Warriors win
Waterloo opens season with win over Windsor Lancers.
WINDSOR — The streak is over.
The University of Waterloo football team erased an ugly 0-16 losing skid to win their first game in three seasons Sunday afternoon in Windsor.
And the Warriors did it in style.
They passed, rushed, scored three rouges and rookie Tyrell Ford had a breakout debut in the team’s 54-33 victory on the road against the Lancers to open their Ontario University Athletics season with a bang.
Ford delivered a dominating special teams performance by returning a 98-yard punt for a touchdown in the second quarter. For good measure, the Niagara Falls native did it again in the fourth, this time carrying the ball 100 yards off a punt to score.
The Warriors had at least one touchdown in every quarter with receivers Blair McKay, Richmond Nketiah and Gordon Lam and backs Mitch Kernick and Brandon Metz doing the damage.
Quarterback Lucas McConnell was 7-for-13 for 113 yards passing in split duty while pivot Tre Ford went 7-for-9 and rushed for 108 yards. Kicker Caleb Girard added seven converts and three rouges while the team collected a safety.
Linebacker Paul Kaija picked up pair of sacks on defence.
It was the first victory for coach Chris Bertoia since taking over the club two years ago.
During his tenure the onetime UW offensive lineman had only seen his team hit the 20point mark twice.
Now his boys are tied for first place.
Before the season started, the skipper had a gut feeling the Warriors were going to take a big step forward.
Bertoia and his staff have worked hard to recruit and rebuild UW’s once dominant pigskin program.
“It was about changing the culture and we’ve done that,” the bench boss said in the lead-up to Sunday’s game. “We’ve seen a lot of positives here.”
Bertoia went to four consecutive Yates Cup finals with the Warriors during his time on the line so enduring a two-year losing skid was tough.
“It has been a humbling experience,” he said.
UW now heads into its home opener against York University (0-1) on Labour Day with some serious momentum.
Back in 2014, the Warriors edged the Lions 32-31 in the final game of the season. They hadn’t won since until Sunday.
Could a 2-0 start be on the horizon? “This year our focus is just going to be about winning each day,” said Bertoia, in a preseason chat. “We’re not going to look ahead too far.”