Queen's, Ottawa set for critical back-to-back clashes ahead of OUA football playoffs

The path to a national championship for every contending U Sports football team in Canada will ultimately run through Richardson Memorial Stadium when Queen's University hosts the Vanier Cup on Nov. 25.

But for the host Gaels and University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Kingston, Ont., stadium will act as an important battleground on Saturday for each team's post-season seeding and the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff picture as a whole.

Locked in a tie for fourth-place in the OUA with identical 4-3 records, the winner of Saturday's clash — to be streamed live at 1 p.m. ET on CBC Sports' YouTube channel — will secure the opportunity to host a quarterfinal playoff match against the losing team from Saturday's regular-season finale.

While Queen's head coach Steve Snyder isn't willing to tip his hand about potentially saving plays for his team's first playoff game in his fourth season behind the bench, the concept of facing the same opponent multiple times in quick succession isn't foreign to him having spent three seasons as offensive coordinator for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Antigonish, N.S.

The recent history between the two teams favours Saturday's home squad, with Queen's winning all four contests since Marcel Bellefeuille took over in 2020 for his second stint as head coach of the Gee-Gees.

The 2000 Vanier Cup winner with Ottawa was not afforded the benefit of home field in either last year's 35-13 OUA semifinal loss to Queen's or the 32-15 OUA East Final loss the year before — an outcome the Gee-Gees will look to flip on Saturday.

The benefit of stealing home field advantage isn't lost on fifth-year Ottawa linebacker Emmanuel Aboagye-Gyan, whose fumble recovery touchdown helped propel the Gee-Gees over the