Football | 9/19/2025 2:00:00 PM
The York University Lions football team has put themselves in a great position at 2-1 heading into their Week 4 bye, and now, the Lions come off the bye to host the Carleton Ravens, looking to even further cement themselves in the OUA postseason picture.
A couple white-knuckle victories, including a thrilling 31-24 overtime win in the Red & Blue Bowl right before the bye, have the Lions sitting fourth in the OUA standings, with still four games remaining on the schedule. This game with Carleton begins a key stretch for the Lions over the next three weeks that will likely go a long way in determining whether the Lions will break their 21-year playoff drought.
The Lions welcome in a Carleton Ravens team that is 1-2 on the year, with their two losses coming in blowouts – both at home. First, the Toronto Varsity Blues beat them 42-23 in Week 1, and last week, the Western Mustangs went into TAAG Park and crushed the Ravens 63-26, setting up this important – and intriguing – matchup.
This game – along with the Week 7 game at Waterloo – will be the two that the Lions will want to win to solidify their playoff position. If they win Saturday, that will move them to 3-1, meaning they can finish no worse than 3-5 if they don't win another game. While that could get them in, winning the Waterloo game as well will put the Lions in a great spot to earn a playoff berth. To take it a step further, a win against one or more of Queen's, Western and Guelph, they would almost certainly be in a position to host an opening-round game.
At the risk of putting the cart before the horse, the game at hand is, of course, the most important one. The Lions – like all teams – need to take care of the task at hand. How they do that is by taking advantage of a Carleton defence that has allowed a ton of points – the most in the nation, in fact – at 39.7. The Lions haven't had trouble scoring, averaging 27 points a game through three games, but they have at times struggled with offensive consistency. If they can keep the pedal to the proverbial metal and minimize offensive droughts, they will be in a position to win – potentially handily.
How handily comes down to the defence, an area that is young – particularly in the secondary – and has been missing key pieces most if not all season. The Ravens can be and explosive offensive team led by quarterback Elijah Barnes, as he showed in the meeting last year between the two teams. However, he has struggled with accuracy this season, completing just 62% of his passes. If the Lions can contain Barnes and make some hay in stopping the run game featuring Keyshawn Reid and Joey Marcotte – as well as potentially Barnes from time to time – the recipe is there for the Lions to win this game going away.
All that said, as the Lions will tell you – and have showed you so far this year – it's not how you win, it's how many. As the season gets deeper and the games get bigger, that adage is proven all the more true. York will look to do so again Saturday and move to 3-1 on the season. Kickoff from York Lions Stadium is set for 1:00 pm.
You can get your tickets to FanFest here, or watch the game live on OUA.tv.
