WATERLOO, Ont. - While it was not the ideal circumstance for Laurier with a last-minute venue change, manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds said the team has "the mindset that we'll play anyone anywhere."Â
The #1-ranked Golden Hawks hit the gridiron for the 59th edition of the Battle of Waterloo against cross-town rivals the Waterloo Warriors. The rivalry game did not disappoint as the Golden Hawks extended their winning streak to five games over the Warriors with a 41-19 win. Â
It was another slow start for the Golden Hawks, but the Warriors reciprocated, and after the first 15-minutes, the scoreboard showed zeros. Â
"We're always trying to go 1-0, and obviously it wasn't pretty. Scoreless first quarter, kind of feeling it out, but our offense came alive in the second quarter, and we did enough," Faulds said.Â
Laurier's offense not only came out alive, but scorching hot in the second quarter. The Golden Hawks put up 24-points in the frame, marking the most points in a single quarter this season for the team, and the third highest single quarter point total in the OUA. Â
Cal Wither and Ethan Jordan continued to show off their connection, and that began just 15 seconds into the second quarter. Lined up at the Waterloo seven-yard line, Wither faked the hand-off to Tayshaun Jackson which left Jordan wide open for the touchdown at 14:45. Â
The Warriors came right back and made a valiant effort down field, eating over five minutes off the clock on an 11-play 82-yard drive, but the Laurier defense stood their ground. On third and a long two, Nick Orr was swallowed up by a sea of purple and was unable to move the sticks, putting Wither and company back on the field. Â
The Golden Hawks started deep in their own zone, yet Wither was unphased as he rolled left and found none other but Jordan, wide open, on the sideline. Jordan kicked it into high gear, and aided by a block from Jace Atkinson, sped right into the endzone for his second touchdown of the quarter. Â
Jordan set a new career high with an 88-yard touchdown reception, which broke his previous high of 81-yards that he set just last weekend. Â
The Golden Hawks were up 14-0 at the 9:30 marker. Â
"We respect this team. We knew after 3-0 it'd be easy to take our foot off the gas, but we brought energy and effort," Jordan said. "Shoutout coach Galloway. He sees things in the booth, and he takes advantage of the defense and exposes them in different ways." Â
"He's special. It's nice to see the rapport him and Cal have gained over these quick four weeks. Ethan continues to impress everyone. I know every team knows that number four is going to get the ball, so that makes it even more impressive," Faulds said about his number one receiver.Â
The Warriors would add a field goal at 5:55 to put the score at 14-3. Â
However, the Golden Hawks kept pushing and showed they can score with the run game too. Quentin Scott was lined up in the backfield and took the hand-off from Wither, dodging not only tackles but the referee, and went 24-yards into the endzone for his first touchdown of the season.Â
With 2:45 remaining in the half, the Golden Hawks pushed the Warriors into a 21-3 deficit. Â
Waterloo responded with a touchdown of their own which was just their fourth passing major of the year.Â
Dawson Hodge added a 30-yard field goal right as the buzzer went, and the Golden Hawks went into the half up 24-10. Â
Laurier's defense continued to fluster the Warriors in the third quarter. On Waterloo's opening drive that found them on Laurier's 32-yard line facing third-and-two, the Warriors, who were perfect on third down conversions, decided to go for it. Â
Perfect no longer. Waterloo's centre sent a sky-high snap over the head, and off the hands, of running back Anthony Miller and Jessie Wilkins jumped right on the loose ball.Â
"The big thing for us is finding consistency, and that's something we've been striving for every week," Wilkins said about the defensive unit. Â
A flag would push the Golden Hawks back into their territory and Wither's 18-yard run was not enough to refresh the downs, sending Hodge to punt. Â
But Hodge did, in fact, not punt. Instead, Hodge pulled out the trick play and ran it himself for the first down. Â
Wither and Jordan went right back to work. Jordan swooped in from the outside to take the toss from Wither and went right into the endzone for his third touchdown of the afternoon. The Golden Hawks extended their lead to 31-10 with 7:11 left in the third. Â
Jordan ended his day with eight receptions for 177-yards and a trio of touchdowns. He now leads the OUA and U SPORTS in touchdowns (6), is second in total receiving yards (542), and is third in receiving yards per game. Â
Plus, Jordan has surpassed the century mark in all four games thus far. Â
His three-touchdown performance also ties Laurier football's program record in game touchdowns, putting himself alongside former Golden Hawks Andre Talbot, Joel Wright, Bryon Hickey, and Anthony Pizzuti. Â
"Honestly, I didn't know that, so it's great news and I feel great about it," Jordan said. "I have a great team around me and great coaches, but it's a team effort." Â
The Warriors added a touchdown and forced the Golden Hawks to concede a safety, putting the score at 31-19 going into the fourth quarter. Â
After the teams exchanged two-and-outs, the Golden Hawks padded their lead. At 6:43, Wither aired out a 42-yard pass that found a wide-open Ryan Hughes for the walk-in touchdown. Hodge's extra point put Laurier ahead 38-19.Â
Wither finished the game with his fourth straight game of 200-plus passing yards with 299, four touchdowns, and a 76% completion rate. Â
He ranks first in passing touchdowns (11) in the conference and nation, fourth in the OUA and fifth in U SPORTS in total yards (1,042), and first in the OUA and third in U SPORTS in pass efficiency (179.5). Â
Hodge would make a 32-yard field goal at 0:32 for the final score of 41-19. The fourth quarter saw the Warriors held off the scoresheet for the second time on the day, and marked the first time this season that Waterloo has been shutout in two quarters in a game. Â
Despite being the #1-ranked team and having a 4-0 record, Faulds and the team know they have plenty to improve on. Â
"I haven't been thrilled after any of our games because we can play so much better," Faulds said. "You look at a nil-nil score in the first quarter and that's not what we wanted to do, but we made enough plays." Â
"It could be worse. We could be at the bottom of the standings and playing poor football, but I'm going to hold them to the demands of if we want to win an Ontario championship, a national title, we've got to get better every week."Â
Wither echoed his coach's sentiment, saying, "I think we're not playing our best football right now, and I think there's a lot of opportunity to continue to grow and get better."Â
UP NEXTÂ
The Golden Hawks head to the nation's capital to face the Ottawa Gee-Gees.Â
"I told our guys that we're going to flush this game, put it to bed, and we're going against a 3-1 team. Ottawa's a good team, and they're well coached," said Faulds. Â
Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm on September 20.
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