WATERLOO, Ont. - The 2025 season came to an end on Saturday for the #1-ranked Golden Hawks as they fell to the #6 Queen's Gaels in the 117th Yates Cup.  

The Gaels defense, who has been solid during the entire season, came to play and were dominant. The biggest story of their defensive unit was the interceptions. They were tied for first in defensive interceptions in the regular season with 13, and in two postseason games had six.  

On Laurier's opening drive, Jacob Baldwin intercepted Cal Wither's pass and returned it 41-yards to the Laurier 14, being brought down by Ryan Hughes. The Gaels would cash in on Laurier's mishap and went in front 7-0 just three minutes in.  

Laurier's next drive was foiled by the Gaels as Jared Siewe forced Jaxon Stebbings to fumble the ball, and Queen's took over on their own 51-yard line. The Golden Hawks defense was able to limit the Gaels to only three points with Tyler Mullan's field goal from 35-yards out extending the lead to 10-0. 

Again, it was Laurier's defense coming to the rescue, forcing the two-and-out, but Lewcas Rayner blocked the punt attempt and Isaiah Obiorah recovered.  

Wither and company were unable to come away with the touchdown and settled for three points from Dawson Hodge.  

At the end of the first quarter, the Golden Hawks found themselves down a score at 10-3.  

Both teams traded punts until the 3:28 mark when Mullan's 46-yard field goal split the uprights to extend the Gaels' lead to 13-3.  

Queen's defense continued to hinder Laurier's offensive progress as it was Baldwin again picking off Wither, and Alex Vreeken called his own number for a 5-yard rushing touchdown, and 20-3 lead.  

Still in the second quarter, Wither's day went from bad to worse as he threw another interception that Justin Pace brought back to the house for a pick-six. And, just before the half, Keegan Vanek intercepted Wither.   

Queen's scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter and forced five turnovers, including four interceptions. The Golden Hawks were in an even deeper hole, down 27-3.  

The Golden Hawks tried to claw their way back into the game in the second half. At 12:18, Wither handed off to Quentin Scott who found the end zone and brought the lead down to 27-10. Four minutes later, Hodge made another field goal, and the score was separated by two scores.  

However, Mullan responded with a 37-yard field goal for a 30-13 lead with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.  

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Hawks put up 14 unanswered points on touchdowns from Jesulayomi Ojutalayo and Will Russell, and suddenly the Golden Hawks were within three points at 30-27.  

The Golden Hawks put on a valiant effort but fell just short in the end as the Gaels won their first OUA title since 2009.  

"I was saying at halftime that we dug ourselves into a big hole," manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds said.  

"Last week we were 27-0 going into the half and we played a horrible second half. Today, we played a horrible first half, but we can all agree that we have people in our locker room that can get it done one play at a time." 

"I'm proud of how our guys battled in the second half; they truly did one play at a time. We chipped away at the lead, and we gave ourselves a chance with the last drive of the game." 

"With the deficit we had at the start of the game, not a lot of people would have thought that we could come back, but I told the guys that they needed to believe in all 50 of them wearing the purple jerseys, and they truly did, right until the final play." 

"I'm proud of our guys as always when you finish the season. I'm absolutely gutted for our fifth-year seniors, and there's nothing I can say that is going to help the pit in their stomachs right now. But I told them to keep their heads up, buy a drink for the seniors tonight, stick together, and Laurier football will be back."