The Marauders, meanwhile, have kept on rolling since winning the Yates Cup and Vanier Cup championships last year. Ranked No. 1 in the CIS in every poll this season, the Marauders have won 15 straight games dating back to Week 3 of 2011 and have dominated opponents en route to a 5-0 start. They have scored 229 points, more than any other team in the OUA, and have allowed just 93, which is the second-fewest in the conference.
Points could be plentiful in this contest as McMaster and York boast two of the three top offences in the OUA. The Marauders have gained 559 yards per game this season for the best mark in the conference, while the Lions’ average of 437.6 per game puts them third.
For both teams, those numbers are attributed largely to the strong play of their quarterbacks. Under centre for the Lions is Myles Gibbon of Montreal, who has accumulated more than 1,700 total yards this season and is second in the OUA with 1,501 passing yards, a 56% completion rate and 300.2 yards per game. His counterpart at McMaster, Kyle Quinlan of South Woodslee, Ont., has the best completion percentage among the OUA’s starting quarterbacks, at 70%, and has racked up 1,474 yards and 12 touchdowns, with no interceptions.
The Marauders also feature a stellar defence that has allowed only 306.8 yards per game, the second-lowest total in the OUA, while the Lions are ranked seventh in the OUA after giving up 362.4 per game.
Thursday’s game is the first meeting between the teams in two years, as the Lions did not face the Marauders in their championship season one year ago. The last match-up between the two squads came in October 2010, when the Marauders defeated the Lions 64-6.
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