WATERLOO, Ont. - 2,137 fans were in attendance for Saturday's OUA semifinal between the #3 Golden Hawks and #9 Windsor Lancers. And yet early in the fourth quarter, you could have heard a pin drop at University Stadium.
A week after one of the most dominant performances ever put together by a Laurier football team, the purple and gold found themselves down a touchdown with 12 minutes left in the final frame.
It didn't take long for the crowd to roar to life along with Laurier's offence, as Taylor Elgersma led consecutive touchdown drives to flip the script and book the program's first trip to the Yates Cup final since 2017.
"We're excited, you can see it, just look around at the smiles on everyone's faces, we're all excited," said fifth-year linebacker Ife Onyemenam.
Manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds warned fans not to put too much stock into the Golden Hawks' 40-7 beatdown of the Lancers in the teams' previous meeting, but it was hard to think of anything else as Laurier comfortably moved down the field on the game's opening drive.
Elgersma had all the time in the world to find a wide-open Ethan Jordan for a touchdown to give his team a 7-0 lead just two and a half minutes in.
It would be the last time the Golden Hawks offence looked comfortable for a long time. After Windsor responded with a field goal, Elgersma found Raidan Thorne to get back into the redzone, but Jason Rushatsi stripped the ball from Quentin Scott to force a turnover.
Nico McCarthy got the ball right back for Laurier with an interception which he returned back to the Lancers' 15-yard line, but Windsor came up with a pick of their own on the next play as Robert Springer tracked down Elgersma's shot at the endzone.
The score would stay 7-3 through one quarter.
Another interception, this time by Maceo Christmas, halted the Golden Hawks' next drive 29 yards from the goal line. They went two-and-out on their next two trips.
Laurier's defence held the Lancers to just a field goal over that stretch, and the purple and gold took a one-point lead into the half.
The third quarter saw more defensive battling between two of the best defensive teams in the country. Windsor's defensive line – arguably the best in U SPORTS this season – continuously put pressure on Elgersma and shut down the run game.
The Golden Hawks were equally strong on the ground, while their secondary blanketed Lancer receivers, recording seven pass breakups as a team in the game.
The only points in the quarter came on a conceded safety by Laurier that gave Windsor an 8-7 lead heading into the fourth.
The Lancers came up with another turnover early in the final period when Istvan Assibo-Dadzie knocked the ball out of Jace Atkinson's hands and Christmas returned it to the Laurier 25.
Quarterback Nick Dimovski – making his first career start after coming in for Danny Skelton in the third quarter of last week's quarterfinal against Carleton – finished off a four-play drive with a nine-yard touchdown run.
A high snap on the extra point attempt kept it a seven-point game. Trailing by a touchdown, the Golden Hawks finally found an answer.
15 and 14-yard receptions by Ethan Jordan got Laurier into the redzone, and from there it was all Quentin Scott. He nearly broke the plane on a reception that was ruled out of bounds at the two-yard line. Then, after being stuffed for a loss of two on the ground, he got open in the endzone where Elgersma was able to find him under heavy pressure for the game-tying score.
Looking to respond, Windsor made it to midfield but were stopped on second and long by Onyemenam, who flew into the backfield to knock down Dimovski's pass.
"Words can't describe how happy I was," said the Toronto Argonauts draft pick. "But you know, it's a team effort. I can't just be proud of myself. The defensive line did their job, and I knew that if I missed it, the DBs would have got it."
Now looking more like the dominant offence we've seen all season, it took the Golden Hawks just six plays to find the endzone again. Elgersma threaded a pass between two defenders to find Raidan Thorne for the go-ahead major.
The defence then made no mistake protecting the lead on Windsor's final drive, with
Maliek Cote-Azore and
Johari Hastings each making huge plays to keep the Lancers out of the endzone.
"Our offense struggled at times, but we always knew that they were going to come back at some point," said Onyemenam. "It's just our job to make sure that we kept rolling and gave them a chance to come back. So I'm really proud of our effort."
"Today, what we learned is that we have a tough, resilient team," said Faulds.
"When they got the touchdown to go up seven points, it would have been easy for us, a team that's won a lot of games this year, to have slumped shoulders to get on each other. But we stayed together, kept positive energy... and we made some incredible plays."
"We're one of only eight teams still alive right now – two teams in Ontario. So it's coming to that time of year where every game, no matter how you win, you just want to get out. We got out and we're happy we did that."
TOP PERFORMERS
Windsor Lancers
#20 – Istvan Assibo-Dadzie
Windsor gave what was likely the best complete-game performance on defence the Golden Hawks have had to face this season. Assibo-Dadzie had four solo tackles including a tackle for loss, and gets the nod for his forced fumble which set up his team's only touchdown.
Laurier Golden Hawks
#14 – Quentin Scott
With Windsor shutting down Laurier's air attack, the Golden Hawks relied on Scott, who carried the ball 20 times for 111 yards. He added 14 yards on four receptions, including the game-tying touchdown.
UP NEXT
It's the matchup most have been expecting all season long in the Yates Cup final – Laurier and Western.
"I'm just so proud of the body of work to get to this point. But I told the guys, enjoy the win, but don't celebrate too much because we've got a big test in front of us, and ultimately it's about winning the next game," said Faulds.
"We're not just pleased at getting to the Yates Cup, we're trying to win and we're trying to go beyond."
The Golden Hawks will face the #1 Mustangs on Saturday, November 11 at Alumni Stadium in London. Information on tickets and travel accommodations will be available soon.
