LONDON, Ont. - "Football's a game of momentum, you look for a couple of spark plays here and there to give you momentum... we just didn't have that."
For most of this season, the Golden Hawks have been an unstoppable force. They steamrolled their cross-town rivals in the first round of the OUA playoffs, and broke through a defensive powerhouse in the semifinal to reach their first Yates Cup since 2016.
That's where their season ended today, however, as they met the unmovable object that is the Western Mustangs, who won their third straight Yates Cup by a score of 29-14.
It was all Western to begin the game. Despite missing their first and second-string running backs, backups Ethan Dolby and Troy Thompson looked good behind the perennially dominant Mustangs offensive line.
The running game made the difference in this one, and Dolby and Thompson finished with 120 and 113 yards, respectively.
They led a solid opening drive ending in a field goal. After forcing a Laurier two-and-out, Western got the ball right back and drove all the way to the two-yard line. The Golden Hawks came up with a goal-line stand, but couldn't move the ball on offence and were forced to concede a safety. The Mustangs led 5-0 at the end of the first.
The purple and gold found life in the second quarter. Ethan Jordan found room to run on a check-down and got Laurier into the redzone, and a toe-tap catch on the sideline by Jaxon Stebbing spotted the ball on Western's six-yard line.
Two runs got them only four yards closer, so Taylor Elgersma took the snap in shotgun formation on third-and-goal and found a wide-open Jordan for the touchdown.
On the next drive, Mustangs quarterback Evan Hillock was hit by a flock of Golden Hawks and suffered a dislocated shoulder on his non-throwing side. Backup pivot Jerome Rancourt struggled to move the ball through the air, and Laurier took advantage, forcing three straight punts on defence.
A big run from Quentin Scott set up another scoring chance, and this time it was Elgersma taking it himself on a gritty run from eight yards out.
A Western field goal cut Laurier's lead to 14-8 before halftime.
"We had the lead at halftime, and we weren't happy with how we were executing in the first half. We felt like it could have been better," said manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds.
"Credit to Western. They're a well-coached team and they played an outstanding third quarter. We just couldn't seem to get anything together offensively."
Echoing their shut-down of Queen's in last week's semifinal, the Mustangs defence looked outstanding to start the second half. They forced two straight two-and-outs, and the offence converted with two field goals to tie the game at 14-14.
The dam finally broke when Elgersma was picked off by Ryan Barthelson. Hillock, back into the game despite the injury, let fly a deep pass to Seth Robertson which the tired Laurier secondary had no chance of catching up to. Suddenly, Western held a 21-14 lead.
"The defence did everything they could to try to keep us in it and give us a chance. But in the end, our D got tired and our offense didn't produce enough points."
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as the Mustangs relied on their running game to wear down the defence and wind down the clock. The Golden Hawks put together an impressive drive in the final minutes, but even the touchdown that didn't come would have been too little, too late.
It went down on the scoresheet as a second half shutout for Western.
"You look to continue to get better every single week and we had done that for the most part this season, but this wasn't our best game of the year. And to do that against this quality of opponent in the Yates Cup, that's disappointing."
"I'm proud of us for fighting till the end," said Elgersma. "Obviously not where we wanted to go, but we've got to just be better from it, learn from it. We'll have a good offseason."
"I told the guys, be proud of this season. We took big steps for this program. Ultimately, it's a sad day for our seniors... so just support them," added Faulds, "and when the sun comes up tomorrow, reflect back on this season very positively."
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
#25 – Johari Hastings
A great performance by Laurier's defence kept the game close until the fourth quarter, and Hastings led the way with five solo tackles. In man coverage, he was often matched up against OUA second team all-star receiver Mohsen Jamal, who he helped hold without a reception.
Western Mustangs
#14 – Brian Garrity
This year's Yates Cup MVP is Mustangs' kicker Brian Garrity. The London native was a perfect six for six on his field goal attempts, including a long of 45. Including his extra point, he scored 19 of Western's 29 points.
UP NEXT
The seniors Faulds referred to include key contributors like Hastings, Luke Brubacher, Brandon Omonuwa, Nico McCarthy, Tanner Nelmes, Cooper Hamilton, and Ife Onyemenam, who you'll likely see in a Toronto Argos jersey next season.
Returning for the Golden Hawks, however, will be the offensive core of Elgersma, Jordan, Scott, and Raidan Thorne, as well as the OUA rookie of the year, linebacker Ethan Gregorcic.
"This year was a stepping stone," said Faulds. "Obviously, we wanted to win this game and win a couple more after this. So, are we disappointed that we didn't reach our lofty goals? Yes."
"But we have a good nucleus coming back, and I'm sure we'll have team meetings this week to discuss that. But for right now we're just going to support our guys and be proud of what we did this year."
