Box Score

The Waterloo Warriors fought to a nail-biter finish over the York Lions in the season finale for both teams at York Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Penalties were the Achilles heel for York and a missed extra point led to the loss late. Waterloo finishes the season 1-7 while York finishes 0-8.

Waterloo and York matched up quite evenly in the afternoon affair as Waterloo had 133 net yards rushing compared to York's 269 and Waterloo had 269 net yards passing compared to the Lions 201. The ultimate game changer was Waterloo's 75 penalty yards compared to York's 166, including an illegal substitution which cost York a 95 yard kickoff return late in the 4^th quarter.

Warriors opened the scoring early with a Caleb Girard (Waterford) 31-yard field goal, a team safety, and a Ryan Di Risio (Burlington) touchdown to give Waterloo an early 12-0 lead. Christian Lewis (Kitchener) scored a touchdown at 5:07 of the 2^nd quarter and another safety in addition to a Gerard 42-yard field goal saw Waterloo lead 24-7 at the break.

York would open the 2^nd half determined to make a comeback when they would knot the score at 25 after a Waterloo rouge. Jamie Cook (Collingwood) would call his own number on a 26-yard run to take a 32-25 lead before York would score a touchdown but fumble the snap on the extra point before closing out the game 32-31.

For Waterloo, Cook went 19-of-32 for 267 yards, with the two touchdowns and one pick, and he also added three carries for 48 yards, the most on the team. Lucas Merlin (Burlington) was the team's top defensive player with seven tackles and one sack.
 
Both teams had already been eliminated from the playoffs prior to kick-off. The Warriors finish the season with a 1-7 record and the Lions at 0-8.