HAMILTON (September, 26, 2015) - The No. 7 McMaster Marauders rolled to their third win of the season rolling over the York Lions 67-10 at a sold-out homecoming at Ron Joyce Stadium.
Asher Hastings of Regina tossed four touchdowns, while receiver Danny Vandervoort of Barrie, Ont. caught two of those touchdowns, as the Marauders improved to 3-1 and moved into a tie for third place in the OUA football standings.
Hastings played two and a half quarters, finishing with 306 yards while making 20 completions on 25 attempts to go along with his four touchdown passes.
After a disheartening 32-23 loss to Guelph, the Marauders put up 586 yards in total offence to please the homecoming crowd.
"It was definitely a bounce back from Guelph," said Hastings of Saturday's performance. "We wanted to come out and re-establish that we're one of the top teams in the OUA. It was a little sloppy, but we came out and did what we had to do on Homecoming."
McMaster scored only 17 points in the first quarter, but exploded for 50 in the next three quarters, including 36 in the final half.
Head Coach Stefan Ptaszek was pleased with how his team responded in the second portion of the game.
"I'm especially proud that we came out of that locker room in the second half and started fast," said Ptaszek. "We felt like if we had a decent first five minutes in that second half, it would be disheartening and hard for York to hang in, and our young men did that."
Vandervoort's first-quarter touchdown reception was a record breaker, as the third-year Marauder hauled in his 20th career touchdown reception to become the all-time school leader.
Linebacker Jake Heathcote of Aldergrove, B.C. had the top defensive game, collecting two interceptions, including a 27-yard return for a touchdown in the first quarter. He also had six solo tackles and two assisted for a total of eight.
York would muster only 10 points with all of those coming in the first half. Brett Hunchak of Calgary connected with Ryan Dunaway of Burlington, Ont., in the first quarter, while Nick Naylor of Abbotsford, Ont., added a 27-yard field goal to round out the scoring.
Hunchak finished with 182 yards passing and two interceptions. Dunaway was York's top receiver, bringing down 78-yards on three receptions.
McMaster running back Jordan Lyons punched in two touchdowns with the game in hand. His first came on a nine-yard run late in the third quarter, and he followed it up with a five-yard punch in in the fourth quarter.
THEY SAID IT: "We played a full four quarters in this game. In our other games we came out kind of slow in the first half and picked it up in the second. This was more of a full effort and I think it's more indicative of what you're going to see for the rest of the season." – Linebacker Jake Heathcote.
"Four games into your third year, you shouldn't be talking about career marks or all-time lists. He's a special kid, and I say the best 50-50 guy I've ever seen. When you throw up a ball to him, it's not 50-50." -Head Coach Stefan Ptaszek on Dan Vandervoort's record breaking catch.
BROTHERLY LOVE: Kingsley Amankwaa of Etobicoke, Ont., earned the sibling bragging rights, edging his brother Jessie who plays for York. Kingsley rushed for a touchdown and 13-yards, while Jessie tallied 83-yards on 20 attempts.
ATTENDANCE: McMaster faithful packed Ron Joyce Stadium with a capacity 5,427 fans taking in the Homecoming matchup.
NEXT WEEK: McMaster will travel to Windsor next Saturday to take on the Lancers. Windsor knocked off the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks 22-18 today and pushed their record to 1-5. Next week York will take on Toronto (1-3) in the Red/Blue Bowl.
