HAMILTON (August 25, 2017) - The McMaster Marauders secured a 22-10 preseason non-conference U SPORTS football victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton.
McMaster's Jackson White of Cambridge, Ont. threw for 131 yards and hit Brett Ledingham of London, Ont., for the game's only passing touchdown in the second quarter.
Second-year running back Jordan Lyons of Burlington, Ont., punched in a three-yard touchdown with 54 seconds remaining in the game for the game's only other major.
Adam Preocanin of Burlington, Ont. was two for three in field goal attempts, registering his longest at 25 yards. Preocanin missed a 47-yard attempt.
Saskatchewan was picked off four times by the Marauders secondary, and the McMaster defence chipped in with a safety to account for the the team's 22 points.
Huskies' Colton Klassen of Saskatoon had a game high 115 yards rushing (on 11 carries) while McMaster's Justice Allin of Toronto posted 89 yards on 13 carries.
McMaster's receiving core saw eight players contribute, with Tommy Nield of Guelph, Ont. leading the way with 44 yards receiving on three catches. Huskies' David Solie of Saskatoon was the game's top receiver with 96 yards on eight catches.
Huskies quarterbacks were a combined 23 for 44 with 256 passing yards. Fourth-year starter Kyle Siemens of Saskatoon finished his two quarters of work throwing for 113 yards with 11 completions and one interception. Rookie Mason Nyhus of Regina was 12 for 25 with 143 yards passing and three interceptions.
BALL HAWKS: McMaster's secondary posted four interceptions and had two key pass breakups against the Huskies. Rookie Will Hudson of Oakville, Ont. had a interception along with a key pass breakup late in the game. Hudson denied a touchdown with 7:43 remaining in the game, with Saskatchewan throwing into the endzone.
THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY: McMaster scored 13 second-quarter points in a span of six minutes, which turned the game's momentum and ultimately handed the Marauders the win. After a Preocanin field goal from 25 yards out, McMaster's Nolan Putt of Caledonia, Ont. intercepted a Saskatchewan pass with a short six-yard return. McMaster didn't waste any time in capitalizing, with White hitting Ledingham on a 28-yard strike to push the score to 10-7 in the second quarter. Preocanin hit his second field goal from 22 yards to make the game 13-7 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter.
OPENING DRIVE: Klassen scampered for 50 yards for the Huskies on the opening play of the game setting up an eventual eventual one-yard touchdown rush by Mason Nyus of Regina. That score put Saskatchewan on the board with a 7-0 score just minutes into the game.
McMaster is set to open up its season next Sunday (Sept. 3) when they visit the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa at MNP Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm. The game will be carried locally on TSN Hamilton 1150 and can be viewed live on OUA.TV.
MOVING ON UP?: McMaster looks to improve on their 6-2 record from last season where they finished in third place. The Marauders bested Guelph 17-11 in the quarterfinals before losing to 21-19 to the eventual Yates Cup champions Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
SUIT UP: Both teams dressed a large contingent of players for the preseason tilt with the Marauders having 69 players ready for game action. Saskatchewan had 53 in uniform. Next week both teams will trim their rosters for the regular season. In the OUA, McMaster is able to dress a maximum of 55 players for home games and 47 for away contests in regular season play.
LUCKY SEVEN: The official national rankings will not be released until next week, but the Canadian University Sports Network (CUSN) has positioned McMaster at No. 7 in its preseason power rankings.
PRESEASON HOST: This was the first time McMaster has hosted a preseason game at Ron Joyce Stadium. The last time the Marauders hosted a preseason tilt was in 1994 at the old Les Prince Field vs. Bishop's University.
NEW FOE: This was the first ever meeting between McMaster and Saskatchewan in exhibition or regular season play.
OUA THIS WEEK: McMaster is technically idle this week as the OUA kicks off its regular season tomorrow (Saturday) with Carleton visiting Queen's in the season opener at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont.. On Sunday, Waterloo heads to Windsor, Toronto takes on Wilfrid Laurier in Waterloo while Ottawa visits to Guelph and Western travels to York. McMaster has a bye in the opening week.
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THEY SAID IT:
McMaster Head Coach Greg Knox:
Breaking down of game:
"We learned a lot, I think we competed a little shaky start all around. We are very young group and inexperienced group, but I thought we showed good exposure. We did enough to win a football game we wanted to win."
On the second quarter:
"We can define that game less about what they were doing and more about what we were doing in terms of mental mistakes which we can expect early on in the season. I'm glad this isn't Week 1 because of the volume of mistakes our young team made. That said I thought they fought and played hard"
On the bye this week:
This was a good opportunity to have a team from out West and out of conference in to fill that void, so I don't think it's detrimental. Otherwise, byes the first week aren't that much fun, frankly."
