The York Lions won a thrilling game in front of a full house at Alumni Field on Saturday against the visiting Waterloo Warriors by a final score of 34-32. The game was full of momentum changes and wasn't decided until the final seconds when Lions rookie Matt Dean blocked a field goal attempt by Warriors kicker Caleb Girard to seal the win and send the Homecoming game crowd into a frenzy.
 
"Our kids deserved that win," said Lions head coach Warren Craney. "They played really well, Waterloo is an incredible football team and are really dangerous on offence. I thought our defence played really well and our offense put some points on the board. And at the end we a had first-year kid Matt Dean step up and block that field goal and it was just a tremendous game. I couldn't be more proud of these young men."
 
The Lions got off to a good start to open the game as a 34-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brett Hunchak gave the home team an early 7-0 lead. After a Dante Mastrogiuseppe rouge point made it 8-0, the Warriors responded with an impressive 11-play 75-yard drive to pull within one. Waterloo quarterback Tre Ford found Gordon Lam in the end zone on a 25-yard pass to put the first points on the board for the visiting team.


 
On the Lions next drive Hunchak and wide receiver Eric Kimmerly put on a display as they first hooked up on a key second and long pass that went for 20 yards and a first down, and a few plays later on a 59-yard heave that went for touchdown to make the score 15-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Lions extended their early in the second quarter, when Hunchak found sophomore receiver Luther Hakunavanhu in the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown strike. The fourth-year quarterback followed that with a two-point conversion pass to an open Kimmerly to make the score 23-7.
 
York's defense was on point throughout the first half, coming up with a number of big plays to keep the Waterloo offence in check. Ford, who led the OUA in passing yards and touchdown passes coming into the weekend, was under pressure for much of the first half with Lions defensive end Rossini Sandjong-Djabome leading the way. At one point Sandjong-Djabome had three consecutive plays where he tackled Warriors in the backfield for a loss, the biggest play coming when he chased down Ford for a 20-yard loss on a sack.
 
The Warriors offense found their footing near the end of the first-half with Ford finding Lam on a 39-yard pass and Tyler Ternowski a few plays later in the end zone on a 34-yard pass.
 
The Lions took a 26-14 lead into halftime but the Warriors came out strong with a field goal on their first drive, and pulled within two points later in the third quarter on a Dion Pellerin three-yard touchdown rush. The Lions offense stalled in the third quarter as the Warrior's looked to have the momentum heading into the final frame. Ford looked dangerous throughout the second-half and put the Warriors in front early in the fourth quarter with his second touchdown pass of the game to Lam to give them a 31-26 lead.
 
Down but not out, the Lions bounced back with a nine play 89-yard drive highlighted by big plays from tight end Nikola Kalinic and running back Kayden Johnson. Kalinic caught passes on back-to-back plays to start the drive and Johnson ran over the Warriors defence for 40 yards rushing on the drive to put the Lions deep in Waterloo territory. Hunchak capped the drive by finding his brother Colton Hunchak on a five-yard touchdown pass to put the Lions back on top. A two-point conversion on a Hunchak pass to Johnson put the Lions ahead 34-31 with seven minutes left.
 
A missed Waterloo field goal gave them a single point with five minutes left to make the score 34-32. The Lions had the ball with a just over a minute left in the game but were forced to punt giving the visitors one last chance at victory. Ford led the Warriors down the field on a 40-yard pass to Lam putting them in field goal range. With ten seconds a low snap delayed Girard for a half a second in getting the field goal attempt off and that was all the Dean needed to reach up and block the potential game winning kick and seal the victory.
 
Hunchak threw for 292 yards on the game and three touchdown passes while also rushing for 81 yards. Johnson had his biggest game of the season netting 85 yards on 11 rushes, and Kimmerly was the top receiver with 97 yards on four catches.
 
Fifth-year senior Rees Paterson had a huge game on defence for the Lions, leading the team with 7.5 tackles and breaking up two passes in the second half. Defensive back Jacob Janke, Sandjong-Djabome and linebacker Ian Lawrence all had strong games as well with six tackles each.
 
With the win the Lions move to 2-4 on the season while the Warriors drop to 3-3. The Lions have a bye next week before returning to action at home on Friday, Oct. 12 against the Carleton Ravens. Kick is set for 1pm at Alumni Field.