The York University Lions football team opened the 2019 season with a road defeat at the hands of the Windsor Lancers by a score of 34-17 at Alumni Stadium on Sunday night.
The offence started out slow in the first quarter but the defence came to play early. Rookie
Nathan Brennan had an interception on the first drive of the game and on Windsor's second drive, the Lions pinned them deep and forced a safety for a 2-0 lead. Two drives later, the Lancers seemed to be held to just a field goal but a penalty gave them new life and they capitalized, with Jacob Savoni scoring on a six-yard run for a 7-2 Windsor advantage.
Another Windsor-conceded safety and a field goal by the home team made it 10-4 before the Lions' offence finally woke up. A five-play, 57-yard drive ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from
Brett Hunchak to
Alex Daley for a 10-10 score. The Lancers added another field goal before the end of the quarter and led 13-10 at the half.
A 96-yard punt return by Carson Ouellette early in the second half put the Lancers on York's 10-yard line and Savoni added his second touchdown of the game two plays later. Less than two minutes before the end of the half, a costly mistake gave the Lancers great field position again, this time on the one-yard line, and quarterback Sam Girard ran it in to make the score 27-10 heading into the final frame.
The Lions missed a field goal to start the fourth quarter and then on the ensuing Windsor drive Savoni notched his third touchdown of the game on an 86-yard run to push the lead back up to 34-10.
Hunchak threw his second touchdown pass of the night on the next York drive, a two-yard completion to
Luther Hakunavanhu, and overall the offence moved the ball better down the stretch but could not get any closer.
Hunchak finished 24-of-43 for 325 yards and the two touchdown passes. He completed at least four passes to five different receivers, led by six to
Kadeem Hemmings for an even 100 yards.
Windsor did most of its damage on the ground, with Savoni collecting 179 yards on 14 carries and the three scores. Girard went 18-of-34 for 192 yards and one interception.
The Lions will go for their first win of the season on Labour Day Monday (Sept. 2) when they play their first home game of the year against the Laurier Golden Hawks at Alumni Field. Kick-off is slated for 1pm.
