Drawing 1,832 spectators to the Varsity Stadium Friday night, the Blues made their fans proud. Despite a 53-25 loss to the Guelph Gryphons, the Blues held on strong, keeping the Gryphons close for most of the game.

Friday’s game stood in stark contrast to the last time the Blues faced the Gryphons—just under a year ago—when the Blues were shut out with an upsetting 30-0 score. The picture didn’t look much brighter after the first two games of the season, with a 36-0 loss against Laurier and a 30-3 loss against Windsor.

In the third game of the season, the Blues really stepped it up.

For the first touchdown of the season, Zac Hord pulled Toronto ahead of the Gryphons after the first quarter, giving the Blues a 7-5 lead. When asked what was different this time, Blues player of the game and quarterback Andrew Gillis said, “We definitely executed today. We had a game plan and we followed through with it.”

The Blues maintained their lead until a field goal by the Gryphons with just under three minutes left in the half put the Blues narrowly behind with a score of 9-7.

Toronto was able to keep up with the offensive surge until the end of the third quarter, when a touchdown by Guelph with one minute left pulled the win farther out of reach, with the Gryphons leading 25-14.

Although the last quarter solidified Guelph’s victory, an impressive touchdown by Toronto was a highlight of the game—scored on an amazing 64-yard pass from back-up quarterback Jansen Shrubb to Jonathan Wright demonstrated the enormous potential of this year’s team.

However, it still wasn’t enough to keep up with the Gryphons. “The big thing is that we have to play four quarters. That’s something we have to work on, just like the coach just said in the lockers,” emphasized Gillis. “We have to stay in the game for 60 minutes and we can’t take any time off.”

Describing a lack of confidence as the team’s biggest challenge, Gillis asserted that a Blues victory could really give them the boost they need. “[The team] is still young, so we have a lot of potential.”

Despite a decisive loss, it is undeniable that there was an air of excitement in the stands from Toronto fans. Three games into the season, the Blues have shown that things are going to be different this year.

“Anything could happen,” said Gillis, looking forward to next Friday’s home game when U of T takes on the Ottawa Gee-Gees.