PREVIEW: Yates Cup berth on the line for football in Kingston

A spot in the Yates Cup is on the line Saturday afternoon in Kingston, as the Gee-Gees and Queen's Gaels take to the gridiron for the OUA semi-final at Richardson Stadium. 

Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. and the game will be streamed on OUA.tv. 

This represents the third meeting between the teams this season. Although the Gee-Gees dropped the first two confrontations, all would be forgotten if Ottawa could pull off the upset against the undefeated Gaels. 

Queen's have proven to be the class of the OUA East this season, going a perfect 6-0 in the regular season and thrashing the Carleton Ravens 41-14 in the quarterfinals. The Gaels have bested their opposition by double digits in each game this season, save for a 14-8 victory over Guelph on Oct. 8. 

The matchups between Ottawa and Queen's were decided by 30-7 and 30-12 scores. However, the score of the teams' second meeting flattered the Gaels, as they were outgained by Ottawa and took advantage of three consecutive Gee-Gees turnovers deep in their own territory. 

Ottawa is heading into the matchup in fine form, having turned in their best showing of the season in a 27-17 win over Toronto – the program's first playoff triumph since 2014. J-P Cimankinda did some serious damage on the ground, rushing for over 100 yards and a touchdown. A Chris Ciguineau pick-six sealed the Gee-Gees victory. 

Saturday will feature an outstanding running back duel between Cimankinda and the Gaels Rasheed Tucker. Cimankinda has run for over 100 yards four times this season, while Tucker led the conference in rushing yards during the regular season while scoring 10 touchdowns. 

Tucker had success against Ottawa in their two games this season, accumulating 248 rushing yards on 41 attempts with three touchdowns. 

The quarterback matchup will also bring plenty of intrigue. Ottawa's Ben Maracle ranks second in passing yards this season, while Queen's James Keenan has a 63.2 completion percentage with just four interceptions.

The winner of the semi-final will advance to the Yates Cup to faceoff with the winner of the Western-Guelph semi-final, which also takes place on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.