The York Lions started the 2018 football season with a strong first half but were unable to pick up an opening day victory as they lost to the Queen's Gaels by a score of 42-21 on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.
 
Lions quarterback Brett Hunchak had a solid 2018 debut as he threw for 370 yards on the day along with two touchdowns and one interception. The Lions outpaced the Gaels in total offense netting 454 yards to Queen's 439 and held the lead late in the first half. A late Queen's touchdown gave them a 17-12 lead at the half, and a big fourth quarter that saw them score 22 points ended up being the difference.
 
"I thought we were the better football team in the first half," said head coach Warren Craney. "I thought we dominated with the exception of the last 45 seconds of the second quarter where we made some poor decisions and instead of going into the half up 12-10 we were down 17-12. That said I still thought we were the better team and we just need to build off the way we played in the first half."
 
The Lions controlled the play in the first quarter holding Queen's to three and outs on their first three possessions. After a Daniel Amoako interception found the Lions on the Queen's 19 yard line, York got on the board first with a 32-yard field goal by Lions kicker Dante Mastrogiuseppe with 4:03 left in the first quarter. Queen's then bounced back with a 40-yard field goal of their own from Nick Liberatore before the end the of the quarter.


 
York pulled out in front at the 10:45 mark of the second quarter when Hunchak found wide receiver Luther Hakunavanhu at the right side of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Hakunavanhu stretched out and kept both feet in bounds to make a highlight reel catch for the first touchdown of his OUA career.
 
After a blocked extra point held the Lions to a 9-3 lead, Queen's pulled ahead on a touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Hobbs to receiver Matteo Del Brocco. Mastrogiuseppe put the Lions back out in front 12-10 with his second field goal of the game, before a late touchdown pass by Hobbs to Rudy Uhl gave the Gaels a 17-12 lead going into halftime.
 
After the teams traded field goals in the third quarter, the Queen's offense broke through for 22 points in the fourth quarter to take control of the game. Hobbs hit Jeremy Pendergast for 23-yard touchdown pass at the 9:52 mark to give the Gaels a 27-15 lead. A Jake Puskas 5-yard touchdown run followed by a rouge and a Hobbs one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown gave Queen's 22 points in just under seven minutes of action to put the game out of reach.
 
A late touchdown pass by Hunchak to younger brother Colton Hunchak capped off the scoring for the day for a final score of 42-21 for the Gaels. Fourth-year receiver Hunchak had a solid afternoon for the Lions catching 12 passes for 102 yards while Alex Daley chipped in with six catches for 66 yards. Defensive back Jacob Janke paced the Lions defense with seven tackles and broke up one pass, while fellow defensive back Desi Dixon had five tackles including a thundering hit in the second half that had the Lions crowd on its feet.
 
The Lions next game will take place on Monday Sept. 3 when they travel to Guelph to take on the Gryphons. Kick-off is set for 1pm.