If there were fears that the Waterloo Warriors' high-powered offence might have been a one-year wonder, Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/) and Tyler Ternowski (Hamilton/) did a pretty decent job to alleviate them.
Ford threw six touchdown passes – including an OUA record-tying four to Ternowski – as the Warriors topped the Windsor Lancers 53-37 in their OUA regular season opener at Warrior Field on Sunday night.
"I think we jumped out to a good start," said Waterloo head coach Chris Bertoia. "Tre was going through his read progressions really well, he was lights out. And Tyler Ternowski is a special athlete. I was very proud of the guys for the offensive effort."
After platooning with Lucas McConnell (Waterford/) a season ago, Ford, the reigning OUA and U SPORTS rookie of the year, was electric in his first career start at quarterback: the second-year pivot finished 25-28, with 463 yards and 6 TDs, while adding 58 yards and a touchdown on five rushes. Ternowski hauled in 11 passes for 289 yards and four scores, joining ten other players atop the record books for most receiving touchdowns in a single game.
"It was a team effort, it always is," said Ternowski. "We have weapons all across the board on offence, as well as our quarterback making plays with his feet and his arm. He's phenomenal."
Mitch Kernick (Elmira/) made his only catch of the night count, scoring on a 74-yarder in the second quarter, as the Warriors raced out to a 32-0 lead. Gordon Lam (Kitchener/) hauled in 7 balls for 57 yards and a touchdown as well.
Meanwhile, the Lancers clawed back into the game behind a pretty impressive quarterback-receiver duo of their own: pivot Sam Girard tossed for 478 yards and 5 TDs, while Alex Bornais grabbed 6 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. Kaeden Walls had 5 receptions for 116 yards and a score, while Brandon Speller also added a receiving touchdown.
The majority of the opening 15 minutes was a feeling-out process, but the Warriors mounted a late drive and Ternowski scored an 8-yard touchdown on the last play of the first quarter. That seemed to ignite the Warriors, who exploded for points in each of their following five drives: First, Kernick hauled in a Ford bomb and beat a pursuant tackler to the end zone. Then, Ford scampered on a 20-yard designed QB run, before a turnover on downs set up a 26-yard field goal from Caleb Girard (Waterford/). And finally, Ternowski capped off two very different possessions: a two-play drive with an 83-yard catch and run, followed by a 7-play, 97-yard march that ended with a perfectly placed ball settling into Ternowski's hands through the middle of the field.
The Lancers pushed back with a pair of TD drives of their own late in the quarter – first, an 84-yarder to Bornais, and then, a 31-yard highlight-reel catch from Walls – to narrow the gap to 39-14 at the half.
The momentum continued to tip Windsor's way early in the third, as the Lancers drew to within 16 points. But Ford hit Ternowski for a 10-yard score and Lam for a 9-yard touchdown hookup on back-to-back possessions to re-establish the big lead. The Lancers showed more fight later in the fourth when Bornais scored on two straight drives – sandwiched around a successful onside kick recovery – to bring the deficit back to 16, but it's the closest Windsor would get.
All told, the game featured 1120 total yards of offence, but the contest wasn't without it's impact defenders: OUA all-star Kurtis Gray (Waterloo/) had 9.5 tackles, as well as a sack that was called back due to offsetting penalties away from the play. And rookie linebacker Jack Hinsperger (Waterloo/) made his presence known in his first game, collecting 6 solo tackles and a sack.
"Defensively, we showed great resilience at the end of the game," said Bertoia. "We had a couple big sacks, and some critical coverage plays when things truly mattered. It was very important for us to step up and close that game out."
Meanwhile, Windsor's Daniel Metcalfe led all players with 9 solo tackles, including two for a loss. Zack Taylor and Tayo Adeyeye each added a sack for the Lancers.
The Warriors will now turn their attention to their first road game of the young season, as they have a date with the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Sept 1. Kickoff is slated for 7pm from Varsity Stadium.
