Around U Sports: York Lions upset Carleton Ravens as OUA opens 2026 season

Photo: York Lions

Ontario University Athletics (OUA) kicked off its 2026 season this weekend, featuring five games across the conference. The slate featured a couple of upsets, a walk-off game-winner, and an impressive debut from a former Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) quarterback.

The action in Atlantic University Sport (AUS), Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), and Canada West will all get underway next week.

Around U Sports is a weekly feature on 3DownNation that takes readers across the country to summarize collegiate football action, highlighting standout performances and tracking possible playoff matchups. It will run until the second round of the playoffs, at which point 3DownNation will produce standalone articles for each game.

Carleton Ravens, 34 — York Lions, 35

The Lions got the upset win courtesy of a walk-off 47-yard field goal from Nathan Walker. Maurice Sodja, who made his U Sports debut after previously starring with the CJFL’s St. Clair Saints, threw for 286 yards and one touchdown, and rushed 13 times for 65 yards and one score in the win. Jayden Shallow was his favourite target, as the Barrie, Ont. native made seven receptions for 179 yards and one touchdown. Elijah Barnes was brilliant for Carleton despite the loss, throwing for 415 yards and two scores, both of which were caught by Frederick Hachey.

Ottawa Gee-Gees, 38 — Waterloo Warriors, 28

The Gee-Gees trailed 28-24 to start the fourth quarter but were able to complete the comeback, thanks to touchdowns from Devaughn Blackwood and Oluwaseyitan Ayedegbe. Josh Janssen threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns in the victory, while Souleymane Camara rushed 21 times for 147 yards. Nick Orr played well for the Warriors in a losing effort, as he threw for 227 yards and one touchdown, and added 85 yards and a score along the ground. London, Ont. native Isaiah Blackson led both teams with 7.5 total tackles.

Guelph Gryphons, 28 — No. 4 Laurier Golden Hawks, 33

The Todd Galloway era started with a win in front of 2,150 fans in Waterloo, as Will Russell scored a one-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds left to seal the game. Tayshaun Jackson rushed for over 100 yards and scored a return touchdown for the Golden Hawks, while Ryan Hughes, who made 3DownNation’s watchlist for the Hec Crighton Trophy, caught eight passes for 94 yards. Tristan Aboud threw for 191 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the loss. Laurier’s defence got home for five sacks, 2.5 of which were recorded by Corunna, Ont. native Joey Edlington.

No. 9 Windsor Lancers, 26 — McMaster Marauders, 31

The Lancers built a 17-3 lead thanks to two first-quarter touchdown passes from Kareame Cotton, but then McMaster came storming back to secure the upset. Hamilton native Lucas Barresi scored two rushing touchdowns, and a pick-six he threw was negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty. Sean Underhill returned a missed field goal 124 yards for a touchdown, which proved to be the game-winning score. Windsor moved the ball much more effectively than the opposition, more than doubling their net yards, but were unable to finish drives and missed two field goals.

No. 5 Queen’s Gaels, 28 — Toronto Varsity Blues, 12

Hec Crighton Trophy hopeful Alex Vreeken was sharp under centre for the Gaels, as he completed 26-of-36 pass attempts for 366 yards and one touchdown to open the season with a win. Jayce Baldwin scored a rushing touchdown for Queen’s, while his brother, Jacob, was a game-wrecker on defence, recording 3.5 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and one pass knockdown. Kaleb O’Donoghue threw a touchdown pass to Omarion Martin for Toronto’s only major score of the evening. This game officially drew a crowd of 3,829 to Varsity Stadium.