With less than thirty seconds left in Monday’s U of T football season opener at Varsity Centre, Toronto native and first-year kicker Andrew Lomasney made the biggest kick of his young career. His 32-yard field goal gave the Varsity Blues an 18-17 lead over the Waterloo Warriors—their first win since October 13, 2001.
“I’m in shock right now. I don’t even know what to say or do,” said fifth-year and longtime Blues veteran Mark Stinson amidst the jubilant aftermath that saw over 200 students and fans swarm the players in celebration. “All these guys have put in so much work. The guys that have been here for years and the guys that are rookies have put in so much work. They dedicated themselves to change their whole lives for this work, for this moment.”
Toronto had a one-point lead going into half time on the back of a strong defense that held Waterloo scoreless. Yet the Blues failed to convert most of their offensive opportunities, including two missed field goal attempts, preventing them from taking control of a game that they physically dominated.
The second half started badly for the Blues as they quickly fell behind 9-1 to the Warriors in the third quarter, capped by the game’s first touchdown by Waterloo on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Evan Martin. The Blues fought hard as third-year defensive back Matthew Morris (in his first year with the team) made a spectacular 92-yard kick return. Two plays later, Stinson scored a touchdown, keeping the game close.
“[The 92-yard return] is a tribute to [special teams] coach Costello,” said Morris. “The play before I didn’t follow my blocks, he took me back on the sideline and told me to just follow my blocks and they’ll lead the way.”
The Warriors again widened their lead, tacking on an additional point before scoring their second touchdown of the quarter on a 53-yard completion. The team would then take a convincing 17-8 lead to set the game up for the Varsity Blues’ wild comeback in the final quarter.
At 12:21 of the fourth, Blues receiver Drew Meerveld caught a touchdown pass in traffic for 29-yards from veteran quarterback David Hamilton. On the next Blues possession, Hamilton made his longest toss of the night to find Michael Prempeh for the 35-yard completion.
“When we went into the locker room at half-time, we basically said: ‘Look men, this will be the hardest football you will ever play in your life,’” said interim head coach Greg DeLaval. “And it was. [Waterloo] came out, they responded, they made adjustments at half time and they took it to us for awhile. But our guys hung in there, they stuck together, and they came out in the last few minutes of the game.”
With two points down and less than a minute left, the play put the Blues within field-goal range. That was when Lomasney, who had missed both field goal attempts in the first half, became the evening’s hero.
“Anytime you have a young man like Andrew Lomasney, you’ve got to show that you’re confident in him no matter what,” explained DeLaval on the decision to stick with Lomasney on the game’s most critical play. “I told him on the sidelines after he missed the first two, ‘You’ve got to keep kicking, Andrew. Just keep kicking the ball.’ And he did. And he made the one that counts.”
The celebration was well underway as the once stoic home crowd at the Varsity Centre was on their feet counting down the final seconds of the game. Waterloo made a valiant effort, but ran out of time as Toronto held them back for the victory.
The Varsity Blues have won a football game, ending the embarrassment that has plagued the storied football franchise. The win prevented their CIS record-breaking accomplishment in futility from going to 50 straight losses.
“People wrote us out. But we knew in our heart that with our defense, we have what it takes to win, our offense has what it takes to win,” declared Morris.
“We stayed focused on what we needed to do,” said Stinson. “We believed the whole way that we were going to win this game. We believed we were a better team, and I think we showed it today. Waterloo played a great, hard game. But hey, the Blues are bringing tradition back.”
Look for the Blues to try and repeat their success when they travel west to face the Windsor Lancers (1-0) on September 6. Said Coach DeLaval: “Windsor is going to be a very difficult team. Last year they had a lot of injuries. They’re going to be healthier this year and they are going to present a big challenge for us.”
