Despite outpacing their opponents in most offensive categories, the York University Lions football team dropped their final regular season game of 2021 to the Toronto Varsity Blues, who pounced on their opportunities on special teams resulting in a 41-7 win over York.
 
Two punt return touchdowns and a blocked punt recovery in the end zone helped do the Lions in on a wet and rainy Saturday afternoon, bringing their final season record to 0-6.
 
As a result of the win, the Blues will vault to second place in the OUA standings and host a playoff game next week for the first time since 1995.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Toronto took the lead early in the game with a 27-yard pass from Toronto quarterback Clay Sequeira to receiver Michael Lehmann, opening the scoring.
• After that game-opening touchdown, the rest of the U of T touchdowns came on special teams plays. An Ethan MacKinnon punt return of 75 yards kicked off the special teams run for Toronto, which ultimately resulted in 34 points.
• York's lone touchdown came off a rush by quarterback Noah Craney, where he took the ball himself from the Toronto one-yard line into the end zone. 

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• York had 287 total yards to Toronto's 203, despite losing the game.
• The two quarterbacks with the highest efficiency rating in the games were both Lions. Brady Crowe came in at 123.7, while starter Craney had 117.5. They bested Sequeira in that category, who registered 117.0. Sequeira had two touchdown passes, though.
• The Lions defence was led by Kwadwo Boahen and Matt Dean, who had seven total tackles each. 

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
 
"It went off the rails pretty quickly today. I felt we had a strong team game plan to attack Toronto and we just weren't able to execute it. Toronto score 41 points, but 34 points are attributed to special teams – one unit on the field – it's very very difficult to win football games that way." – head coach Warren Craney