Lancer football loses stunner to Waterloo
By Michal Tellos
Sports Editor
October 15, 2008
 Embarrassing. Disgusting. Inconceivable. These were the only words used by Lancer athletes and coaches to describe the football game against the visiting Waterloo Warriors last Friday, where for the second consecutive year, a huge half-time lead was squandered, this time ending in a 30-29 loss.
The ‘Turkey Bowl’ was the last Lancers regular season home game, and it was a disastrous farewell for departing fifth-years.
The game was an odd one, as each quarter seemingly presented a different Lancer squad.
The first quarter showed the two squads on somewhat even footing, as each team battled but produced nothing. It ended with a near-even score of 1-0 Waterloo.
In the second quarter the Lancers exploded, scoring two touchdowns and three field goals to end the half by a margin of 23-1.
However, in the third quarter things slowly turned around, as Waterloo competed hard and started to hold the Lancers back. The Lancers were held to just three points, while Waterloo scored a touchdown, gaining momentum along the way.
That momentum came through in a big way for the visiting team in the fourth quarter, as they walked all over the Lancers. They made it to the end zone three times and converted for two points in the last 30 seconds of the game, ending the game with a win instead of a tie.
The Lancers did everything wrong, according to Head Coach Mike Morencie.
“I’m speechless. After something like that I’m speechless. To make the mistakes that we made down the stretch, it’s just inconceivable to play that poor down the stretch,” he said.
“We had four first downs in the entire second half, and we gave up eighteen. When you do that, you’re not going to win,” he added.
Several Lancer veterans echoed his sentiments.
“This was a big screw up. We let them come back in it, we made a bunch of mistakes, and that’s what happens,” said Daryl Stephenson, fifth-year running back.
“It’s disgusting that we allowed this to happen again and allowed ourselves to be pushed around in our own house. Disgusting,” added fifth-year offensive lineman Kyle Sleightholm.
Morencie went on to say that even the first half, where the crowd felt that the Lancers dominated, was a poor performance as well.
“The first half actually was a bit of a mirage, we weren’t playing that well anyways. In the first half we got some breaks they put the ball on the ground and we got lucky and caught some breaks. We didn’t do a hell of a lot to be honest, and we had too many field goals tonight,” he said.
The colossal disappointment marks the second year in a row that Waterloo made a staggering comeback, and Sleightholm says this one hurts more.
“It definitely hurts more than last year because at half-time, all the talk was about last year and how to avoid the same half-time collapse as last year,” he said.
Morencie attributed the loss to a number of things, but he singled out the number of field goals as a big reason.
“We didn’t do a hell of a lot to be honest, and we had too many field goals tonight. I think we had five field goals, every one of them was a missed opportunity to get seven. One time we get seven and we win the game,” he said.
He also added that had Malian not fumbled on the last Lancer drive, they would have at least had another field goal and won.
After such a careless loss, the Lancers have waived the opportunity for a playoff home game, and are in fact at risk to make the playoffs at all now. This Saturday against the McMaster Marauders is now a must-win situation.
“It comes down to how we want to go out this year. Do we want to make the playoffs or do we want to be the same old Windsor team that folds? I’d like to think that we’ll put in a great week of practice and come out and lay a lick on Mac,” said Sleightholm.
“This is the same type of thing that happened last year, but, we gotta have a short memory. There is a game next week and we gotta get ready for it. If you dwell on losses, you’re going to be a loser all of your life. You gotta think about the future,” added veteran receiver Glenn MacKay.
Aside from taking penalties, dropping passes, and fumbling the ball, the Lancer offence simply did not come together during the game.
Quarterback Sam Malian threw for a pitiful 106 yards and no touchdowns, with 10 completions on 25 attempts.
Meanwhile, the Lancer receiving core, led by MacKay combined for a mere 106 yards. Rookie receiver, Jordan Brescacin, who has stood out in previous games, made no catches.
The only person who seemed to play well on paper was Daryl Stephenson, who tied his season-high for receiving yards with 136, also fighting his way in for a touchdown.
Stephenson summed up the Lancer predicament by saying that it’s “not where we wanted to be.”
The final game of the season will take place on the road, against McMaster, on Saturday Oct. 18.
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