It was one of those rare games that did not deserve to have a loser. Both sides fought tooth-and-nail until the bitter end, but only one side could come away with a victory.
722 people filled the stands at Varsity Field on Saturday to witness the 35th annual Red and Blue Bowl that pitted two hated rivals against each other. The York Lions were in town for a football game against the Blues that featured action between two struggling clubs.
The Blues were 0-3 on the season, and had trouble competing with the high-octane offence of Laurier, Western and McMaster. All three opponents were able to score over 60 points against the Blues defense and were able to hold U of T to 14 points or less.
York came into this match riding a 55-33 win over the Waterloo Warriors. That improved the team’s record to 1-2-0 on the season, which is exactly how they started off last year. Their two losses were much closer than those suffered by the Blues, as they were defeated 32-14 by Guelph and 27-23 by Ottawa.
Scoring was not a problem for either team on this day. York just ended up putting four more points on the board than the Blues, as they won the game 45-41.
The Lions roared out of the starting blocks, as running back Andre Durie took a handoff 57 yards for a touchdown on York’s first play from the scrimmage. This is the same man who, along with Jesse Lumsden of McMaster, has been destroying defences this season.
Durie finished with three touchdowns and 200 yards rushing against the Blues, to go along with the record-tying six-touchdown performance he had last week against Waterloo.
This could have been a sign that a fourth straight blowout was on the way, but the resilient Blues did not let that happen. Instead, they fought back and put 24 straight points on the board, giving them a 24-7 lead. U of T went into half time with a 27-10 lead, their first of the season.
Two touchdowns highlighted Blues scoring in the first half. The first saw rookie quarterback Mark Stinson run up the gut for a 39-yard touchdown just moments after the Blues defense stopped York on a third-down gamble on their own side of midfield. The second major came on a 66-yard pass reception by receiver Tony Mammoliti, who was able to out-hustle a pair of York endzone defenders.
Cameron Takacs accounted for all the other Blues scoring in the half, hitting four field goals and adding a single point on a punt. His 13 points in the game was his largest total of the season.
Something in the air must have changed at half-time because things took an ugly turn for the worse in the second half. The Lions outscored the Blues 35-14 in the last two quarters to win the football game 45-41.
Everything that could have gone wrong did in the second part of the game. First it was an injury to quarterback Stinson, who was having the game of his career for U of T. Then it was a blocked punt that was returned 66-yards by York’s Patrick Mercer.
The real kicker was a fumble by Stinson on the York goal line late in the fourth quarter that was recovered by the Lions. The score was 38-34 at the time, and a Blues touchdown would have given them the lead. The very next play Durie ran almost the length of the field and set up his third touchdown run by getting the ball to the Blues 3-yard line.
It was too late at that point for U of T to get back in the game and the momentum had swung severely to the side of the Lions. This was by far the Blues best game of the campaign, despite the loss.
The defense came up with important stops at critical points in the game and the offence put together a solid effort, led by Stinson, Mammoliti and running back Marc Gaudette. Stinson threw for three touchdowns, Mammoliti had two TD receptions and Gaudette ran for 134 yards.
Next weekend the Windsor Lancers come to Varsity field for a game at 2 pm on Saturday. The Blues hope to continue the move toward competitiveness going into that contest.
