A Guelph Gryphons comeback of epic proportions fell just short Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
More precisely, it drifted just left.
Trailing 33-7 early in the third quarter to the Queen's Golden Gaels before a near sold out Homecoming crowd at Alumni Stadium, the Gryphons scored 24 unanswered points and had a chance to likely win it with 12 seconds left in regulation.
But a 32-yard field goal attempt by Gabe Ferraro went wide of the left upright for a single point and Queen's prevailed 33-32."That as a tough one," coach Todd Galloway said.
"I'm very proud of the heart our guys showed, especially in the second half, but we dug ourselves a hole. We almost came out of it," Galloway said.
The loss sinks Guelph to 2-3 on the season and in eighth place in the OUA standings. Only six teams make the playoffs.
"There's a lot of hard fought games going on in the OUA right now and there's still a lot to be determined," Galloway said.
"We're going to get over this one and get ready for the big game we have next week."
Guelph plays Laurier in Waterloo on Saturday.
Queen's looked in complete control in the first half, running and passing at will against a Gryphons defence that spent far too long on the field thanks to an offence that couldn't get anything going for the home side.
Penalties and two turnovers didn't help the cause.
The Gaels (3-2) scored three touchdowns on short runs and Nate Hobbs threw for another.
Quite frankly, it looked like the rout was on.
But the tide turned quickly as Guelph quarterback Theo Landers started lighting up the Queen's secondary, hitting receivers Kade Belyk, Zeph Fraser and Kian Schaffer-Baker for touchdown strikes.
Landers, who finished with 318 yards passing, had earlier ran one in himself.
"That's what swung the momentum in the second half. The offence came together and started producing and it gave the defence a break and allowed them to fly around a bit more and start making some plays," Galloway said.
On a final drive the Gryphons marched the ball 35 yards down the field to give their all-star kicker a good chance to put them up with just seconds remaining. The snap looked good, but Ferraro drove it just wide.
He was in tears after the game.
Guelph travels to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday.
