Skip To Main Content

Laurier Athletics - Waterloo Campus

Tanner Nelmes rushes the ball against Ottawa.
Greg Kolz
38
Winner LAURIER WLU 5-0
30
OTTAWA OTT 3-2
Winner
LAURIER WLU
5-0
38
Final
30
OTTAWA OTT
3-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WLU LAURIER 8 13 10 7 38
OTT OTTAWA 3 16 3 8 30

Game Recap: Football | | Sam Bellerose

#6 Golden Hawks shine bright under the lights with win over Ottawa

OTTAWA, Ont. - The rain held off for Saturday night's showdown between the #6 Golden Hawks and the Ottawa Gee-Gees at TD Place, but an offensive downpour made for an exciting, back-and-forth affair under the lights.  

In the end, it was the purple and gold coming out on top – 38-30 – to remain undefeated on the season and answer back for last year's heartbreaking Homecoming loss. 

The Gee-Gees didn't quite live up to their name, and it was the Golden Hawks who were the quickest out of the gates in this one. For the third time this season, they ripped off a big chunk of the yards on the opening kickoff, with Titan Gaudun taking it 56 yards this time around. 

Laurier made good use of the short field. An acrobatic catch near the sideline by Raidan Thorne got them down to the two-yard line, and then the offensive line and full backs cleared a path for Taylor Elgersma to walk in for the touchdown. 
 

Ottawa looked to respond with an impressive drive deep into Golden Hawks territory, but a blocked pass by Luke Brubacher followed by an Ethan Gregorcic sack forced the Gee-Gees to settle for a field goal. Laurier would add a rouge and take an 8-3 lead into the second quarter. 

Their next drive saw the start of the Quentin Scott show. The third-year running back broke free for a 46-yard carry to set up Dawson Hodge's first field goal of the night to extend the lead.  

This is where the Golden Hawks have run off with the lead in past games this year, but the Gee-Gees weren't about to be left in the dust. They dialed up a wild play that saw three players touch the ball in the backfield before quarterback Josh Janssen launched a 46-yard pass to Nicholas Gendron, leading to an Amlicar Polk touchdown. 

Laurier then got into penalty trouble, pushing them all the way back to their own 12-yard line and forcing them to concede a safety. 

Now leading 12-11, Ottawa drove back down the field, and Janssen out-ran a Brubacher ambush before shoveling a pass into the endzone for Gendron's second major. 

It was up to Prestige Worldwide to respond, and they did. From 19 yards out, Elgersma tossed a lob to the very back of the endzone, and Thorne beat his mark before diving for what might just be the catch of the year. 
 

"When it left Taylor's hands, I'm like, 'oh no, did he throw too far? Is it out of bounds?" But just incredible body control [by Thorne]," said head coach Michael Faulds. 

Thorne would finish with nine catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. His 86.8 yards per game are good for third in the OUA. 

Hodge added another field goal to give Laurier a 21-19 lead heading into the break. 

The teams would trade field goals early in the third before the Golden Hawks ventured into Gee-Gees territory once again. Patrick Cumberbatch came up with an interception for Ottawa, but a great play by Chris Haggart forced a two-and-out to give Laurier the ball right back.  

A nice catch on a deflected pass by Jaxon Stebbings set up Elgersma's second rushing touchdown of the game. He now ranks fifth in the OUA with five rushing touchdowns, and is the only quarterback in the top 10. His 14 passing touchdowns, meanwhile, are good for second. 

Up 31-22, Quentin Scott then made it a two-score game on the first drive of the first quarter. 
 

Ottawa would win the field position battle over the next four drives – all ending in punts – and Janssen found Robin Collioud for a four-yard touchdown, then connected with Maxim Malenfant for a two-point conversion to make it an eight-point game with 37 seconds to play. 

It was Thorne and Elgersma coming up with big plays yet again, with the former recovering the onside kick attempt and the latter converting on yet another QB sneak for the first down to end the game. 

"I told our guys in the pre-game, I love my family, but there's no place I'd rather be than Thanksgiving weekend playing a football game at night," said Faulds.  

"I'm proud of us. It was a tough game. Obviously, we give a lot of credit to Ottawa. They made a lot of plays, but we showed a lot of resilience. Ottawa had a lead at one point, but we just stuck together and played for each other." 

The Golden Hawks improved to 6-0 and remain tied with the #1 Western Mustangs for first place in the OUA. They'll have to beat both 5-1 Windsor and those very same Mustangs to earn the coveted first-round bye and home field advantage through the OUA playoffs. 

"We knew from the beginning that the second half of our season was a gauntlet, so we're going to find out a lot about ourselves, and tonight showed us that we have a good thing going." 

The Gee-Gees, meanwhile, drop to 3-3 and find themselves in a three-way tie for fourth place. They'll likely need to win their remaining two games to secure home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. 

 

TOP PERFORMERS 


Ottawa Gee-Gees 

#15 – Josh Janssen 

You wouldn't know it from this game, but Janssen is the Gee-Gees third-string quarterback. In just his third career OUA game, he completed 20 of 27 passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions against the fourth-ranked defense in the conference. 

Laurier Golden Hawks 

#14 – Quentin Scott 

Scott finished with a career-high 194 yards on the ground, and recorded his third touchdown of the season. Those numbers are made even more ridiculous considering he also had a 61-yard touchdown which didn't count due to a holding penalty. 

"He made the most of his carries and he was tough to bring down. He saw the field very well... and he'd be the first to credit that offensive line," said Faulds, who clearly knows his player well. 

"It's all about the team. Without them blocking for me, I wouldn't have gotten that many yards," said Scott. "It feels good, it feels great. But if I rushed for 40 yards and we had the same result, it wouldn't matter as long we win." 

The starters on the O-line for Laurier were Cooper Hamilton, Josh Rietveld, Kodi Blackshaw, Lambert Pomerleau, and Tanner Elson. Not only did they clear the way for Scott, but they were also excellent in pass protection all night, and didn't allow a single sack.  

 

UP NEXT 


The Golden Hawks will be back in Waterloo for their final home game of the regular season on Saturday, October 14 at 1 pm at University Stadium. It'll be a Senior Day showdown with the #8 Windsor Lancers. 

"It's going to be two tough games, Windsor and Western," said Scott. We've got to go back home and lock in, put in a good body of work, and just make stuff happen." 

Tickets are on sale now.
Print Friendly Version