Ravens rookie quarterbacks put into Panda Game’s spotlight

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Welcome to the big stage, Reid Vankoughnett and Tristan Ronaldis.

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One of those Carleton Ravens first-year quarterbacks, neither of whom has taken a picture at the college level, will be at the controls in front of a rowdy and sold-out crowd of 15,000 students at TD Place on Saturday.

Ravens No. 1 quarterback Tanner DeJong suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Saturday’s 30-17 win over York University. Backup Tristan Lefebvre also suffered a shoulder injury, meaning the Ravens are reaching deep down the depth chart for Canada’s signature college football game.

Pressure? What pressure?

“It’s going to be interesting,” Ravens coach Steve Sumarah said, laughing. “Sometimes there are strange stories. It’s like the hockey goalie no one ever heard of gets a shutout … or the goalie no one heard of comes in and it’s 6-0 after the first period.

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Sumarah says both Vankoughnett and Ronaldis were high on the draft lists, but neither could have imagined being in the spotlight so soon.

“We are going to try to find a way to adapt and develop their skill set. We have some speed on the receiver and a good running game. “

The Ravens, 1-1, lead the OUA with 555 yards. Before sustaining his ankle injury, DeJong had completed 34 of 55 passes, including two touchdown passes to Keaton Bruggeling and another to Glodin Mulali. An engineering student who transferred to Carleton after three years with Acadia, Mulali has caught 11 passes for 186 yards in the first two games.

“It’s a bigger league, I have the opportunity to compete at a higher level,” said Mulali, who was overlooked in the CFL draft.

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“If you look at the draft, there were a lot of Division I (NCAA) players chosen, with teams waiting for the players to come back (to Canada). Last year was very, very strange, but I decided to take the option to keep playing. Hopefully more CFL teams will see me. “

As for playing a Panda Game, you are trying not to get overwhelmed by the crowd and the atmosphere.

“It will be the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of,” he said. “There is a lot of excitement around him, but at the end of the day, I’m trying not to think about it and just have fun.”

On the ground, Nathan Carter has rushed for 84 yards in both games so far this season. He only needs 36 more yards to break the Ravens’ all-time rushing record of 2,759, held by Mark Brown since 1988.

For the record, the Gee-Gees have the all-time advantage over the Ravens, going 33-18 in previous Panda Games, including wins in 2018 and 2019.

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