WATERLOO, Ont. - At a critical point in the OUA season, the McMaster Marauders football team traveled to face the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday, in need of a victory.
The Marauders defeated the Warriors by a 43-0 final scoreline to secure the first win of the 2022 season.
McMaster becomes the first team to shutout the Warriors since 2016.
The maroon and grey started the game with the ball and opened the scoring just over four minutes into the first quarter on a 36-yard field from Benjamin MacDonald (Kamloops, BC) to make the score 3-0 in favour of the visitors. A three and out for the Warriors gave the ball back to the Marauders who added a single to extend the lead to four.
Tayo Smith (Hamilton, Ont.) had the play of the game on the next series, intercepting Waterloo's Nolan Kaban and returning it 45 yards for the Marauders' first major of the day - 11-0 McMaster. The Warriors continued to struggle on offence and were unable to record a first down in the opening 15 minutes of play. Before the end of the quarter, MacDonald hit a field goal from 30 yards out to make the score 14-0 for the Marauders after one.
Waterloo and McMaster moved the ball well in the second stanza but neither broke through until the last minute of play before halftime. MacDonald tallied his third field goal of the contest from 24-yards with 57 seconds remaining in the second quarter for what everyone thought was the final scoring play of the half. But the Marauders' defence stood strong and pressured the Waterloo quarterback.
Carter Blad (Scotland, Ont.) picked off Kaban at the Waterloo 47 yard line, putting his offence back on the field.
Andreas Dueck (Winnipeg, Man.) found receiver
Jackson Cooling for the touchdown with just seven seconds on the clock. At the break, the Marauders held a 24-0 lead.
After the halftime break, the Warriors faced the same challenges, going three and out on the opening possession of the half. The visitors followed up with the longest drive of the game, moving the sticks six times in the seven and a half minutes they had possession. The result of the drive was another MacDonald field goal. Dueck connected with Cooling once again late in the quarter to set up a first and goal. The Marauders kept the ball on the ground and
Ricardo Chisholm (North York, Ont.) made no mistake, finding his way into the end zone to increase McMaster's lead to 34-0.
The Marauders pinned the Warriors deep early in the fourth quarter, forcing the hosts to concede the safety. After moving the ball well, the Marauders set up Chisholm for his second major of the day to make the score 43-0 for the maroon and grey which would stand as the final.
McMaster owned every offensive statistical category in this contest including first downs (McMaster - 31, Waterloo - 9) and total offence (McMaster - 486 yards, Waterloo - 160 yards) while the defence doubled up on the Warriors in sacks and interceptions.
Andreas Dueck and
Keagan Hall (Burlington, Ont.) both took snaps for the Marauders. Dueck went 17 for 25 for 214 yards and one touchdown while Hall completed seven of ten attempts for an additional 77 yards.
Jackson Cooling had five receptions for 91 yards and
Nicholas Adair (Kingston, Ont.) caught six passes for 79 yards.
Jacob Mason (Burlington, Ont.) and
Daniel Bosett (Brantford, Ont.) combined for 109 rushing yards. Defensively,
Owen Hubert (Hamilton, Ont.) led all Marauders with six tackles but it was truly a team effort with seven McMaster players recording either an interception, sack or tackle for loss in Waterloo.
For the Warriors, Nolan Kaban went 9 for 17 on pass attempts, including two interceptions while Nick Orr completed all three of his pass attempts. Nicklas Sua had 32 yards on the ground and James Basalyga recorded 4 catches for 31 yards. Jack Hinsperger led all Waterloo players with nine solo tackles.
The Marauders get a crucial win to move to 1-3 on the season while the Warriors' record is now 1-2.
Next Up
The Marauders will now enter the bye week before hosting the Western Mustangs on October 1st. Game time is set for 1pm and tickets are available at www.marauders.ca/tickets.
