Lancers beat Varsity Blues to move up 2-0
By Michal Tellos
Sports Editor
September 10, 2008
 Lancer fans went home happy Saturday afternoon as they saw the boys in blue and gold go up 2-0 in the season thus far.
Less than a week after demolishing the York Lions in the season opener 40-7, the Lancers ran over the Toronto Varsity Blues at the home opener, 38-14. The Blues had just come off their first win in 49 games.
The game opened up quickly as the Lancers looked to set a winning tone early on.
“Toronto was coming off a big win, and we wanted to set out early that we were going to beat them, try to get their confidence down a bit, and I think we did that,” said Daryl Stephenson, fifth-year running back.
Rookie quarterback Sam Malian, starting in his first home game ever, was a little bit nervous, as he threw an interception early in the first quarter.
“The first game at home I had a little jitters in the first quarter, I threw that first interception,” he said.
“After a while I settled down and it was just another game of football,” he added.
After settling down, Malian hooked up with Ricky Postma for his first of four touchdown passes of the day.
Early attempts by Toronto to bounce back in the second quarter were quickly squashed by a few big runs from Stephenson, and a few big passes from Malian.
A huge pass to receiver Cory Fernandes seemed to float forever, but was finally caught with one hand for a dramatic touchdown, ending the first half with a score of 17-7.
The second half proved fruitless for the Blues who managed to get on the board just one more time. Malian, however, threw for two more touchdowns, contributing to Windsor’s 21-point half.
Malian connected with veteran receiver Glen MacKay for a touchdown in the third quarter, and with Stephenson on a screen pass to seal the deal in the fourth quarter.
Although the Lancers fought hard as a team to win their first two games, all eyes will now be on Stephenson.
Stephenson is poised to break the CIS all-time rushing record within the next few games, and it could very likely occur at homecoming this weekend.
With just 113 yards left to go to be top dog, neither Stephenson nor Head Coach Mike Morencie are thinking about that.
“We have to get wins as opposed to records. Records don’t get you any points in the standings, so we’ll get a W first, and if we get a record while we’re getting a W, that’s great,” said Morencie.
“I just want to beat Guelph. Last time I set a record it was against Western, and it was a bad loss, so I don’t want to have that same feeling of doing that and losing,” said Stephenson.
“So definitely next weekend, I don’t care if we pass all over them, I just want to win. You know, homecoming – the biggest thing is just to win. Yards are going to come,” he added.
Although the team is exhausted from not having a day off in nearly one month, Morencie stresses that relenting is not an option, and now is the time of year to make any necessary changes.
“This time of the year is when we start making changes. We got some extra time now, a couple of days break. We’ll put some of our new stuff in, our new stuff offensively, defensively,” he said.
“We’re going to be a mix of pass-run team. Got to get our pressure up a bit on defense but other than that we’re okay,” he added.
Malian is ready to work as well, particularly on offence, although he does feel confident about the team.
“We just have to fine-tune some things on our offence but I think we should be alright,” he said.
Despite the win, Morencie was slightly displeased with the effort put forth in their second game, giving his squad an overall B- achievement. He cited their on and off effort.
“I thought we had a pretty good effort against York last week, and a little bit of an indifferent effort today. We were good at times and we were bad at times, it wasn’t our best effort,” he said.
Aside from Stephenson, much attention has been paid to Malian, who has surpassed expectations of him thus far.
“He’s just the guy that makes the best decisions, that’s all. That’s the reason that he’s playing – he’s the best decision maker. He understands the game very well, he was coached very well at the high school level,” said Morencie.
His mature character also appeals to Morencie.
“He’s got a certain ‘moxy,’ you know? He knows how to handle himself, and we’re seeing the fruits of that right now,” he said.
“You know Sam’s doing a great job out there and it takes a load off me. We’re not the same offence where we just smashed it all the time, now we’re going to throw the ball to people, and eventually that’s going to open up the run a lot more, so I’m pretty happy about what’s going on,” said Stephenson.
Malian has been the only good surprise for Morencie so far, though, as he consistently expects a very high level of play from all of his players, particularly those who are returning from previous seasons.
The homecoming game is this Saturday, Sept. 13, against the Guelph Gryphons, starting at 7 p.m.
For a complete roster, results table, or schedule of Lance football, feel free to visit golancers.ca
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