WATERLOO, Ont. - A cold and windy Saturday afternoon, a blanket of falling leaves covering the campus, and late-season football with playoff implications. Welcome to Laurier in the fall. 

With the Guelph Gryphons making the short trip to Waterloo to face the Golden Hawks, the purple and gold had an opportunity to answer back for last year's OUA quarterfinal loss, in which Guelph eliminated Laurier. They did just that, defeating the Gryphons 38-25 and putting an end to their playoff hopes. 

The wind was a significant factor all game, and its presence was felt early as Guelph struggled to move the ball against it in the first quarter. Laurier's first drive with the wind at their backs, on the other hand, lasted 12 plays and spanned 84 yards, though strong goal-line defence by the Gryphons forced the Golden Hawks to settle for a field goal. 

After forcing a two-and-out on the ensuing Guelph posession, Laurier quickly added to their lead with a 33-yard touchdown pass on the first play to Ben McAlpine, whose 92 yards today were a career high. After making the extra point, kicker Dawson Hodge's kickoff carried through the back of the endzone for an unconventional two-point conversion. 

Guelph once again struggled to respond on offense, and after another two-and-out their punt was blocked by Taylor Stalkie to force a turnover. The Golden Hawks would add another field goal to take a 14-0 lead into the second quarter. 

Now with the wind on their side, the Gryphons began to roll offensively, scoring a touchdown just over a minute into the frame.  

Though Laurier's offense was able to put some plays together going the other way, a few errant passes and a fumble resulted in turnovers on three straight drives. The first, an interception, resulted in a Guelph field goal, while a fumble on the next drive was followed by another Gryphon two-and-out. 

The third turnover, however, was a pick-six by Guelph's Siriman Harrison Bagayogo to give Guelph the lead 18-14 heading into halftime.  

"We actually had great drives in that second quarter," said Head Coach and Manager of Football Operations Michael Faulds, "but there were self-inflicted wounds. We were turning the ball over. So we said at halftime, if we just cut out turning the ball over and continue to move the ball as we were in the first half, we should be able to put this thing away." 

Laurier's offense in the first half was led by Quentin Scott, who had 111 yards on 19 carries at halftime. In the second half, the offense was much more spread out. Taylor Elgersma, who had only 99 yards on five completions with two interceptions in the first half, was a perfect nine for nine in the second.  

"Taylor had a couple mistakes early on in that second quarter, but then he settled down nicely," said Faulds. 

Meanwhile, Scott added another 33 yards while taking a back seat to Tanner Nelmes, whose 127 yards on the day were just three short of his career high. 

While Scott has emerged as a go-to offensive option for the Golden Hawks, Faulds has emphasized since before the start of the season the benefits of having two reliable running backs, and says both players have fully embraced this mindset. 

"Whatever is going to help us win, help us succeed, they're willing to do that." 

Scott himself was quick to praise Nelmes for his performance today, and says the two are close friends. "Ever since I was a rookie, he's always had my back. He helped me when I was coming into the program. So yeah, that's my guy." 

The third quarter was relatively quiet, with neither team threatening the endzone for the first few drives. Laurier was finally able to regain the lead with a touchdown from Nelmes with four minutes left in the period. 

Leading 21-18 heading into the final frame, Laurier was able to not only defend their lead against the wind but also add to it, as both Scott and Nelmes both found the endzone while Hodge made his third field goal of the night. 

Laurier's defence and special teams also had their fair share of highlight plays, including a forced fumble by Dawson Hodge on his own kickoff which Darion Bacik-Hadden recovered. Meanwhile, Jordan Veltri and Brandon Omonuwa got through for sacks on back-to-back plays, while Omonuwa added a second sack later in the quarter. 

Those are Omonuwa's first two sacks of the season, a surprising stat for a player of his stature. "Seeing a guy like Brandon, one of our leaders, get home a couple times is great," said Faulds. 

With the win, Laurier's first at home this season, they improve to 5-2 and extend their winning streak to three games. Guelph, meanwhile, falls to 1-6. 

TOP PERFORMERS 

Laurier Golden Hawks 

While Scott and Nelmes each had another in a long list of impressive games this season, today's dominance on the ground would not have been possible without strong performances from Laurier's offensive line. Tonight's starting five were Tyler Potvin, Alex Pigozzo, Max Harris, Tanner Elson, and Cooper Hamilton. 

"The O-line did their thing, they do their thing every week," said Scott.  

Guelph Gryphons 

Leading the way defensively for Guelph was linebacker Brandon Ferigo with 11 solo tackles and 13.5 total tackles. Ferigo now leads the OUA in tackles per game with 7.5. 

UP NEXT 

The Golden Hawks will be back at University Stadium next Saturday October 22 at 1 p.m. when they host the Queen's Gaels. A win over Queen's and some help from Western would put them in position to claim the second seed in the conference. Tickets are on sale now.