It was a defensive battle all afternoon on Saturday at Alumni Field as the York University Lions football team was defeated by a score of 27-9 by the No. 5 nationally ranked McMaster Marauders.
The Lions led the Marauders 13-9 heading into the final quarter, but the frame started with the visitors on the goal line and running back Jordan Lyons punched it in from there to take a lead they would not relinquish.
The first quarter was highlighted by an impressive defensive effort by the home squad. On McMaster's first series starting quarterback Andreas Dueck was sacked twice in a row, the first by
Kevin Musai and
Tevin McCarty and the second by
Jacob Janke that resulted in a fumble the Lions recovered. On the Marauders' next series, Dueck was again sacked by Musai again, this time in the end zone to give the home team an early 2-0 lead. Those would be the only points of the first quarter.
Musai had 4.5 tackles in the game, including 1.5 sacks, while among Janke's five tackles was one sack and two tackles for loss and he also had a forced fumble.
McMaster put together a strong drive to start the second, putting three points on the board with a 16-yard field goal by Adam Preocanin. He kicked another one, from 28 yards, in the final minute of the half to take a 6-2 lead at the break.
Mid-way through the third quarter the Lions defence again came up big when
Talik Ehouman picked off an errant Dueck pass and returned it 48 yards to the endzone to give the Lions a 9-6 advantage. It was his second interception of the day and he also led all players with seven tackles.
Tommy Nield completed a 17-yard pass from Dueck in the middle of the fourth to make the score 20-9, and Lyons scored his second of the day with under four minutes remaining to round out the scoring. Dueck finished 23-of-37 for 219 yards, with the one touchdown and no interceptions.
York starting quarterback
Brett Hunchak was 10-of-14 for 95 yards and two interceptions. He went down with an injury early in the second quarter and was replaced by
Noah Craney, who went 8-of-14 for 46 yards.
The Lions fell to 0-4 with the loss while the nationally ranked Marauders improved to 3-1.
The Lions will be right back in action on their home turf next weekend when they return to Alumni Field for the annual Homecoming game beginning at 5pm. The opponent will be the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
