Mac football sits in unfamiliar territory

Alexandra Reilly

Assistant Sports Editor

An undefeated record was what we saw this time last season so to experience two brutal loses in a row is not something that any Marauders fan will get used to.

Especially not since the last couple of years have been the team’s best record in school history.

Saturday proved to be pretty close to rock bottom for the team as they lost to their rivals, the Western Mustangs, with a score of 58-15.

“We definitely need to take things a little more seriously,” said defensive star Aram Eisho about the team’s efforts.

“This is my first time losing two in a row and we definitely have a lot of work to do to get ready for next week,” he added.

Ron Joyce Stadium was sold out for the game on Saturday and it was safe to say the Vanier Cup calibre squad stunned the 5,003 fans in attendance.

This season is not going to be as easy as the last.

Crowd support, which wavered through the afternoon’s defeat, was something the team noticed.

“We definitely need the crowd in it the whole way through,” Eisho said.

“It’s never going to be easy but if we can just have them cheering us on while were having ups and downs it would really help,” he added.

The crowd’s lack-of-involvement wasn’t the only thing that proved to be against McMaster on Saturday afternoon. Nick Shortill, Alan Dicks, Mike DiCroce and Marshall Ferguson all went down with injuries that day.

The defense was hit the hardest as Shortill went down with what appeared to be a knee injury and left the game.

The team was also lost without some of their key starters on Saturday: left tackle Matt Sewell, defensive back Joey Cupido and safety Mike Daly all did not dress in maroon for the Western game.

With a 1-2 regular season so far, the remainder of the team’s season hangs in the balance.

“We are going to look at some of our core mistakes and coach it up and we have to find a way to put the pieces back together and get ready for York University,” head coach Stefan Ptaszek said.

“We’ll do all of those things and try and get this back to 2-2 and we’ll go from there,” Ptaszek added.

Up next are the low scoring York Lions, but the ultimate test will be when McMaster faces the currently 2-0 Guelph Gryphons on the road.

The York game kicks off this Saturday Sept. 14 at 1:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on Hamilton’s Cable 14 and CHML 900 Live.