Gryphons make it a happy Homecoming

Receiver Vyshonne Janusas of the Guelph Gryphons hasn’t had much to show for the work he’s put in this year.

Saturday during Guelph’s Homecoming Game against the Waterloo Warriors in front of a crowd of 8,500 at Alumni Stadium, a 109-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Janusas in the fourth quarter put the icing on a 42-25 victory for the Gryphons.

However, he almost didn’t make it to the end zone as he stumbled a little midway through the run.

“At one point I did, yes, but I kept my balance, kept my feet, and just kept going,” Janusas said. “I knew I had to get in there.”

While he was also running out of gas near the end of the run, he had his teammates there to support him.

“When your guys in front of you are doing their jobs, they're setting up their blocks, it only it makes it 10 times easier,” he said. “All I have to do is just run. That's it.”

Janusas also had a game-high six receptions for 102 yards for the hosts.

“I can't give him enough credit,” Gryphon head coach Mark Surya said. “All year he's been one of our best receivers although the production hasn't shown it until the last two games. He hasn't done anything but work his rear off and did the best he can. So I have to give it to him. He's a selfless team player and because of that he showed up today and did a great job.

The touchdown for Janusas was his second of the year and second in two games as his first of the campaign came a week earlier in the 24-18 loss to the Queen’s Gaels at Kingston.

While the Gryphons stumbled in the first half, they really had to take the blame for that as they took a couple of roughing-the-passer penalties, had a poor punt and also fumbled the ball away.

“I think it was the worst first half we've play all year,” Surya said. “But I just talked to the guys (at halftime) and I said, 'It's not always going to go your way. So how you respond to adversity, how you play when we're not doing the best, how we look at things, that's the most important thing.' So really proud of the guys for battling the second half.”

“We started off very slow, very sluggish at first,” Janusas said. “I think we lacked a little bit of confidence, but then we came in at halftime, Coach gave us great speech and had us settle down and calm down, and had us realize that we just needed to play our game. That's all that it was. We didn't need to over-complicate things or anything like that. It was just, let's take a few steps back, play our game, and move forward.

Willem Arseneau had two touchdowns for the Gryphons as he scored on a 14-yard pass from Marshall McCray and on a 27-yard pass from Tristan Aboud. Jordan Buick caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Aboud. Laurent Paquin grabbed a one-yard touchdown pass from McCray. Benjamin Lane kicked a 15-yard field goal and five converts and the Gryphons also scored two team safeties.

For Waterloo, Evan Basalyga caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Nolan Kaban, Logan Heroux caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Kaban and Anthony Miller scored a touchdown on a one-yard run. Cole Crossett booted a 46-yard field goal and three converts while Warriors also had a team safety.

The Gryphons had 436 yards of total offence, 266 passing, while Waterloo had 357 yards of total offence, 249 passing. The biggest difference for the hosts was their 319 yards on returns while the Warriors managed 85.

While Guelph had 11 penalties for a loss of 115 yards, most of that came in the first half. Waterloo had nine penalties for 141 yards.

Laurier Golden Hawks and Windsor Lancers are tied for first with five wins in as many outings. The Western Mustangs are third at 4-1 while the Gryphons and Queen’s are tied for fourth at 4-2. Waterloo has lost all five games it’s played.

The Gryphons, who are tied for fourth in the league with four wins and two losses, have two games remaining on their regular-season schedule as they’re to host the Windsor Lancers next Saturday and play the York Lions at York on the Friday night of the Thanksgiving weekend.

While the teams that finish first and second get byes in the opening round of the playoffs, the teams that finish third and fourth host playoff games.

“A home game would mean a lot, honestly,” Janusas said. “I think the fans would enjoy that. I know most of the players that are not dressing or just any of the alumni that want to come out, they'd enjoy that. So it's always something to look forward to. All we have to do is just focus on the next week and the next opponent, and I think we can do that.”

The Gryphons also have a bye on the final week of the league’s regular season, something that could pay dividends in the playoffs.

“I think that's going to help us a ton,” Janusas said of the last-week bye. “It's better rather than having it sometime during the middle of the season because now we get that extra week going into playoffs to prepare, and we'll obviously know our opponent prior to, so have a couple of weeks to get some film on them.”

“It's huge,” Surya said. “It looks great. You know, going into playoffs, we get a bye and hopefully we continue this winning streak and keep it going. It'll be a major benefit for the health of our team if we go deep in the playoffs.”