The University of Toronto Varsity Blues football team ended their 49-game losing streak as they defeated the Waterloo Warriors 18-17 on Saturday night at Varsity Centre.

The Warriors were up 9-1 in the third quarter when Scarborough, Ont. native, Matthew Morris, made a 92-yard kick off return that led to a Mark Stinson (Calgary, Alta.) touchdown two plays later to pull the Blues within one.

Waterloo responded minutes later when Evan Martin (Kitchener, Ont.) connected on a beautiful 19-yard pass to Joshua Svec (Blenheim, Ont.) for his second touchdown of the game that put Waterloo up 17-8.

The Blues did not give up and with 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, Toronto receiver Drew Meerveld (Guelph, Ont.) caught a touchdown pass, through traffic, from quarterback David Hamilton (Mississauga, Ont.) to narrow the score 17-15.

Hamilton kept the fire going as he found Michael Prempeh for a big 35-yard gain, his longest toss of the night, to put the Blues in field goal range. First-year kicker Andrew Lomasney (Toronto, Ont.) stepped up under pressure and knocked in a 32-yard field goal, with 26.2 seconds remaining in the game, to put the Varsity Blues up by one.

The final seconds of the game were not without excitement but the Blues held on for their first win in six seasons. The Blues last victory came on October 13, 2001 when they defeated the Windsor Lancers 13-11.

Hamilton completed 13 passes for 189 yards and Walter Cariazo (Toronto, Ont.) rushed for 76 yards. Meerveld posted three receptions for 67 yards for the Blues.

Running back Marvin McCoody (Mississauga, Ont.) rushed 13 times for 64 yards while Martin completed 21 passes for 375 yards and two touchdowns for the Warriors. Svec notched two touchdowns in his eight receptions for 375 yards against the Blues.

The Varsity Blues (1-0) travel to face the Windsor Lancers (1-0) next Saturday, September 7 at 1:00 p.m. The Waterloo Warriors (0-1) will host the McMaster Maurders(0-1) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. as well.