Football | 8/23/2025 7:29:00 PM

The York University Lions football team hosted the McMaster Marauders on Saturday afternoon to kick off the OUA football season, and did so with former star Marauder quarterback Keagan Hall on their side. 

York was looking for revenge after McMaster ended their playoff hopes a season ago with a 24-21 win. 

This time around, however, the Lions came out on top. Despite an up-and-down day from Greg Knox's defence, a goal-line stand in the final minute, as Sena Biya and Karsten Studt held running back Luke Barresi short of the goal line on a third and goal, solidifying the York win. 

While McMaster's defence held York in check for much of the afternoon, the Lions managed some big drives at critical times, highlighted by a pair of Hall rushing touchdowns, as well as a pair of TD passes to C.J. Vincent – a former CJFL all-star making his Lions debut after sitting out the 2024 season. 

McMaster scored first on a field goal to make it 3-0, before the aforementioned Vincent scored twice in a row to give the Lions a 14-3 lead. McMaster responded with a score of their own, courtesy of Everett Reid, to make it 14-10 Lions. The game eventually ended up tied at 17 after McMaster's Jackson Taylor scored one of his two second-half majors early in the third quarter.  

After Hall scored on a ball that popped out after crossing the plain, to make it 24-17, the visitors answered back thanks to another Luke Thalman-to-Taylor connection, Thalman taking over the reins at quarterback for the now-departed Hall. However, the Lions continued the back-and-forth affair with another sustained drive, as Hall capped it off with his second rushing score of the afternoon with just over 2:00 left in the ballgame. 

The Marauders took the ball back and drove the length of the field, setting themselves up with an opportunity to tie it once again. However, after Riley Berfelo held the Marauders out of the end zone on a completion on second down, the Lions made the game-sealing third-down stop, salting away their first win of the season, their first season-opening win in nine years, and their first win over McMaster since 1997. 

On the day, Hall was 29-for-41 for 331 yards and those two touchdowns in his Lions debut. Meanwhile, fellow former Marauder Nicholas Adair pulled in five receptions for 56 yards in his York debut. Meanwhile, last year's U SPORTS-leading tackler Brody Clark made four tackles and blocked a field goal. 

The Lions will now look to improve to 2-0 when they head to the nation's capital to battle the Ottawa Gee-Gees next Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 4:00 pm.