donated anonymously to the program. Lang’s family owns CCL Industries, a global shipping company.
In that short time, the Gryphons program was completely revamped. Throughout the 2000s, Guelph was an also-ran; they made the playoffs all but two years but only made it past the quarterfinals once. Not bad, but nothing worth writing home about either. Under Lang, Guelph became a powerhouse, ripping off four consecutive 7-1 seasons from 2012-2015, including a Yates Cup win last year.
The legacy of that era is not going to be their competitiveness. It can’t be; McMaster and Western won more OUA championships and Mac made it to the Vanier three times. If anything, that era will be remembered for the bravado in which Guelph did nearly everything.
The program invested millions into Alumni Stadium, renovating a space that needed a facelift. They wore seemingly endless combinations of uniforms and helmets, prompting the OUA to limit teams to three game-day uniforms and two helmets per season. Guelph held some spring training camps in Florida. They have an $8.5 million facility dedicated specifically to football coming in December.
This makes Guelph the perfect rival to Mac. The Marauders have been a successful and consistent team, winning three Yates Cups and making three Vanier Cup finals. They have not been too flashy, they do not play with the same cockiness that Guelph does.
Games over recent years have been physical and competitive. Since 2012, Mac is 4-2, though the last four games have been split 2-2. McMaster is only +2 in point differential in those four games.
In 2010, Mac punted up seven with seconds left in the game, but kicker Tyler Crapigna took a late hit and broke his leg. In 2012, Mac beat Guelph in the Yates Cup final and drank Gryphon Gold beer after the win.
The 2014 opener at Ron Joyce Stadium was a scorcher, and it led to some tempers on the field. When Mac attempted a quarterback sneak on third-and-short, a Guelph player skirted around the pile and yanked on the leg of QB Marshall Ferguson to stop him from moving forward. The play was met with penalty flags and a handful of maroon jerseys, causing a quick skirmish.
When Guelph won the Yates Cup in 2015, the Gryphons yelled out a McMaster chant, the same one the Marauders performed when they beat Guelph in 2014.
The 2016 Homecoming game provides the Marauders with an opportunity to reaffirm their position in the OUA hierarchy. Likewise, Guelph will be out to prove that 2015 was not just an anomaly and that they should still be considered Yates Cup threats in 2016.
