Waterloo Warriors football season ends after OUA playoff loss

For the second week in a row, both offenses for the Waterloo Warriors and Guelph Gryphons showed off their weapons.

For the second week in a row, the Warriors couldn’t nab the win over their Highway 7 rival.

And now, their season is over.

The Gryphons came away with a 45-34 victory in their OUA playoff quarter-final showdown in Guelph, in a game where the home team took hold of the lead and never let go.

It was already 10-0 Gryphons in the first quarter, when Warriors QB Tre Ford lobbed a pass over to the right sideline to Tyler Ternowski, who avoided a tackle to run in a 55-yard score to inch closer.

After Jean-Paul Cimankinda answered with his first of three touchdowns on the day to finish the quarter, both teams would exchange two touchdowns before halftime came and Guelph held a 31-21 lead.

In the second half, the Warriors weren’t able to break through, as the Gryphons stalled the visitors’ offense the rest of the way and held a two possession lead the rest of the way.

Quarterback Ford was phenomenal for the Warriors overall, leading the way both in the air and on the ground.

He connected with 23-of-32 for 295 passing yards and three touchdowns.  Ford also had a team-high 150 yards rushing, and ran in a pair of TDs.

Dion Pellerin also had a big game, whipping up 145 yards rushing but failed to get into the end zone.  As for wide receivers, Ternowski snagged 112 yards in the air, the 55 yard TD being his — and the game’s — longest play of the day.

But the story of the game had to be Cimankinda.  On top of the three touchdowns, the Guelph RB torched the Warriors D for 256 yards.

Quarterback Theo Landers wasn’t too bad himself for the victors, going 16-for-23 and getting 240 yards in the air and two touchdowns and an interception.

Guelph moves on to the OUA semi-final next weekend, where they will take on the Ottawa Gee Gees.