Photos of the Queen's Golden Gaels - Toronto Varsity Blues season opener at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, ON on August 27, 2022.

All photos on this site are Copyright © Jeff Chan, and may be used for personal non-commercial applications by Queen's Football, so long as photo credits are shown or the photos are otherwise attributed to Jeff Chan.

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QUEEN'S 47, TORONTO 25
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QUEEN'S FOOTBALL RUSHES FOR MORE THAN 300 YARDS IN SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER TORONTO
Queen's Sports Information

Running backs Anthony Soles and Jaden Blackman led a potent rushing attack that finished with 343 yards on the ground in Queen's Football's 47-25 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday at Richardson Stadium.

Soles finished the game with 10 carries for 87 yards and a game-high two touchdowns while Blackman finished with a game-high 139 yards on 12 carries in the Gaels' season-opening win. Blackman, playing his first game with Queen's, also scored on a highlight reel 115-yard return on a missed Toronto field goal attempt.

"We had a nice steady flow, running backs going in and pounding it," said Soles after the game. "Everyone had a responsibility, it wasn't just one guy, and everyone did a great job."

"Watch out for Queen's running backs. Everyone's fresh and looking good out there."

"The depth chart of our running backs is probably the best depth chart in Canada," said Blackman. "We tell ourselves that every day, we know what we can be. There's no limit to what our running backs can do, so I think we're going to run through, keep fresh legs, and keep going."

The running backs also credited the work of their offensive line for their big performance against Toronto.

"My offensive line is going to be the best offensive line in the country," said Blackman. "They are amazing, they work hard."

Quarterback James Keenan also contributed to Queen's strong rushing attack, finishing with 66 yards on three carries and running back Jared Chisari had five carries for 53 yards. Keenan had a strong game through the air as well, finishing 20-25 for 246 yards passing and a touchdown to receiver Josh MacLeod.

MacLeod finished the game with four receptions for 50 yards, while Nathan Falconi led Queen's receivers with six receptions for 80 yards.

"Great to get the win. Really tough opponent, they did a tremendous job. For us, what really held us back from jumping out a little bit more earlier was our discipline and some of the mistakes we were making," said Head Coach Steve Snyder. "But just a really well fought game by both teams and I think it was a good one for the fans, it was exciting."

It was a back-and-forth first half with the Gaels leading 20-18 heading into the third quarter. The Varsity Blues opened the half with a kickoff return touchdown to take a five-point lead, but the Gaels' defence shut Toronto down the rest of the way to preserve the 22-point win.

Liam Sutherland led the way for Queen's defence with five tackles while Tyson Fletcher and Darien Newell finished with one sack each and Ethan Martin and Ashton Miller-Melancon, who led the OUA in interceptions with four last season, recorded their first interceptions of the year in the third quarter.

"Most importantly, we have to stay steady, not get too high or too low after that happened," said Martin about the defence's performance after Toronto opened the second half with a touchdown. "It was a good win but there is still a lot to do."

With the win, the Gaels open the 2022 OUA regular season at 1-0 while their historic rivals, the Varsity Blues, start the season 0-1.

STATS
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Statistics TOR QUE
FIRST DOWNS
Total 17 29
Rushing 6 15
Passing 10 13
Penalty 1 1
RUSHING
Total (Net) 108 343
Attempts 18 32
Avg. Per Rush 6.0 10.7
Rushing TDs 0 3
Yds. Gained 110 348
Yds. Lost 2 5
PASSING
Total (Net) 225 246
Comp.-Att.-Int. 13-27-2 20-26-0
Avg. / Att. 8.3 9.5
Avg. / Comp. 17.3 12.3
TDs 2 1
TOTAL OFFENSE
Yards 325 554
Plays 47 61
Avg. / Play 6.9 9.1
Fumbles - Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties - Yds. 11-102 6-59
PUNTING
Punts - Yds. 7-245 3-96
Avg. / Punt 35.0 32.0
Inside 20 0 0
50+ Yds. 0 0
Touchbacks 0 0
Fair Catch 0 0
KICKOFFS
Total - Yds. 4-263 6-330
Avg. Yds. / Kickoff 65.8 55.0
Touchbacks 1 0
RETURNS
Punt: Total - Yds. - TDs 3-7-0 7-133-1
Punt: Avg. / Return 2.3 19.0
Kickoff: Total - Yds. - TDs 6-171-1 3-68-0
Kickoff: Avg. / Return 28.5 22.7
INT: Total - Yds. - TDs 0-0-0 2-21-0
Fumble: Total - Yds. - TDs 0-0-0 0-0-0
MISCELLANEOUS
Misc. Yards -8 -35
Poss. Time 29:05 30:55
3rd. Down Conv. 1 of 1 0 of 1
Red-Zone: Scores - Chances 3-3 6-7
Sacks: Total - Yds. 3-23 2-8
PAT: Total - Made 3-3 5-5
Field Goals: Total - Made 1-2 4-4


ROSTER
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3 Aidan O'Neal
4 Ethan Martin
5 Liam Sutherland
6 Wells Karabin
7 James Keenan
8 S. Hansen
9 R. Balogun.Jr
10 K. Jean-Baptist
11 Josh Macleod
12 Alex Vreeken
13 Nicodeme Kwemo
14 Jared Siewe
15 Stephane East
16 Nathan Falconi
20 D. Matthews-Rei
21 Eric Colonna
22 Anthony Soles
23 Aidan Vint
24 A. Miller-Melan
26 Keegan Vanek
28 Greg Jones
29 Jared Chisari
33 S. Seunarine
34 Jaden Blackman
35 Sam Csinos
40 Niklas Henning
41 Connor Grant
42 Tyler Mullan
44 Justin Pace
45 Jacob Jefferies
47 Brady Spafford
48 Walter Karabin
49 Jalen Grabell
51 Chase de Vries
53 Van Wishart
55 Steven Kpehe
57 Aayden Callan
59 Ahmad Pottinger
60 Ryan Berta
65 Dawson Waldner
66 Jackson McEwan
70 Evan Floren
73 Chase Clayton
74 Jas Khaira
77 Theo Grant
80 Cedric Smith
83 Richard Burton
84 Austin Daya
88 Liam Silverson
90 Darien Newell
93 Owen Stewart
94 Tyson Fletcher
96 A. Mullins-Gran
98 Eddie Gonzalez
99 Silas Hubert