The McMaster Marauders came up just short in a well-fought loss against a very talented York Lions roster featuring their ex-quarterback and wide receiver, Keagan Hall and Nicholas Adair. The score, 31-24, says it all, as this was a closely contested game all the way until the final minutes.
The Marauders' first points came during the first quarter after a bruising run from Micah Duchene set up 2024 First-Team All-Canadian, Michael Horvat, in a great spot to kick the game's opening points for an inaugural 3-0 lead.
From there, the Lions came out hot. Quarterback, Keagan Hall, resplendent in new colours, led a pair of touchdown drives that ended in scores to former CJFL standout C.J. Vincent to retake the lead at 14-3.
With time winding down until halftime, it was McMaster's turn to answer. Defensive back Isaiah Shields secured York's kick and returned the ball all the way to York's five-yard line.
In his first U SPORTS start, Mac quarterback Luke Thalman was looking poised and comfortable, delivering a superb strike to Everett Reid on a short out route in the end zone to secure the first Marauder touchdown of the day and cut the lead to 14-10 after an extra-point from Horvat.
Hall was determined to get more points before halftime and led his team successfully into field goal range on the back of completions to Avery Ford, C.J. Vincent, and Adair. Nathan Walker kicked to score the closing points of the first half and extended the Lions' lead to 17-10 at the half.
After a quick two-and-out for the Lions to open the third, they punted back to McMaster and into the hands of defensive back Sean Underhill. Underhill returned the punt 60 yards along his own sideline to put the Marauders back into scoring position deep in York territory.
Underhill's fantastic return set up Thalman and the offence perfectly as he was able to deliver his first of two touchdown passes to the reigning Norm Marshall Rookie of the Year, Jackson Taylor.
Horvat would kick another extra point to tie the game at 17 all before the end of the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions mounted another touchdown drive, but this time, it came with some controversy. The Lions reached the goal line on the back of some nice tosses to Adair and a beautiful back-shoulder throw and catch from Hall to Ford.
Situated on the goal line with the score tied at 17, Hall took the snap and tried to sneak the ball over the scrum, but at some point, he had the ball come out of his hands either slightly before or after he broke the plane of the goal line.
Regardless, it was ruled a Lion's touchdown, and they extended the lead to 24-17 in the fourth after they converted an extra point.
With just under seven minutes left to go, Thalman connected with Taylor again to even up the game at 24-24; however, York answered right back with Hall's second rushing score of the day to make it 31-24 for the Lions with just two minutes to go.
McMaster tried to lead another scoring drive to even things up, but could not punch it in, even with backup quarterback Lucas Barresi setting himself up at the York one-yard line to run it in on third down with under a minute to go.
Hall would just run out the clock in victory formation for York's first season-opening win in nine years and their first win over McMaster since the 1997 season.
Although they came up short, there were still some positives to take away from McMaster's effort. York is a very talented team that has spent the entire offseason loading up for this year, which is why it is not a massive surprise that they came out this hot in the first game of 2025. One thing to keep in mind was the absence of one of Mac's team captains, receiver Aidan Nemeth.
The Marauder offence looked efficient, and the defence, even though they gave up 30-plus points, still held down firmly in certain instances. Next Saturday, McMaster has their home opener against the Queen's Gaels at 1:00 PM EST.
If they can upset a team that just took Western to the brink in four overtimes, then they will start to turn some heads, certainly.
York's next matchup comes on the same day, at 4:00 PM EST on the road against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, who sit at 1-0 after defeating Waterloo 27-12 in their first game. They will enter as underdogs but have a good shot to knock off a playoff team from last year early.
Top performers from the game
QB - Luke Thalman, McMaster: Luke Thalman was great in McMaster's week one loss to York. Throwing for 272 yards, three touchdowns, and completing 75.0% of his passes, he actually outperformed his former teammate and York quarterback Keagan Hall in every statistical category except for passing yardage.
WR - C.J. Vincent, York: A former Regina Ram and Westshore Rebel of the CJFL, Vincent was super dependable for Hall in his first York start, catching eight passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
DB - Isaiah Shields, McMaster: The freakish Shields recorded a nation-leading 11 tackles in the Marauders' loss to York in week one. He also returned two kicks for 60 yards, including one that brought Mac all the way to York's five-yard line.
RB - Greg Sealy, York: Splitting a few carries with Melchis Ilunga, Sealy ran ten times for a hard 56 yards, of which every bit he earned against a Marauder defence that was not letting anything up easily.