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University of Toronto Athletics

Divante Smith
Jamie MacDonald

Football

BLUES FALL TO DEFENDING CHAMPS ON OPENING DAY

Box Score The University of Toronto Varsity Blues football team dropped a 55-33 decision to the defending Yates Cup champion McMaster Marauders to open their 2015 regular season on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 30) at Varsity Centre.
 
Toronto had the OUA football community on the edge of their seats, leading 26-17 in the first half. It was the first time Toronto had faced the heavily favoured Marauders since 2011, when McMaster came away with a 50-14 victory.
Blues quarterback Simon Nassar went 29-for-49 for 361 yards and one touchdown, while sophomore running back Divante Smith led all players with 112 rushing yards on 18 carries and three majors.
 
Nassar had quite a few targets on the day – his favourite being fifth-year veteran Boris Isakov, who made six catches for 87 yards. Third-year receiver Domenic Battistella made six catches for 69 yards and one touchdown, while Rahul Madan made three receptions for 64 yards on the day.
 
Fourth-year linebacker and Susquehanna transfer Adrian Bernard led all players with eight tackles, while adding one sack and one forced fumble. Brittley Mokube, Jaiden McBride and Trevor Harvey each had 6.5 tackles in the loss.  
 
Second-year Marauders quarterback Asher Hastings went 26-for-34 and 383 yards and five touchdowns. CIS all-Canadian receiver Danny Vandervoort made 10 catches for 168 yards and four touchdowns, while Dan Petermann notched nine receptions for 100 yards and one major in the win.
 
Cole Munden led the Marauders defence with eight tackles and one breakup. 

With McMaster leading 3-2 in the early goings, Marauders running back Kasean Davis extended the lead with a four-yard rushing touchdown late in the first quarter.
 
On the ensuing drive, Nassar capped off a 4-play, 67-yard series with a one-yard pass to Battistella and McMaster held a 10-9 lead after the first 15 minutes of action.
 
U of T kept the momentum going as Smith scored his first TD of the game, rushing four yards into the end zone 2:29 into the second quarter.
 
The Marauders responded in a big way when Hastings found Vandervoort with an 89-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors back on top, 17-16.
 
Not deterred, Toronto charged down the field on the next drive and Smith notched his second major of the game, ending off the seven-play, 89-yard drive with a 19-yard rush into the end zone.
 
After Anthony Iafrate added a 22-yard field goal for the Blues, Vandervoort narrowed the gap right before halftime, catching a 13-yard pass for his second TD of the day.
 
U of T was up 26-24 at halftime.
 
McMaster regained the lead when Vandervoort received a nine-yard pass in the end zone in the first minute of the second half. Bobby Frame added his second field goal of the day, this time from 18 yards, and Vandervoort added his fourth TD on a 6-yard pass to give McMaster a 41-26 advantage.  
 
Smith closed the gap with a one-yard rushing touchdown, but it was all McMaster from there as the defending champs added two more touchdowns en route to the Week 1 win.
 
The Varsity Blues return to action next Monday, September 7 when they host the Windsor Lancers in a frosh frenzy game at Varsity Centre. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
 

 

 


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