Box Score

The Waterloo defence collected six interceptions for 105 yards to power the Warriors to a 48-29 upset victory over the Windsor Lancers at Warrior Field on Saturday.  Leading the defensive charge were defensive back's Christian Mahler (Sault Ste. Marie/) and Harrison Mair (Vancouver) who tallied a total of five picks.  The Warrior defence also posted five sacks in the win with Djordje Gavrilovic (Waterloo/) earning three of those.

Offensively the Warriors were led by Paul Cecile (Azilda/) who had 246 yards on eight receptions including three touchdown catches.  Cecile's 60 yard touchdown at 12:14 of the third quarter ignited the Warriors and they did not look back en route to the victory. 

Lost in the strong Warrior defensive posture and performance by Cecile was the game had by third string quarterback Ben Hall (Brantford/Assumption College) who came in the second half and led the offence to 32 straight points on 11 completions for 196 yards and two touchdown passes.

The win was Waterloo's first at Warrior Field since 2009 to give them a 2-6 record on the season.  Windsor drops to 3-5 but will advance to the OUA playoffs to face the Western Mustangs in London after the OUA tie-breaking scenario 8 played out. 

Adding to the drama on the afternoon was two OUA all-time records that were broken by fifth year wide receiver Jordan Brescacin (Tecumseh, Ont.) of the Lancers.   Brescacin pulled in eight receptions in the game which gave him a season total of 68 and career total of 192.  His 192 career receptions surpassed the OUA all-time record for most career receptions, set by Andy Fantuz from 2002-2005 as a Western Mustang.  Additionally, Brescacin's 68 catches in 2012 gave him the OUA all-time leader for most receptions in a single season, passing Craig Spear (Queen's) who had 63 in 2003 and fromer Warrior Dustin Zender (Kitchener/) who equalled that total last season with the black and gold.
 
The game began as a seesaw battle with the Lancers striking first from a 3-yard run by starting quarterback Austin Kennedy (Windsor, Ont.).  Waterloo responded a minute later with a major of their own as Nick Anapolsky (Guelph /) put together a 22-yard catch and run on a pass by Brian Chris (Waterloo/).

Anapolsky caught eight passes in the game to give him 63 on the season, tying the Waterloo and afformentioned OUA record set by Zender last season.  Anapolsky had 871 yards on those 63 catches, good for second most in the CIS.

Before the end of the first quarter, Windsor took another seven point lead as Evan Pszczonak (Amherstburg, Ont.) caught a 7-yard bullet from Kennedy. 

Early in the second quarter, Waterloo responded once again with Cecile corralling a 17-yard pass by second string quarterback Jamie Cook (Collingwood/).  The equalizer was set up by one of Mahler's three picks on the afternoon.

The Windsor Lancers would take their third lead of the game 10 minutes later on a 12-yard pass to Brescacin by Kennedy to go up 21-14.  A conceded Lancer safety late in the second quarter would send the game into halftime with Windsor up 21-16.

Down by five to start the half, a reenergized Warrior side would take over the game on both sides of the ball.  On Hall's first drive of the game, he would find Cecile for a 60-yard strike to put the home side up 23-21.

Following several key defensive stop, Wsaterloo would pad their lead thanks to the one and only field goal of the game, a 22-yarder by Jake Fiorucci (Niagara Falls/) at the 6:17 mark of the third.  Before time would run out in the quarter, Hall would once again find Cecile to give Waterloo a 33-21 lead.

Again the Warrior defence would stand tall and turn the ball over to the offence with second year running back Dan Silvestri getting in on the action, capping off the Warrior drive on a 1-yard run.

Out front 41-21 after a rouge by the home side, the Warrior defence would put an exclamation mark on their day sacking quarterback Andrew Downer (Toronto) and recovering for the touchdown.  Jason Braithwaite (Dundas/) was the first Warrior to collect the loose ball for the major to give the black and gold the 48-21 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Mitch Dender (Amherstburg, Ont.) would run it back the length of the field to cut into Waterloo's lead but it would be too little too late for the Lancers as the Warriors conclude their 2012 season with a 48-29 win.

“It was a great win today” mentioned head coach Joe Paopao.  “The boys gave everything they had and I couldn't have envisioned a better way to wrap up the season.”