RAVENS TAKING AIM AT FOOTBALL GOLIATHS AS MUSTANGS RIDE IN
Defending Vanier Cup champions offer imposing test in Carleton’s season opener
Two years ago, the Carleton Ravens pulled off a stunning upset, beating the Western Mustangs 38-31 in an OUA football regularseason game.
It’ll take that same kind of effort — and it would be even more of an upset — for the Ravens to knock off the Mustangs in their season-opener Sunday at MNP Park (1 p.m.).
Yep, the Mustangs will again be very good. Last year, they put the hammer down on the Ravens 51-14.
Can the Ravens hang with a Western team that won the Vanier Cup, Canadian college football’s national championship, in 2017?
“We’re big underdogs,” said Michael Arruda, who is heading into his second season as the team’s starting quarterback. “But it’s athlete against athlete. Everybody’s human; we bleed the same colour. They won the national championship, but they lost some key guys on offence. If we do our jobs, we’ll be fine.”
“A lot of teams are underestimating us,” said linebacker Jack Cassar. “We’re working hard. We’re ready to play Western, we want to start 1-0. We need to remind ourselves that we can play with the Westerns and Lauriers.”
“We have to believe,” said Ravens coach Steve Sumarah. “We go to Western and we don’t play well, but we beat them at home. I’m hoping we’re going to feed off that. We’ve talked about simple things — compete, be accountable and get better. If we can stay the course, as they say, the score will take care of itself.
“Western is coming off an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime type of year. Our job is to take it play by play. If we can win a couple of plays, get some things going, I like our chances. Our guys are going to go out and compete, for sure.”
Other than the Western blowout, it was a season of near misses for Carleton, which finished 3-5 and missed the playoffs in 2017. The Ravens lost games by two, three and five points.
“The biggest difference is the unity,” said Sumarah. “I’ve been very impressed with the way they’ve bonded and formed a tight-knit group. You can scheme up the X’s and O’s all you want, but the guys have to believe in each other and believe in what you’re doing, and I really feel that’s happening.”
Huge for the team will be the year of experience Arruda now has under his belt.
“He kind of got thrown into a tough situation last year,” said Sumarah. “He did pretty well when you look at his stats. You can see how he’s progressed since then — he understands the reads, he understands a bit more what we’re trying to do. And there’s maturity; he’s really taken on a leadership role now that he feels this is his job and his team.”
“Playing quarterback, it’s all confidence,” said Arruda. “Last year, I was just learning the playbook. Me and the offensive co-ordinator (JP Asselin) were still trying to figure each other out. Right now, we’re really connecting. I know what he wants, I know what I want.
“Last year, we had all fifth-year receivers so I was trying to get on their level because they knew everything. That was the most stressful part. I realized I was bringing them back a bit with the playbook.”
Also huge will be running back Nathan Carter, who rushed for 1,100 yards and six touchdowns a year ago.
“Having Nathan back is obviously a huge benefit,” said Sumarah. “It’s kind of the first time since we’ve been here that we’ve been able to repeat running backs — have the same guy for two years.”
While there’s plenty of talent on offence, the defence, with new co-ordinator Paul Eddy SaintVilien, could take a step ahead.
Said Sumarah: “The defence will be fast; that’s one of the things we did recruiting the past couple of years. In some ways, we’ve made things simple, in other ways we’ve made things more complicated for opposing teams. Teams will have to worry about our speed and they’re going to have to worry about pressure we bring.”
Last weekend, the Ravens tuned up with a pre-season game against the University of Montreal, losing 24-13.
“When we settled in, physically we matched up well,” said Sumarah. “Last year, we gave a few games away; we can’t afford to do that, the conference is too tight. I feel very good about this group of kids.”
“Speed matters, we’ll use that to our advantage this season, especially with some of the big bodies we have in the front seven,” said Cassar.