On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the York University Lions football team hosted their city rivals, the Toronto Varsity Blues, in the 55th annual Red and Blue Bowl at York Lions Stadium.

Both teams came in with a 1-1 record on the season with the hopes of capturing the prized Argo Cup. The Lions in particular looked to see a repeat of their 19-17 victory last year at Varsity Stadium, and improve their all time record of holding the cup to 18-15.

With the Varsity Blues receiving the ball to begin the game, quarterback Scott Barnett provided a couple first downs with short passes, but a penalty and a splitsack from Jaden Dicks and Uzoma Nwabeke forced them to punt, giving York the start  they were looking for on defence.

Keagan Hall and company took over near their own 40 yard line, and worked their way into field goal range, courtesy of a couple completions to Zack Smith. Nathan Walker then made a 34-yard field goal, his career long, to give the Lions a 3-0 lead on their opening drive. With Toronto back with the ball, Barnett threw his first pick of the game, snatched out of the air by rookie halfback Reid Thompson, giving the Lions the ball back at their own 45-yard line.

Although they couldn't do anything with it and were forced to punt and pin the Varsity Blues at their own 10-yard line, the stop gave the defence a huge spark early in the game. They got another stop on their next defensive series, and the offence took over at the York 30-yard line.

Beginning the second quarter in Varsity Blues territory, a touch pass led to a big gain for Avontae McKoy, back after missing last week's game at Ottawa, to get into field goal range. Hall then ran for 10 yards to the Varsity Blues 20, and a huge screen pass to  Avery Ford right after had the Lions knocking on the door. C.J. Vincent then punched in a physical 2-yard run for his fourth touchdown of the year, and the Lions went up 10-0.

However, with their next chance on offence, the Varsity Blues worked their way into field goal range, with a couple of long passes from Barnett. A York roughing the passer penalty then put Toronto in the redzone, and an 11-yard pass to receiver Chris Joseph provided their first touchdown of the game, making it 10-7. The York offence went two and out on their next drive, and punted to give Toronto good field position around the 50-yard line.

Two York penalties and a Barnett run quickly put Toronto in the red zone again, where a 12-yard completion to receiver Jake Oseen suddenly made it a 14-10 game for the visitors. On the next York offensive drive, Hall found Ford again for a huge gain that put the Lions on the Toronto 45-yard line, but a third down try in their territory was turned away, giving the Varsity Blues the ball back with just under two minutes left in the half.

A flurry of quick passes to Oseen and Joseph had them threatening in field goal range, and although the Lions defence was able to prevent another touchdown, kicker Sam Henke converted his first field goal of the game to extend the Varsity Blues' lead. The half ended 17-10 in favour of Toronto, with the Lions hoping to reignite the offence after halftime.

Starting with the ball for the second half, a huge 41-yard connection between Hall and Smith saw York storm into the Blues redzone. However, two incomplete passes forced the Lions to settle for another field goal, converted by Walker, to make it 17-13. Taking over at their 25, passes to Joseph and Oseen again quickly put Toronto in field goal position again. However, Thompson forced and recovered a fumble, coming up with his second takeaway of the game, killing the momentum and giving the Lions the ball back.  

After they stalled on the ensuing drive, the Blues offence got the ball back, and big gains from Joseph and running back Jack Nyrose pushed them into the red zone yet again. However, a sack from Sterling May held them to another Henke field goal, putting Toronto up 20-13. Another offensive stall out from York put the ball right back in Toronto's hands, but another sack from Dicks forced a two and out. The Blues then conceded a safety deep in their own territory rather than kick to Malik Gagne Smith, who was tremendous in the return game all afternoon. That made it 20-15 after three.

York ended up punting deep into Varsity Blues' territory, but Toronto stormed back downfield to the red zone with heavy runs from Nyrose and a pair of passes to Oseen. The Lions defence again bent but didn't break, forcing another Henke field goal, keeping it a one-score game at 23-15.

After the teams traded two-and-outs, York took the ball back at the Toronto 50 after a huge return by Gagne Smith. Seconds later, a 20 yard catch by Vincent, and another huge gain from Smith pushed the Lions inside the  inside the 5.Then, Hall connected with Smith for the touchdown to make it 23-21. A huge  two-point conversion followed to McKoy, a floating pass that allowed him to walk into the end zone untouched, tying the game at 23-23.

With Toronto possessing the ball with just under 3 minutes left in the game, the Lions defence stood stall and gave the offence the opportunity they needed with a stop. York took over at the Varsity Blues' 35 yard line after another huge punt return by the aforementioned Gagne-Smith. A jet sweep to McKoy and an illegal procedure by Toronto helped the Lions keep the ball on the ground and eat up clock, in field goal range. On third down, with 43 seconds left in the game, Walker was sent out, and drove home a 21-yard field goal , giving the Lions the 26-23 lead, as the York faithful in attandance erupted. With their backs against the wall, and no time outs left, but good field position, another huge run from Nyrose put the ball at the Lions 30-yard line with 15 seconds left. After Barnett failed on a pass, there were 2 seconds left on the clock, setting up another Henke field goal attempt. He made no mistake, this time from 33 yards out, and tied it as time ran out, 26-26, stunning the Lions and sending the game into overtime.

York took the ball first in overtime and Hall immediately found Ford and then Vincent over the middle to put make it first and goal from the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Hall took it to the end zone himself, as the crowd rose to their feet yet again. Now up 33-26, all the Lions needed was a stop.

However, it was Nyrose again who led his team down to the Lions 2-yard line, where Chris Joseph hauled in another touchdown to make it a 33-32. In risky fashion, Toronto elected to go for two and win the game outright. Barnett's pass was dropped by a wide open Oseen. As the ball hit the ground, the Lions benches cleared, and celebrations ensued, as York took down their inner-city rivals in a wild 33-32 win, retaining the Argo Cup for the first time since 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD:  

The Lions will enjoy a much-deserved bye week, before hosting the Carleton Ravens in Week 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm on September 20th. You can get your tickets here or watch the game live on OUA.TV.