The York Lions football team traveled to the nation's capital on Saturday and dropped a hard-fought loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gee's by a final score of 42-16. The Gee-Gee's, who were an honourable mention in this week's national rankings, improve their record to 3-1 on the season, while the Lions fall to 1-4 with the loss.
 
The Gee-Gee's jumped out to an early led on their first drive of the game. A breakdown in coverage in the York secondary led to Gee-Gee's quarterback Sawyer Buettner finding receiver Kalem Beaver in the open field for a 52-yard touchdown pass for the opening score of the game.
 
York rebounded quickly with a 32-yard field goal by kicker Dante Mastrogiuseppe on their next possession to cut into the Gee-Gee's lead. The Lions jumped out in front later in the quarter on a solid drive led by Lions quarterback Brett Hunchak. The Lions all-time passing leader found rookie Derek Williams twice on the drive for the first two catches of his Lions career. Hunchak then completed the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to his brother Colton Hunchak to give the Lions a 10-7 lead.
 
The lead was short-lived however as a pick-six by Gee-Gee's defensive back Jamie Harry on the Lions next possession put the Gee-Gee's on top 14-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Gee-Gee's defense, who were ranked third in the OUA in points per game allowed heading into the game, gave Hunchak fits in the secondary all day long as they intercepted the quarterback two more times in the first half.
 
The Gee-Gee's held a 24-13 lead late in the first-half when defensive lineman Tevin McCarty provided the visiting team with a spark just before half-time. McCarty chased down Buettner in the Gee-Gee's back-field, sacking the quarterback and recovering his own forced fumble on the play. A Mastrogiuseppe field goal in the final seconds of the half put the Lions down by one score, 24-16 at the mid-way point of the game.
 
Ottawa came out strong in the second-half extending their lead on a 61-yard touchdown pass to Dylan St. Pierre, followed by an unlucky interception return for a touchdown by Cody Baranyk on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. Linebacker Damian Jamieson did his part to keep the Lions in the game by blocking two extra point attempts in a row to keep the lead at 36-16. But the Lions weren't able to crack the stout Ottawa defense in the second-half and the Gee-Gee's added two more field goals in the fourth quarter to cap the score at 42-16.
 
Colton Hunchak had a big day for the Lions, catching 11 passes for 126 yards to go along with his touchdown catch. Lions running back Kayden Johnson also carried the ball 14 times for 52 yards, and on the defensive side of the field defensive back Kadeem Thomas led the team with six tackles. Mastrogiuseppe was three for three on field goal attempts converting kicks from 32, 19 and 24 yards.
 
After two straight weeks on the road the Lions will return home next weekend to take on the Waterloo Warriors at Alumni Field for their annual Homecoming game. Kick-off is set for 5pm.