Against an average team, the Oakville Longhorns might have been able to get away with a few mistakes. Defending national championship teams, however, have a tendency of making opponents pay for their errors.

The Longhorns suffered their first defeat of the Northern Football Conference season Sunday in Oshawa, making a number of mental miscues -- particularly on special teams -- in a 24-16 loss to the 2006 Canadian champion Hawkeyes.

Oakville head coach Barry Emo estimated mistakes on special teams cost the Longhorns 18 points, noting his squad missed a pair of makeable field goals and was also caught unprepared for a couple of Oshawa trick-punt plays.

"My biggest responsibility is to ensure that my team is a disciplined, mentally-prepared football team, and it obviously wasn't (Sunday)," Emo said. "I'm going to take full responsibility for that one, and we'll work on things this week to get us more mentally prepared."

The Hawkeyes, who lost their season opener 31-28 to the Tri-City Outlaws, came out firing and built a 17-2 halftime lead. The Longhorns (1-1) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, coming on Tommy Denison passes to Vaughan Swart and Kyle Kneller, to narrow the gap late.

Denison will get the start in Oakville's next game, a visit to the Sault Ste. Marie Steelers this weekend, as Emo continues to evaluate the three quarterbacks on the Longhorns' roster.

This weekend's lengthy trek north might be coming at the perfect time for the Longhorns. Emo expects the road trip will provide an opportunity for the squad, which features a number of new players, to bond.