LONDON, Ont. - A season defined by resilience finally ran out of time for the Golden Hawks.
#7-ranked Western scored 24 second-quarter points and capitalized on a pair of Laurier turnovers en route to a 58-41 victory over the #9-ranked Golden Hawks in their OUA football quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at Western Alumni Stadium.
The quarterfinal showdown came just one week after Laurier stunned Western 55-39 in the regular season finale, a must-win victory that clinched a playoff berth for the Golden Hawks and set up the rematch.
Laurier looked poised to carry that momentum into Saturday's contest when running back
Tayshaun Jackson capped the game's opening drive with a two-yard touchdown run for an early 7-0 lead.
Western answered quickly and took control in a decisive second quarter.
Leading 10-7 after the opening frame, the Mustangs turned a
Will Russell interception and a Laurier fumble into touchdowns, outscoring the Golden Hawks 24-7 in the quarter. By halftime, Western had built a 34-14 advantage and appeared firmly in command.
The Golden Hawks, however, refused to go quietly.
Russell engineered an 84-yard touchdown drive to open the second half, connecting with graduating tight end and Saskatchewan Roughriders draft pick
Ryan Speight for a 29-yard touchdown.Â
Later in the quarter, the Laurier quarterback found
Keyon Robinson on a 39-yard scoring strike before connecting twice with
Jaxon Stebbings in the fourth quarter as the Golden Hawks attempted to claw their way back into the game.
Russell continued his torrid finish to the season, completing 33 of 46 passes for 440 yards and five touchdowns. The veteran quarterback eclipsed the 400-yard mark for the third consecutive game and threw five touchdown passes for the second straight week.
Jackson added 105 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries while also contributing 52 receiving yards.Â
Stebbings produced the best performance of his university career, recording a team and career-high 110 receiving yards on eight catches while scoring twice.
Despite trailing by as many as 27 points, Laurier continued to battle throughout the second half, eventually pulling within 10 points when Stebbings hauled in a two-yard touchdown pass with just over two minutes remaining. A two-point conversion pass attempt to make it a one-possession game went incomplete.
Western answered with a touchdown on the ensuing drive to put the game away.
"Even when the score got a little out of hand at the beginning, we kept fighting, we kept sticking together, kept trusting the process and gave ourselves a chance to come back in this game," Stebbings said. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys for just fighting, sticking together and trusting each other."
Western's offence proved too much to contain over four quarters. Quarterback Ben Casselman threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing major, while Ethan Dolby rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown as the Mustangs piled up 679 yards of total offence. Dasani McIntosh added nine receptions for 171 yards and a score.
For Laurier's manager of football operations and head coach
Todd Galloway, the difference ultimately came down to mistakes against one of the conference's elite teams.
"We knew that we were going to get a much, much better fight this time," Galloway said. "So we had to play mistake-free football, and a couple of penalties crept back in and a couple of turnovers that we couldn't afford."
Even so, Galloway was proud of the way his team continued to compete.
"Super proud of how they just kept swinging," he said. "So 41 points against a defence after a couple turnovers is a big deal."
The comeback effort was emblematic of a Laurier team that spent much of the season overcoming adversity. The Golden Hawks started the year 1-3 and later sat at 2-4 before winning critical games down the stretch to earn a postseason berth.
"I think we were a very resilient team," said Speight. "There are only a few teams you can put out there that get four losses and make playoffs and play your heart out in the last two games in the regular season being playoff games. We had conviction across the board, and that's all you can ask for."
That resilience was not lost on Galloway, who completed his first season as Laurier's head coach after taking over the program ahead of the campaign.
"When we were 1-3, when we were 2-4, a lot of people wrote this team off," Galloway said. "So I'm just very proud of how hard they fought, very proud of the fact that they didn't give up to the very end."
As the reality of the season-ending loss began to sink in, both Galloway and Speight reflected on the group's senior class and the finality of university football careers.
"My mind goes to the seniors," Galloway said. "The guys who aren't going to get a chance to come back and avenge some of what happened today. We've got a bright future. We've got a lot of young guys who are growing up along the way. But right now I'm thinking about those guys."
For Speight, Saturday marked the end of a distinguished Laurier career.
"It goes by very quickly," he said. "You can get lost in the process and trying to get better and everything, but you only have a certain amount of time wearing the purple and gold. But I have no regrets."
