WATERLOO, Ont. – The #1-ranked Golden Hawks took to Knight-Newbrough Field for the final home game of the regular season. The October sun shone down on the pregame Senior Day celebrations, setting up the battle between the Golden Hawks and the #8 Queen's Gaels.
"It's always fun on Senior Day. We played extra hard for them," said Laurier's manager of football operations and head coach
Michael Faulds. "I'm so proud of how the guys battled. It seems like when the competition is greater – Western, Queen's today – we play our best brand of football."
The last time the teams met was opening day of 2023 for a battle in the trenches. The Golden Hawks escaped with the 11-10 victory where
Dawson Hodge's rouge ultimately made the difference.
It was expected to be quite the clash between two of the OUA's top-five programs, but the Golden Hawks showed up and showed out, taking down the Gaels 51-21.
History repeated itself as Hodge's punts placed the Gaels in tough spots. After the Hawks' second drive of the game ended on a two-and-out, Hodge hit the ball down to the Queen's 5-yard line, and the Laurier defence kept the tricolours deep in their zone, forcing the Gaels to concede a safety. The Hawks went up 2-0 with 8:39 to play in the first quarter.
Taylor Elgersma led the Golden Hawks from start to finish. On the ensuing Laurier possession, Elgersma found
Jaxon Stebbings 33 yards out who broke the coverage and brought the ball to the Queen's 5-yard line.
Stebbings was rewarded for his hard work. Elgersma with a quick turn to his left faked out the Queen's defence, turning right instead and all Stebbings had to do was bring the ball down for the first major of the game. Hodge's extra point was good as the Hawks took a 9-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining.
The Laurier defence stemmed the next Queen's drive setting up Elgersma and company's return to the field. At 2nd and 10 from the Laurier 29, Elgersma unleashed a rocket to
Layomi Ojutalayo and he was off to the races, breaking one tackle and using the block by
Ethan Jordan went crashing into the end zone for the 81-yard touchdown.
But just as the clock hit zero, Queen's responded with their own long touchdown as Anthony Lio found Matt Camillo for 66 yards. The Golden Hawks led 16-7 after 15 minutes.
The Golden Hawks kept their foot on the gas to start the second quarter. The Gaels limited the dynamic duo of Elgersma and Jordan to only eight yards in the opening frame, but the floodgates broke. Elgersma used the space the offensive line bought him and while there was tight coverage on Jordan, the 45-yard pass made it into Jordan's hands for a first-and-goal scenario.
Ojutalayo put his name on the scoresheet once again after being left wide open he crossed the goal line with ease putting the Hawks up 23-7. Ojutalayo's 85 receiving yards was not only a season-high, but a career-high as well, and Saturday marked his first career multi-touchdown game.
While the Laurier seniors stepped up, so did second-year linebacker
Jessie Wilkins. Using the block from the defensive line, Wilkins went around unmarked and strip-sacked Lio, picking up the recovery on the play. This was Wilkins' first force fumble of his career.
The Gaels responded with Jared Chisari securing the major with 2:30 remaining in the half bringing the Laurier lead down to single digits at 23-14.
But the Golden Hawks had a response from none other than Jordan. And in typical Jordan fashion, he was wide open. Elgersma slung another long-shot 59-yards to Jordan who strolled into the end zone, increasing the score to 30-14.
Just before halftime, Hodge found the uprights from 23 yards out adding three to the Golden Hawks' score, sending the teams into the locker rooms with the purple and gold on top 33-14.
The Queen's offence was left off the scoresheet in the third quarter, marking the seventh time they have been shut, and it proved a costly error as the Golden Hawks tripled their deficit.
An unnecessary roughness penalty against the Gaels set up Laurier well within the tricolour territory where
Raidan Thorne made them pay. With tight coverage, Thorne was able to get his toes down just in time for his second touchdown of the season.
Hodge's 61-yard kickoff tied up the Gaels returner, paired with the speed of Ojutalayo and Kojo Kodua who stemmed the return effort. Queen's conceded their second safety of the game, digging themselves into a 42-14 hole.
In the fourth quarter, senior running back Tanner Nelmes capped off a 104 rushing yard day with a touchdown of his own. After being denied a path on his first attempt, he pulled back, and lowering his shoulder pushed the Queen's defenceman back, putting six points on the board. Hodge's extra point was a no-doubter, giving the Hawks a 49-14 lead.
Matteo Laquintana was inspired by Wilkins's triple crown sack, fumble, and recovery earlier in the game, and made himself acquainted with Lio. Laquintana brought Lio down and Jayden Griffiths was right there to recover the fumble. Laquintana picked up his second sack and first career force fumble.
Hodge once again proved difficult to handle as the Gaels gave up their third safety of the day, and with 5:21 remaining in the game, the Gaels could not escape the hole they dug themselves as their third touchdown of the game at 1:06 was not enough to ground the high-flying Golden Hawks.
Laurier handed Queen's their second loss in a row, triumphing 51-21. The 51 points put up by the Golden Hawks are a season-high, and the 30-point gap is also their highest margin of victory on the season.
Season and career highs came in plenties, but the lucky number was four for three senior Hawks. Elgersma ended the day with 417 passing yards and five touchdowns, the fourth time with over 400 yards in his career, while Nelmes's 104 rushing yard day was the fourth game this season breaking the 100-yard marker, and Jordan collected 183 receiving yards which is his fourth game thus far breaking the century mark.
"A bunch of receivers stepped up today," Elgersma said. "Being able to find guys to get the ball to, and then they make plays after the catch, you have to give them all the credit."
"Senior Day means a lot to us. We put a lot of time into this program, and we watch this thing year after year get better and better. So being able to do this on Senior Day is great not only for me, but for all our seniors."
"All three of our phases contributed," said Faulds. "Taylor [Elgersma] was airtight with all of his passes. He was that field general, that leader for us today."
On the defensive end, Faulds said, "14 of [Queen's] points came in the first half, and we really hunkered down there in the second half … Our defence stepped up really well. We put pressure on their quarterback, so great play all around."
Up Next
The 6-0 Golden Hawks make the trip to Windsor, Ont., to face the #5 Windsor Lancers on Friday night under the lights. Laurier looks to keep the heat on as the Lancers will be determined to get back into the win column after falling to the #10 Guelph Gryphons.
"It's going to be a slugfest. [Windsor] is a tough team, they play a tough brand of football. It's a short week, we haven't played on a Friday in a little bit, so we've got just six days … [but] we'll have a focused group ready to play." Faulds said.
Thank you, Seniors
Before the game, the Golden Hawks' 19 graduating players, student performance coach, and student trainers were honoured as part of the Senior Day celebrations. They are:
Student Performance Coach Alice Baker
Student Trainer Sydney Anderson
Student Trainer Chiara Weinhardt
Student Trainer Abigail Warren
#50 – LS – Jason MacGougan
#22 – K/P – Dawson Hodge
#92 – DL – Ivan Xu
#95 – DL – Matt Caruso
#91 – DL – Abraham Odiase
#77 – DL – Chisanem Nsitem
#33 – LB – Jayden Griffiths
#28 – DB – Maliek Cote
#25 – DB – Johari Hastings
#26 – DB – Ethan Bayfield
#64 – OL – Lambert Pomerleau
#67 – OL – Tanner Elson
#68 – OL – Josh Rietveld
#69 – OL – Cooper Hamilton
#44 – FB – Max Harris
#82 – WR – Anthony Briscoe
#18 – WR – Raidan Thorne
#4 – WR – Ethan Jordan
#13 – QB – Taylor Elgersma
