The University of Toronto Varsity Blues claimed their third straight Argo Cup with a 40-3 victory over the York University Lions in the 46^th Red & Blue Bowl under the lights at York Stadium on Friday night (Oct. 2).
 
The Varsity Blues now lead the head-to-head series 29-17 after opening up a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and adding another 11 points in the second to hold a 21-0 advantage at the half.
 
Early in the third quarter the Lions put together a solid drive that appeared to end with a touchdown by Adam Adeboboye (Toronto), but a holding call erased the points and the Lions were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Nick Naylor (Abbotsford, B.C.) that finally put them on the board.
 
That was as close as the Lions would get, however, as the Blues added 10 points in the third and nine more in the fourth to round out the scoring.


 
The star of the game was Toronto running back Alex Malone (Toronto), who rushed for 257 yards on 31 carries. He also added a three-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for the final points of the game.
 
Mistakes cost the Lions throughout the contest. Toronto's first touchdown followed an offside call that gave the Varsity Blues a new set of downs despite York's defence initially stuffing them on a third-down try from the one-yard line, and two more of their touchdowns came on drives that began after fumbles by the Lions.
 
York starting quarterback Brett Hunchak (Calgary) completed just 9-of-21 passes for 84 yards in the first half before being replaced by Eric Kimmerly (Oshawa, Ont.), who finished 8-of-20 for 85 yards and two interceptions.
 
The Lions' best offensive player was rookie running back Jesse Amankwaa (Etobicoke, Ont.), who finished with 85 yards on 17 carries.
 
On defence, rookie linebacker Jakob Butler (Sherwood Park, Alta.) had his best game in the red and white, putting up 10.5 tackles and adding two pass break-ups.
 
Toronto's starting quarterback, Simon Nassar (Toronto) finished 13-of-27 for 108 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Both scoring throws were completed to Rahul Madan (Scarborough, Ont.), who finished with five grabs for 37 yards.
 
The Varsity Blues moved up to a tie for sixth place in the OUA standings with a 2-3 record afer the win, while the Lions fell to 1-5 and are tied for eighth place.
 
Up next for the Lions is a game against the Carleton Ravens on Friday night (Oct. 9) in Ottawa, with kick-off set for 7pm. The Blues, meanwhile, host the No. 3 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs on Thursday night at 7pm at Varsity Centre.