The last time the Queen’s Gaels appeared in the Mitchell Bowl, a pair of locals played major roles in the outcome.
All-Star defensive back Jimmy Allin, a graduate of Quinte Secondary School, and defensive co-ordinator Pat Tracey, a Centennial grad, both helped the underdog Gaels knock off the heavily-favoured Laval Rouge et Or 33-30 in a thrilling Canadian university football semi-final 16 years ago at Richardson Stadium that catapulted Queen’s into the Vanier Cup. Playing a week later in the national final at Quebec City, the fourth-ranked Gaels won there too, defeating the No. 2 Calgary Dinosaurs 33-31 in an equally stunning contest that saw the Kingston crew overcome an 18-point halftime deficit.
Queen’s returns to the Mitchell Bowl this weekend in Saskatoon for the first time since their championship 2009 season. Allin is now a doctor in Australia and Tracey patrols the sidelines at UBC as a Thunderbirds assistant coach.
Tracey is deservedly in the Belleville Sports Hall of Fame. Allin should be.
A key play in the 2009 Mitchell Bowl occurred when Allin, a cat-quick and dangerously elusive kick returner during his standout career at Queen’s, gathered in a missed field goal attempt by Laval. Safely securing the ball and heading immediately and rapidly upfield, Allin scampered for a record 120 yards and a touchdown. It was his fifth kick return major of the season.
“If there was a back-breaker play, that was it,” said Queen’s head coach Pat Sheahan during the post-game media scrum.
As for the Queen’s defence, Tracey’s squad also made its mark. Facing a Laval attack that could be downright deadly, Tracey and his staff crafted a game plan that saw Gaels defenders pile up a total of eight quarterback sacks.
“The defence won it in the second half,” said Sheahan.
Like the 2009 Gaels, this year’s version have been equally upset-minded. Ranked eighth in Canada, Queen’s shocked the No. 1 and previously undefeated Laurier Golden Hawks 30-27 in the Yates Cup Ontario final held last weekend in Waterloo.
This weekend, in the Mitchell Bowl, they face a Saskatchewan Huskies team seeded fourth in the nation. In an intra-provincial slugging match for the Hardy Trophy last weekend, the Huskies edged the arch-rival Regina Rams 25-24.
Meanwhile, the No. 5 Montreal Carabins, after upsetting defending Vanier Cup champion Laval 31-29 in last weekend’s Jacques Dussault Cup, face the No. 6 St. Mary’s Huskies in the Uteck Bowl in Halifax this weekend.
Bowl winners clash in the Vanier Cup championship game on Nov. 22 at Mosaic Field in Regina.
If the current Queen’s club can muster up any of that 2009 Mitchell Bowl mojo, they just might be there.
NEED TO KNOW: For the second year in a row, Tracey’s UBC team lost to Saskatchewan in the Canada West semi-finals after going to the 2023 Vanier Cup in Kingston and losing 16-9 to Montreal.
TI-CAT DROUGHT DRAGS ON
It’s 26 years and counting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who have the dubious distinction of owning the longest current Grey Cup drought in the CFL.
Hamilton last hoisted the hardware in 1999 with a 32-21 Grey Cup victory over the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place in Vancouver. Since then, every other CFL club has captured the league championship at least once, led by the Toronto Argonauts with five.
Argos are followed by Calgary and Montreal, four each; BC and Edmonton, three each; Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, two each; and Ottawa, one. (NOTE: The 2020 Grey Cup game was scrubbed due to the COVID pandemic.)
This year Hamilton’s heartbreaking loss in the Eastern semi-final was a particularly tough one to swallow for the Ti-Cats and their supporters as the Steel City squad dropped a 19-16 decision to the Montreal Alouettes on a last-second field goal.
Als meet the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 112th Grey Cup game Sunday in Winnipeg. Riders are favoured.
NEED TO KNOW: Montreal last won the Grey Cup in 2023; Saskatchewan in 2013.
