The McMaster Marauders football team represents McMaster University based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The team plays U Sports football in the Ontario University Athletics conference. The Marauders have been playing organized football since 1901 when they played their first exhibition game in the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union. The team has appeared in four Vanier Cup games, winning one in 2011.
History The earliest reference of the sport of football at McMaster was during a meeting on November 30, 1898, when the university's athletic association's debated about expanding into the sport of football. The association had reached a consensus two days later that the lateness of the season made it pointless to start the sport for that year. The university would form a football team in the following year.
The McMaster Marauder's football team played their first football game in an exhibition game against the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry in 1901, losing 1-0. The Marauders won their first game in an exhibition match against Royal Military College of Canada with a score of 17-5. The Marauders played their first regular season game in 1902, losing their first game to the University of Toronto in a one-game season. The Marauders would not win their first game until the following season, where they also made their first playoff appearance. The early football team at McMaster would not have a head coach until the end of World War I, with most of the coaching duties taken up by the team captains.
McMaster athletic director Ivor Wynne built up the football program, and moved the team from the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds to the larger Civic Stadium in 1949. In 1952, he convinced the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU) to admit McMaster into senior football competition along with McGill, Queen's, Toronto, and Western. Jack Kennedy became the team's coach in 1965, and led the football team to an 11–0 regular season in 1965, and its first appearance in the Vanier Cup national championship game.
The Marauders had made 23 consecutive OUA post-season appearances, having missed the playoffs in the 1997 season and then again in 2021. During this period the Marauders have won all eight of their Yates Cup championships (awarded to the champion of the OUA conference), and advanced to the Vanier Cup semi-final eight times. The Vanier Cup semi-finals is played in two bowl game, the Mitchell Bowl (Churchill Bowl prior to 2003) and the Uteck Bowl (Atlantic Bowl prior to 2001). The Marauders football team have also made an appearance at the Churchill and Mitchell Bowls in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2014, and 2019. The Marauders have also appeared at the Atlantic and Uteck Bowls, in 1961, 1964, 1967, 2002 and 2011. Amongst these appearances the Marauders advanced to the Vanier Cup three times, in the 1967 Atlantic Bowl, the 2011 Uteck Bowl, and the 2012 and 2014 Mitchell Bowls.
The Marauders would make their first Vanier Cup appearance in 1967 at the 3rd Vanier Cup, going on to lose 10-9 to the Alberta Golden Bears. After a 44-year absence from the cup final the Marauders won their first (and only) U Sports championship at the 2011 47th Vanier Cup, beating Laval Rouge et Or 41-38 in overtime. In the following year the Marauders lost against Laval in the 48th Vanier Cup. In 2014, they lost 20-19 to the Montréal Carabins in the 50th Vanier Cup. In addition to the championships presently offered by U Sports and OUA, the Marauders had also been awarded a CCIFC championship in 1967, as well as several OIFC championship, in 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
Season-by-season record The following is the record of the McMaster Marauders football team since 2000: Season Games Won Lost Ties Standing Playoffs20008 710 0.875 325 86 1st in OUA Defeated Waterloo Warriors in semi-final 44-20Defeated Laurier Golden Hawks in Yates Cup final 48-23Lost to Ottawa Gee-Gees in Churchill Bowl 20-1520018 701 0.938 301 81 1st in OUA Defeated York Yeomen in quarter-final 62-0Defeated Western Ontario Mustangs in semi-final 46-20Defeated Ottawa Gee-Gees in Yates Cup final 30-22Lost to Manitoba Bisons in Mitchell Bowl 27-720028 800 1.000 310 100 1st in OUA Defeated Guelph Gryphons in quarter-final 61-10Defeated York Yeomen in semi-final 29-14Defeated Queen's Golden Gaels in Yates Cup final 30-22Lost to Saint Mary's Huskies in Churchill Bowl 36-2520038 800 1.000 424 87 1st in OUA Defeated Waterloo Warriors in quarter-final 70-7Defeated Windsor Lancers in semi-final 55-15Defeated Laurier Golden Hawks in Yates Cup final 41-17Lost to Laval Rouge et Or in Mitchell Bowl 36-3220048 710 0.875 395 119 2nd in OUA Defeated Western Ontario Mustangs in semi-final 40-23Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in Yates Cup final 31-1920058 530 0.625 283 209 4th in OUA Defeated Windsor Lancers in quarter-final 49-19Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in semi-final 43-2120068 62– 0.625 253 156 4th in OUA Lost to Queen's Golden Gaels in quarter-final 25-1920078 53– 0.625 230 221 4th in OUA Lost to Guelph Gryphons in quarter-final 25-2120088 44– 0.500 230 198 6th in OUA Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in quarter-final 29-020098 62– 0.750 232 148 5th in OUA Defeated Ottawa Gee-Gees in quarter-final 27-15Lost to Queen's Golden Gaels in semi-final 32-620108 62– 0.750 289 200 3rd in OUA Defeated Queen's Golden Gaels in quarter-final 40-19Lost to Western Mustangs in semi-final 34-2820118 71– 0.875 277 146 2nd in OUA Defeated Queen's Golden Gaels in semi-final 40-13Defeated Western Mustangs in Yates Cup final 41-19 Defeated Acadia Axemen in Uteck Bowl 45-21Defeated Laval Rouge et Or in 47th Vanier Cup 41-3820128 80– 1.000 365 125 1st in OUA Defeated Western Mustangs in semi-final 42-28Defeated Guelph Gryphons in Yates Cup final 30-13Defeated Calgary Dinos in Mitchel Bowl 45-6Lost to Laval Rouge et Or in 48th Vanier Cup 37-1420138 53– 0.625 292 175 4th in OUA Defeated Ottawa Gee-Gees in quarter-final 41-7Lost to Western Mustangs in semi final 32-320148 71– 0.875 291 142 1st in OUA Defeated Ottawa Gee-Gees in semi-final 42-31 Defeated Guelph Gryphons in Yates Cup final 20-15 Defeated Mount Allison Mounties in Mitchell Bowl 24-12 Lost to Montréal Carabins in 50th Vanier Cup 20-192015862– 0.750 355 211 3rd in OUA Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in quarter-final 29-152016862– 0.750 260 87 3rd in OUA Defeated Guelph Gryphons in quarter-final 17-11 Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in semi-final 21-172017862– 0.750 209 115 3rd in OUA Defeated Queen's Gaels in quarter-final 12-9 Lost to Laurier Golden Hawks in semi-final 19-62018853– 0.625 151 163 5th in OUA Lost to Carleton Ravens in quarter-final 30-25 2019862– 0.750 228 151 2nd in OUA Defeated Guelph Gryphons in semi-final 19-9 Defeated Western Mustangs in Yates Cup final 29-15 Lost to Calgary Dinos in Mitchell Bowl 30-172020Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic20216 33– 0.500 146 1255th in OUA West Did not qualify20228 26– 0.250 140 118 8th in OUA Did not qualify20238 26– 0.250 191 187 10th in OUA Did not qualify20248 44– 0.500 212 138 7th in OUA Lost to Western Mustangs in quarter-final 46-10 20258 44– 0.500 211 234 5th in OUA Lost to Queen's Gaels in quarter-final 46-10
National postseason results +Vanier Cup Era (1965-current)YearGameOpponentResult1967Atlantic Bowl Vanier CupSt. FX AlbertaW 7-0 L 9-102000Churchill BowlOttawaL 15-202001Churchill BowlManitobaL 6-272002Churchill BowlSaint Mary'sL 25-362003Mitchell BowlLavalL 32-362011Uteck Bowl Vanier CupAcadia LavalW 45-21 W 41-382012Mitchell Bowl Vanier CupCalgary LavalW 45-6 L 14-372014Mitchell Bowl Vanier CupMount Allison MontrealW 24-12 L 19-202019Mitchell BowlCalgaryL 17-30 McMaster is 4-5 in national semi-final games and 1-3 in the Vanier Cup.
Head coaches Name Years Notes E. G. H. Worden 1920–1923 G. Wallace 1924 Harry Hobbs 1925 E. K. Smith 1926–1928 R. Robertson 1929 Arthur Burridge 1930–1932 Fred Veale 1933–1934 Glen Small 1935–1938 Gordon Price 1939 No Team 1940 Arthur Burridge 1941 Gordon Price 1942–1943 No Team 1944 Tommy Henderson 1945 Fred Veale 1946–1947 Tommy Henderson 1948 Bernie Taylor 1949–1950 Al Smith 1951–1960 Bob Dawson 1961–1965 Jack Kennedy 1966–1968 Ray Johnson 1969–1971 Jack Kennedy 1972 Ray Johnson 1973–1980 Bernie Custis 1981–1988 Steve Bruno 1989–1993 Al Bruno 1994–1996 Greg Marshall 1997–2003 Marcello Campanaro 2004–2005 Stefan Ptaszek 2006–2015 Greg Knox 2016–2018 Tom Flaxman and Scott Brady 2018 Interim Stefan Ptaszek 2019–present
National award winners Hec Crighton Trophy: Phil Scarfone (1984), Kojo Aidoo (2000), Ben Chapdelaine (2001), Jesse Lumsden (2004), Kyle Quinlan (2012) J. P. Metras Trophy: Ben D'Aguilar (2012) Peter Gorman Trophy: Kojo Aidoo (1998), Daniel Vandervoort (2013) Frank Tindall Trophy: Bernie Custis (1982), Greg Marshall (2000), Stefan Ptaszek (2012)
Records
The Marauders currently hold a number of Ontario University Athletics records, both in terms of the team, as well as individuals who had played for the Marauders. Current records held by the Marauders are:
Team records Most points for in a season — 2003 season (424 points) Most touchdowns in a season — 2004 season (49 touchdowns) Most yards rushing in a season — 2003 season (2807 yards) Most penalty yardage in a season — 2005 season (1170 yards) Most yards passing in a game — 17 October 1981 vs. Waterloo Warriors (10 interceptions) Most consecutive wins — 2011 season - 2012 season (21 wins)
Individual records Most touchdowns in a season: Jesse Lumsden, 2004 season (21 touchdowns) Most touchdowns in a career: Jesse Lumsden, 2001-04 seasons (47 touchdowns) Most field goals in a season: Michael Ray, 2003 season (22 field goals) Most converts in a season: Michael Ray, 2004 season (48 conversions) Most converts in a career: Michael Ray, 2001-04 seasons (148 conversions) Most yards rushing in a season: Jesse Lumsden, 2004 season (1816 yards) Most rushing touchdowns in a season: Jesse Lumsden, 2004 season (21 touchdowns) Most rushing touchdowns in a career: Jesse Lumsden, 2001-04 seasons (46 touchdowns) Longest rush: Jesse Lumsden, 11 September 2004 vs. Waterloo Warriors (108 yards) Most rushing attempts in a game: Kyle Pyear, 28 September 2002 vs. Laurier Golden Hawks (39 attempted rushes)
McMaster Marauders in the CFL
As of the start of the 2026 CFL season, six former Marauders players are on CFL teams' rosters: Owen Hubert, Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jacob Mason, Montreal Alouettes Tyson Middlemost, Hamilton Tiger-Cats Tommy Nield, Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ethan Stuart, Winnipeg Blue Bombers Jakub Szott, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
In addition, former Marauders quarterback Marshall Ferguson is on the payroll of TSN as a broadcaster.
References
External links