HAMILTON (September 18, 2018) - The McMaster Marauders evened their record at 2-2 after dropping the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 37-3 on Homecoming Saturday at Ron Joyce Stadium.

After going 168 minutes without an offensive touchdown, the Marauders offence awoke in the second half, scoring 29 points, including two touchdowns in a six-minute span. They added another touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and handed Toronto its ninth consecutive loss, dropping its record to 0-3 for the 2018 season.

Quarterback Andreas Dueck of Winnipeg broke the touchdown drought when he connected with Blake Reason of London, Ont., on an eight-yard pass in the third quarter. Six minutes later, Dueck would connect with Tommy Nield of Guelph, Ont., on a 25-yard strike to push the score to 27-3 at the time.

The duo of Dueck and Nield connected again with 5:49 remaining in the game on a deep, 31-yard pass to bring the score to 34-3 and sink the Varsity Blues hope of a comeback.

Dueck, making just his third start in his university career, had the confidence in the Marauder offence and knew it was just a matter of time before they would break through, after going almost three games without a touchdown.

"It was great to be able to show people that our offence can produce." said Dueck "There's still obviously a lot to work on, with the first half that we had. And I had a number of throws that I'd like to have back. But it was a good afternoon for us after a rough start to the season to get our feet under us as an offence."

"It's been a tough couple of games, so to get the floodgates open and get the offence moving was a huge relief."

Nield and Dueck shared player of the game honours, with both players registering career highs. Nield hauled in 233 yards on 10 receptions and pushed his way into the OUA single game record books with the 10th highest total of receiving yards. His mark sits behind Kevin Reid (Guelph, 1994) and Andy Fantuz (Western, 2002), who registered 243, and places him ahead of Paul de Pass (Western, 2013) by one yard (232).

"He's a heck of a player," said Dueck of Nield, who was his favorite receiving target. "Clearly, after today, everyone can see that. He's a gamebreaker and the kind of player that you want on the field with the ball in his hands. He's a big play guy, and he showed that today."

For his part, Dueck finished the game with a career high 372 yards, tossing three touchdowns on 22 completions.

"I think the connection with myself and [Dueck] worked really well," said  Nield, also in his second season with McMaster. "It's mostly about the reps in practice. He threw some great balls today, and I was lucky to be the one to come down with them."

Prior to the touchdown by Reason in the third quarter, the Marauders last major came back on opening day against Guelph, when Jackson White tossed a three-yard pass to Michael Bazzo of King City, Ont.

McMaster's defence bounced back after last week's tough loss to Western, holding Toronto to 289 offensive yards while forcing four turnovers. They also registered four points by pinning Toronto's offence in the endzone and causing two safeties.

Dueck credited the McMaster defence for keeping the Marauders in the game, which allowed their offensive unit to find their grove after a nearly three-week touchdown drought.

Nate Edwards of Ancaster, Ont., and Mitch Garland of Hamilton tallied seven total tackles to lead the defensive pressure for the Marauders, while Eddy Nyongwa of Winnipeg and Jake Porter of Welland, Ont., split the interceptions.

"Our defence is the best in the country in my opinion. They hold teams and do everything they can," said Dueck. "We have the best defensive coaches in the country. That's been the identity of McMaster football, that we're a defensive team. But we've have the pieces in place for an explosive offence and one that can drive the field and make plays. We just haven't been able to click, but days like today make you think that we can contribute."

Kicker Adam Preocanin of Burlington, Ont., continued his consistent play, hitting four field goals including kicks from 43, 40, 13 and his longest of the season, a 48 yarder, to close the scoring.

The Varsity Blues pivot, Clay Sequeira of Pierrefonds, Que., tossed 194 yards in the loss while leading his team in rushing with 55 yards. Daniel Diodati of Etobicoke, Ont., was Toronto's top receiver with 77 yards.

BY THE NUMBERS:
9 - consecutive years McMaster has won its Homecoming game at Ron Joyce Stadium.
499 - total number of offensive yards registered by McMaster
29 - points scored by the McMaster in the second half of today's game
83 - number of rushing yards posted by running back Jordan Lyons in today's game (Burlington, Ont.)
4,027 - total attendance

LOOK SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS:  Nield's 233 receiving yards goes down as the second best game for a wide receiver in school history. His performance trails only Mike Bradwell ('08) who posted 256 yards receiving against Guelph on October 20th, 2007. The second-year receiver pushed Konrad Gloge's ('05) mark of 221 into third place in the Marauders record book, who tallied his mark exactly 17 years before Nield's, on September 15, 2001 versus Windsor.

MVP: Dueck and Nield were awarded the Mark Timpany Memorial Trophy as the game's most valuable player during the annual Homecoming game. The two players sparked the Marauder offence in the fourth quarter connecting twice on touchdown passes with Dueck posting another touchdown pass in the third. Both players' games were the best of their young careers.

HALL OF FAME: McMaster University honoured its 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame induction class on Saturday morning at the McMaster Students Centre's CIBC Hall. This year's inductees included student-athletes Sheldon Francis ('08, Wrestling), Stefanie Howorun ('08, Wrestling), Jesse Lumsden ('08, Football) and Michele Oliver ('81, Swimming) alongside the 1997 national-title-winning Marauders baseball team. Find full biographies of the 2018 inductees HERE.

UP NEXT: A big test awaits the McMaster Marauders next week, as they host the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. Laurier has a 2-1 record and sits a half game ahead McMaster along with Ottawa. The game will likely have playoff implications, with five of the 11 OUA teams having two wins to this point. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium. Tickets for the game can be purchased online at: https://mcmaster.universitytickets.com