WATERLOO – Quarterback Ian Noble led the Golden Hawk offense completing 25 of 29 for 385 yards as the #7 nationally ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks defeated the #9 Windsor Lancers 48-17 in front of a crowd of 4,366.
In his first season at the helm of the Golden Hawk offense, Noble, a native of West Vanouver, B.C. put up an incredible performance completing 86% of his passes for a total of 385 yards including two touchdowns. The single-game performance puts him up with previous Hawks including Ryan Pyear (329), Adam Lane (312) and behind athletes Bill Kubas (480) and Kevin McDonald (500).
"I knew I had a bunch in a row", said Noble after learning he completed 15 passes in a row through the second and third quarters. "We knew we could beat them in the air as a result of them playing a lot of man coverage and it worked out that way."
Windsor opened scoring with a 45-yard field goal by Kevin Reider less then two minutes into the game. The Hawks then maintained the lead for the remainder of the game.
Both of Noble's touchdown passes were to Dante Luciani of Burlington. The 6'0 receiver also returned a punt 57 yards for a third major in the game. Hawk leading rusher Ryan Lynch had a 147 yard performance with three touchdowns over 36 carries. Lynch is now the record holder for Wilfrid Laurier for rushing carries in a game with 36. The record was previously held by Nick Cameron and Alex Torrie who both had 34.
"We seem to wear teams out in the second half but all the credit goes to the offensive line," commented Lynch on his performance. "The offensive line gives Ian a lot of time in the pocket and creates some great routes for me and the other guys to run."
Jim Martyniuk had an interception off of Bryce Leblanc who came in to relieve Lancer quarterback Dan Lumley. Lumley connected 12 times of 21 for 174 yards in the game. 2006 Hec Crighton winner Daryl Stephenson rushed for 11 times for only 42 yards before taking a seat after an injury in the third. The total was shy of the 289 needed before tonight to take the provincial rushing title from Jesse Lumsden (4,138).
"We wanted to come out strong and put them in a place where they had to come back," commented linebacker Luke Pinder. "Our key to the game was to stop the run and force them to pass to try and make Stephenson a non-threat."
Pinder finished the day with 3.5 tackles (three solo) while defensive back Brent Hickey led all members of the purple-and-gold with seven tackles (five solo) and linebacker Anthony Maggiacomo also had 5.5 tackles (four solo).
One of Laurier's biggest challenges in the game was their own performance – picking up 17 penalties for 174 yards while their opponents only gave up 15 yards over six penalties.
"The penalties today were quite disappointing," commented Manager of Football Operations and head coach Gary Jeffries. "Until I look at the film I won't believe that they were all warranted. There were some that we did earn but some that just weren't right. Either way we'll look at the tape and plan to fix that for our game against Toronto."
Both Lancer touchdowns were on the ground – one by CJ Mwalwanda and the second by quarterback Lumley. Windsor's offensive yardage ended with 264 on the day – just higher then the overall total of Stephenson in his week one performance (211) while the Golden Hawks finished with 655 yards.
The Lancers (1-1) now travel back to Windsor next hosting the Waterloo Warriors (2-0) on Saturday the 15th of September. The Golden Hawks (2-0) travel to Toronto to face the Varsity Blues (0-2) on Friday at Varsity Stadium. Kickoff for the Friday match is set for 7:00 p.m.
Box Score (Final)
#9 Windsor vs #7 Wilfrid Laurier (Sep 08, 2007 at Waterloo, Ont.)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Windsor............. 3 7 0 7 - 17 Record: (1-1)
Wilfrid Laurier..... 7 6 21 14 - 48 Record: (2-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 01:40 WSR - REIDER, KEVIN 45 yd field goal, 3-6 0:40, WSR 3 - WLU 0
13:06 WLU - Luciani, D 25 yd pass from Noble, I (Mamo, C kick), 10-89 4:46, WSR 3 - WLU 7
2nd 03:13 WLU - Mamo, C 36 yd field goal, 8-50 3:13, WSR 3 - WLU 10
09:14 WLU - Mamo, C 13 yd field goal, 6-69 2:33, WSR 3 - WLU 13
12:46 WSR - LUMLEY, DAN 1 yd run (REIDER, KEVIN kick), 8-75 3:32, WSR 10 - WLU 13
3rd 04:33 WLU - Lynch, R 1 yd run (Mamo, C kick), 10-85 0:00, WSR 10 - WLU 20
06:38 WLU - Lynch, R 23 yd run (Mamo, C kick), 2-67 0:28, WSR 10 - WLU 27
12:15 WLU - Luciani, D 4 yd pass from Noble, I (Mamo, C kick), 10-0 3:50, WSR 10 - WLU 34
4th 00:17 WSR - MWALWANDA, C.J. 1 yd run (REIDER, KEVIN kick), 12-74 0:17, WSR 17 - WLU 34
06:13 WLU - Lynch, R 1 yd run (Mamo, C kick), 7-76 3:05, WSR 17 - WLU 41
09:56 WLU - Luciani, D 57 yd punt return (Mamo, C kick), , WSR 17 - WLU 48
WSR WLU
FIRST DOWNS................... 25 34
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 27-90 40-268
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 174 385
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 25-12-1 29-25-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 52-264 69-657
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-9 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 5-24 7-118
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-125 4-136
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-14
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-34.2 5-38.4
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-15 17-174
Possession Time............... 27:59 26:58
Third-Down Conversions........ 0 of 1 1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-2 0-0
