The Waterloo Warriors will have to wait at least another week to clinch their first playoff berth since 2003.

The Warriors surrendered the game's first 21 points and never recovered, falling to the Queen's Gaels 68-17 in their penultimate game of the 2017 season on Thursday night at Richardson Stadium in Kingston.

The loss was Waterloo's third in a row, dropping their record to 4-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Gaels improved to 2-4 in a must-win game, keeping their postseason hopes alive.

The Queen's attack was led by Jake Puskas, who was nearly impossible to stop in all facets of the offense. The third-year running back registered 233 yards from scrimmage (175 of them on the ground), while scoring four majors for the host Gaels. Quarterback Nate Hobbs threw for 379 yards and 4 TDs on the evening as well.

For the Warriors, their explosive offense was kept off-balance the whole evening. Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/) went 12-22 for 162 yards through the air, while adding 68 yards on 9 carries. Meanwhile, Lucas McConnell (Waterford/) added 120 yards of passing and a touchdown for the Warriors, who were outgained 573-342 in total offensive yards.

Despite an 18-0 deficit after the opening 15 minutes, the Warriors started to piece together some long offensive drives in the second and third quarters – at one point, Waterloo had cut the lead down to 35-17, and had some offensive momentum built up. But the Gaels answered at every turn, and extended the scoreline late in the fourth.

Waterloo receiver Tyler Ternowski (Hamilton/) continued his strong season, hauling in 5 passes for 86 yards. Veteran Mitch Kernick (Elmira/) added 83 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Brandon Metz (Cambridge/) scored on a short rush as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, Queen's linebacker Nelkas Kwemo was a terror for the Warriors all evening, finishing with 8 solo tackles, 2 sacks, and a pass breakup. On the Waterloo defense, second-year star linebacker Kurtis Gray (Waterloo/) had a game-high 10.5 tackles, while Lautaro Frecha (Sault Ste. Marie/) added 8.

Waterloo will now look to clinch a playoff spot the easy way, with a win in their final contest of the regular season on Saturday, October 14 against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Warriors can still make the postseason with a loss, but other results would dictate those tiebreaking scenarios.

Kickoff next Saturday is at 1pm in Ottawa, and the game will be streamed live on oua.tv.