The Waterloo Warriors might have come out on the wrong side of an instant classic, but, for the first time since 2003, they came out on the right side of the postseason cut line.
And their reward is another crack at the Guelph Gryphons.
Waterloo closed their regular season with a heart-stopping 47-44 double-overtime defeat in a win-and-you're-in game with the Gryphons, but due to results elsewhere in the OUA's final day of regular season play, the Warriors claimed the sixth and final OUA playoff spot, and a rematch with Guelph – who earned the third seed with the victory over Waterloo – next Saturday.
And if their first act was any indication, it will be must-see theatre next week. The regular season finale was a high-octane, see-saw affair in which Guelph's Gabe Ferraro tied the game with a 32-yarder at the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime tied 37-37. The teams traded touchdowns on their first overtime possessions, and Ferraro hit a 42-yarder to give Waterloo a chance to win with a major score. But on the ensuing possession, Guelph's Greg Corfield stripped Warriors quarterback Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/), and the Gryphons recovered to come away victorious.
Despite the loss, the Waterloo offense put together another jaw-dropping performance to finish off one of the greatest aerial seasons in OUA history. Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/) solidified his claim as the best quarterback in the province, completing 30 of 38 passes for 396 yards and 5 touchdowns, while adding 73 yards and a score on the ground.
Meanwhile, his favourite target Tyler Ternowski (Hamilton/) caught his 13th and 14th touchdowns of 2018 to break the OUA record for touchdown receptions in a season. Against Guelph, Ternowski hauled in 6 balls for 107 yards and his pair of third-quarter scores, while Gordon Lam (Kitchener/) caught 10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Veterans Richmond Nketiah (Brampton/) and Mitch Kernick (Elmira/) also caught touchdown passes, while Dion Pellerin (Abbotsford/) rushed for a season-high 131 yards on 17 carries.
But in a game where Waterloo outgained Guelph 606 yards to 399, the Gryphons used their ball-pursuit defense and big special teams plays to stay close. The Gryphons forced four turnovers on fumbles, and Jason Richards blocked a Caleb Girard (Waterford/) punt and returned it himself 16 yards for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Guelph quarterback Theo Landers went just 11-22 for 184 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, but running back Jean-Paul Cimankinda scampered for 157 yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, star linebackers Luke Korol and Job Reinhart lived up to their billing – Reinhart had a game-high 11.5 tackles including one of Guelph's four sacks, while Korol had two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries on the afternoon.
The high-drama see-saw affair showed few signs of its eventual explosiveness in the first half, as the Gryphons carried a modest 18-16 lead into the break. But Ternowski's 39-yard touchdown catch kicked off a frenetic stretch where the lead changed hands six times in the final 26 minutes of the game. After Kian Schaeffer-Baker scored his second touchdown of the game with under five minutes to play, Ford led his club on an 8-play, 84-yard drive (including a huge fumble recovery by lineman Troy Curtis (London/)), capped off by a one-yard plunge by the second-year pivot.
But the Gryphons pulled some late-game heroics of their own, moving into Ferraro's field goal range as time ticked down. The veteran kicker nailed the pressure-packed 32-yarder at the final buzzer to knot the game up at 37-all.
In the first extra possession, four straight runs from Dion Pellerin (Abbotsford/) set up a four-yard hookup from Ford to Lam to give Waterloo back the lead, before Cimankinda took a carry in from 6 yards out to knot it back up.
The Warriors defence forced Ferraro into a 42-yard attempt in the second overtime, but one of the top legs in the OUA made it in cool and breezy conditions. Needing just a touchdown to win, Corfield stripped Ford on a first-down carry to end the possession and give Guelph the victory.
Although the Warriors came out on the wrong end of this dramatic match, the black and gold owe their postseason appearance to a similarly-emotional and historic victory earlier in the season. The Waterloo and the Laurier Golden Hawks finished with identical 4-4 records, but because the Warriors claimed the Battle of Waterloo head-to-head matchup – their first since 2002 – they will move on to the playoffs, while the Golden Hawks were eliminated.
The Warriors will now prepare for another chance at the Gryphons next weekend, as they make their first playoff appearance in 15 years.
Season for the ages
- In addition to surpassing the previous OUA single-season record of 13 touchdown receptions that was shared by Stefan Ptaszek (Laurier, 1994) and Craig Spear (Queen's, 2003), Ternowski's 14 touchdowns are the second-most all-time in USPORTS history, behind the 15 TDs scored by Don Blair for Calgary in 1995.
- Ternowski's 1159 receiving yards is also the second-highest total in USPORTS history, behind Western's Andy Fantuz, who had 1300 yards in 2002.
- Ford's 27 touchdown passes are the second-most in OUA history, behind McMaster quarterback Asher Hastings' 31 in 2015. Ford also set the OUA single-season record for completion percentage, connecting on 74.1% of his passes in 2018.
- The second-year pivot also threw for a league-leading 2822 yards (7th-most in OUA history), and led the league in touchdown-to-interception ratio (27:2), while finishing 6th in the OUA in rushing yards (641).
- Lam finished second in the OUA to Ternowski in receiving yards, with 815. Lam also finished 3rd in receptions with 60, three behind co-leaders Ternowski and Laurier's Kurleigh Gittens, Jr.
