A record-setting crowd of 4,111 attended the University of Toronto’s football home opener at Varsity Stadium as part of the Frosh Week festivities.
Despite the outpouring of school spirit, the home team fell to their opponents, the Windsor Lancers, 26–17.
The Blues stumbled out of the gate allowing an early touchdown by Lancers receiver Cory Fernandes, and after being caught flat-footed defensively, seemed unable to regain focus. The Lancers added a field goal to finish the first quarter up 10–0.
Early in the second quarter, the Blues conceded another field goal to the away team, and a defensive lapse in their own end zone led to a Lancers safety. In the final two minutes of the half, the Blues failed to get two kick returns out of their own end zone, and were down 17–0 at halftime.
The deficit promptly became 23–0 when Windsor scored two field goals in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, however, the Blues managed to turn the game around. Quarterback Jordan Scheltgen found rookie receiver Alex Pierzchalski in the corner of the end zone on a 28 yard pass, and finally got the Blues on the scoreboard. While the Lancers managed to nab another field goal, the real excitement came when Scheltgen connected with receiver — and UTSU VP Internal — Rolli Adenmosun on a 55 yard pass for a late touchdown.
Although the Blues managed to defend their home turf in a valiant final effort, it wasn’t enough and the game ended with a score of 26–17 for the Lancers.
The loss comes on the heels of a disappointing game in Guelph, where the Blues managed to keep the score close and only lost in the final six seconds, after the Gryphons converted on a field goal attempt.
“[Against Guelph] our defense played well and our special teams played very well,” said Blues head coach Greg DeLaval. “Today, our special teams were off, our defense was off, and our offense wasn’t able to produce many points.”
In the Guelph game, starting quarterback Andrew Gillis threw for an impressive 158 yards and led the team in rushing with 24 more.
In the home opener Gillis was replaced early after throwing for a disappointing 44 yards. His backup, Scheltgen, fared much better, racking up 203 passing yards.
“When we get momentum going, we’re a pretty strong team,” said Scheltgen. “Every week we’re planning to improve and get better. It’s our motto.”
“We’ve got to get back to basics. We’re all responsible. The coaches have got to get better, the players have got to get better, our captain has got to get better. Every aspect of our program has got to get better,” added Coach DeLaval.
