WATERLOO, Ont. - The Golden Hawks officially closed the book on the most successful football season in six years on Saturday, as the team hosted their end-of-season banquet.

"Our yearly banquet is always a good time," said the manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds. "Handing out the team awards and watching the season highlights is great, but my favourite part is hearing our seniors come up to the podium, and one by one speaking about what Laurier Football has meant to them."

Thirteen Golden Hawks will be moving on after graduating this year: offensive lineman Cooper Hamilton, full back Nathan Brooks, defensive backs Daniel Loggale, Zach Harvey, Joel Gilmour, Christopher Haggart, Duncan Naudie, and Nico McCarthy, linebackers Brady Loenhart and Ife Onyemenam, defensive linemen Luke Brubacher and Brandon Omonuwa, and running back Tanner Nelmes.

"This senior group has all left incredible impacts in their four, five, or six years here. They battled through the adversity of the cancelled 2020 season, stayed positive and truly improved every year as individuals and as a group," said Faulds.

Hamilton, McCarthy, Onyemenam, Brubacher, and Omonuwa were all named OUA all-stars. Onyemenam, a 2023 CFL fifth-round draft pick, recently re-signed with the Toronto Argonauts, while McCarthy signed as an undrafted free agent with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Hamilton and Omonuwa were co-recipients of the night's first major award: Lineman of the Year. 

Hamilton anchored an offensive line that was effective all season for Laurier. Lining up at both outside tackle positions, Hamilton was often tasked with guarding the opponent's best pass rusher and was invaluable in protecting quarterback Taylor Elgersma.

Omonuwa was a wrecking ball at the defensive tackle position, taking on double-teams on most snaps and disrupting pass and run plays. He finished the season with 33 total tackles, including four tackles for loss and two sacks.

Matthew Brandon was named Special Teams MVP. A fixture in the team's kicking units, Brandon recorded 13.5 tackles, often pinning teams back or stopping big returns.

Defensive MVP went to Onyemenam, who was a first-team All-Canadian. He led the Golden Hawks with 36.5 total tackles and, was good for eleventh in the conference. He also ranked twelfth in the OUA with five tackles for loss and tied for second with three interceptions.

The team's other first-team All-Canadian was recognized as Offensive MVP. Receiver Ethan Jordan led all U SPORTS receivers in receptions (60) and receiving yards (749), while his five touchdowns tied him for sixth. 
Brubacher took home the Laurier Leader Award. The former walk-on hadn't even put on a football helmet until the team's 2021 training camp, but quickly grew into one of the best defensive players in U SPORTS. He finished the 2023 season with an OUA third-best six sacks.

"All of our major award winners not only have the utmost respect from our coaches and players, but they also earned the respect from coaches and players throughout U Sports with what great seasons they had," said Faulds. "Like most years, it is a challenge for our coaches thinking of who should take home the trophies as we have many worthy candidates."

The one award he and the staff did not deliberate much on was Team MVP, which went to the OUA's MVP, quarterback Taylor Elgersma.

Elgersma had arguably the best regular season ever by a Golden Hawks quarterback. He broke the program records for single-season passing yards (2,641) and completions (206), and the OUA record for single-season completion rate (75.2%), all categories in which he paced the conference.

Faulds and his returning players now turn their attention to next season, in which they'll look to resolve some unfinished business left by this year's Yates Cup loss. For those seniors hoping to move on to professional football, the list of invitees to this year's CFL combine was announced on Thursday.