WATERLOO, Ont. - Just over 4,000 fans packed University Stadium on Saturday for a Homecoming football matchup with the McMaster Marauders. The visitors made the home crowd sweat taking the lead into halftime, but a dominant second half gave the #6 Golden Hawks the 36-9 win.
Tyriq Quayson got the fans on their feet on the game's first play, returning the opening kickoff for 37 yards punctuated by a mean stiff-arm.
The offence made good use of the short field; quarterback Taylor Elgersma connected with his lead receiver Ethan Jordan for a few nice plays to get Laurier to the three-yard line, but McMaster's defence came up with the goal-line stand.
The defensive battle continued through the first quarter. Ife Onyemenam collected a bobbled Marauders pass for his first interception of the season, but McMaster got it right back two plays later when Yohan Tshimbalanga picked off Elgersma's throw.
With the score remaining at 0-0 to start the second quarter, McMaster's defence continued to cause problems for Laurier. Finally, on their eighth drive of the game, Elgersma found Jordan on a deep throw into the wind for a 56-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
McMaster was very effective playing the field position game in the first half thanks in large part to punter Michael Horvat. They were able to turn a two-and-out on the ensuing drive into points as Horvat's 63-yard bomb pinned Laurier back and forced them to concede a safety.
On the next drive, Marauders quarterback stared down a six-man blitz and floated a pass down the sideline to Everett Reid for a 28-yard touchdown. McMaster would take the 9-7 lead into halftime.
"We told the guys all week... [McMaster] is a good opponent that lost some very close, tough games," said head coach Michael Faulds. "At halftime I told the guys, maybe we thought it was going to be easier than it is. [McMaster] isn't going to give us a game, we have to go out and take the game."
"That was the message at halftime, and the guys came out and they took it."
It started with the defence. After Laurier lost the ball on a fumble, Onyemenam forced a fumble on the very next play to get it back. The Golden Hawks took the short field and marched straight to the endzone, scoring on an impressive catch by Jesulayomi Ojutalayo to regain the lead.
McMaster's next drive went two-and-out, and Laurier went back to work. Three big receptions by Jordan set up a 14-yard rush by Elgersma down to the one-yard line. The 6-5 quarterback then called his own number for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
Their next time out, it was consecutive completions to Raidan Thorne that set up a three-yard touchdown rush by Tanner Nelmes to push the lead to 28-9.
The Marauders offence could do nothing against an energized Golden Hawks defence in the fourth quarter. Second-year quarterback Isaac Willis came in for Elgersma in the final minutes, and found Ryan Hughes for both players' first career touchdowns.
With the score 36-9, the final nail in the coffin was Onyemenam's second interception of the game with 16 seconds remaining.
"It was a well-rounded win," said Faulds. "Defensively, we created some turnovers, which is something we hadn't done a ton in this early season. So, to get a couple of turnovers put our offense in good field position."
The box score shows just how dominant a game this turned out to be for Laurier. They converted for 33 first downs, tripling McMaster's 11, and their 630 total offensive yards dwarfed the Marauders' 194.
"It's hard for opposing defences because Taylor does such a great job spreading the ball around," said Faulds. "And we really do have great weapons. They all appreciate each other. None of them care who's the main contributor each week as long as we get the win."
Ethan Jordan was the standout among the receiving corps, recording career-highs in receptions (12) and yards (179). Raidan Thorne (10 receptions, 121 yards) and Jesulayomi Ojutalayo (4 receptions, 114 yards) had big games as well, while Tanner Nelmes had a season high 74 yards on the ground.
Elgersma, meanwhile, had yet another stellar performance. He threw for 430 yards on 31-40 passing for two touchdowns.
"Our offence this year has been lights out," said Onyemenam, whose along with his teammates on defence kept the game close before the offence broke out in the second half. "I feel like right now, we're clicking on all cylinders."
Standing beside Onyemenam post-game was former Golden Hawks linebacker and 2022 Saskatchewan Roughriders draft pick Tommy Bringi.
"I'm just so proud of the development of this team," he said, "and I know they're going to soar a lot higher than anybody expects them to."
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
#5 – Ife Onyemenam
The fifth-year linebacker finished with a team-high 5.5 tackles including a sack. He also forced three turnovers, with two interceptions and a forced fumble.
"I'm ecstatic," he said when asked about what was likely his best game in a Golden Hawks jersey. "I feel like I left some on the field and I definitely have room to improve. But where I'm at right now, I definitely feel like I'm improving every game, so I'm happy."
"Ife was all over the place," said Faulds. "We put good pressure on a really good quarterback in Keegan Hall. [McMaster] made a few plays here and there, but I was proud of our defense."
McMaster Marauders
#23 – Drake Bodi
McMaster's performance defensively in the first half is very impressive considering the calibre of play we've seen recently from Laurier's offence. Leading the way for the Marauders was linebacker Drake Bodi with a game-high 8.5 tackles.
UP NEXT
After winning their fifth straight game to earn their best start to a season since 2007, the Golden Hawks will get a well-deserved break as they head into their bye week.
"I'm proud of the guys," said Faulds. "For the first time ever, we've given a Sunday off, so the guys have tomorrow off."
"We're going to spend the whole bye week getting healthy, but also working towards the second half of the season, which has Ottawa, Windsor, and Western – premier programs in this conference. There are no trophies being handed out now, we have a long road ahead of us and we've got to continue to get better."
They'll face the Ottawa Gee-Gees on the road on October 7 at 8 p.m. at TD Place. Follow @WLUAthletics for live updates and watch live on OUA.tv.
