The uOttawa Gee-Gees defeated the Carleton Ravens 35-32 in the Panda Game football match on Sunday.
Carleton fell just short of a comeback as kicker Ethan Farahani missed a 49-yard kick in his first game as a Raven. The result puts the Ravens at a five-game losing streak this season and brought the Gee-Gees season to 4-2.
Going into Sunday’s sold-out game, the Ravens were the returning champions after defeating the Gee-Gees 20-14 last fall.
More than 24,000 fans filled TD Place arena in Lansdowne for the 57th Panda Game. The event is consistently the most attended university football game in the country.
Ottawa police and bylaw officers were out in full force this weekend, with an increased presence on Bank Street, TD Place, and areas surrounding the venue. No major incidents were reported.
Fireworks crackled as the Gee-Gees’ Zachary Copeland kicked off the game with a field goal in the first quarter, putting uOttawa in an early lead. Carleton put an end to uOttawa’s lead with Zacharie Georges putting the Ravens on the scoreboard late in the first quarter.
In the final seconds of the first quarter, Carleton increased their lead as the Ravens’ Joshua Awoodzie scored a 27-yard touchdown after intercepting a pass by uOttawa quarterback Josh Janssen.
Early in the second quarter, the Gee-Gees regained their lead, taking the score to 17-14 with a touchdown by Devaughn Blackwood. Shortly after, Farahani tied the score with a 37-yard field goal.
Blackwood took a short pass in the final seconds of the second quarter, pushing the Gee-Gees back into the lead at 24-17 just before half-time.
In the third quarter, uOttawa shot ahead even more, increasing their lead by 15 points. A touchdown by Souleymane Camara in the quarter’s final seconds put the score at 32-17.
The third quarter saw Carleton stage a 15-point comeback, which fell just short as the last-minute field goal by Farahani missed its target.
The Gee-Gees currently sit at sixth place in the 11-team Ontario University Athletics (OUA) football standings, with the Ravens sitting in 10th place.
