It was October 9, 2015. The Golden Hawks had stumbled out of the gate to start the season at 1-3 but bounced-back with a 42-0 win at Waterloo that featured a Golden Hawks rushing attack that ran for almost 400 yards, led by 241 yards from Dillon Campbell.

Campbell remains Laurier's all-time leading rusher and, of note, in that same game, Levondre Gordon had his first career carries and later became the program's second all-time leading rusher.

But now it was a Friday night in October, and the Golden Hawks were hosting the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Ottawa was also 2-3, and this was a must-win game for both teams. Ottawa's high-powered offence had been averaging 41.5 yards per game.

Eric Morrelli played high school football for Notre Dame Secondary School in Burlington, and he also played summer ball with the Burlington Stampeders. He admitted to being a late addition to the roster during the recruiting season and said he chose Laurier because of the BBA co-op program, to which he was accepted. He knew he wasn't seen as the long-term plan for Laurier at quarterback. He played a bit in 2014 (his third year with the team), but threw only eight passes all season.

In 2015, the Golden Hawks' quarterback position was a bit unsettled. James Fracas started the season as the team's #1 but was hurt in an exhibition game in Saskatchewan.

In the regular season opener, Eric Morelli started and performed well, throwing three touchdown passes in a victory over York, but Fracas came back to start the next two games.

Morelli returned to be the starter in games four and five, but only threw for a total of 168 yards (with one touchdown pass and two interceptions) in those games.

I vividly remember sitting with a quarterback recruit and his father (who were, ironically, from the Ottawa area) before the Ottawa game and telling them to "temper their expectations," meaning that it was going to be a 'tough ask' to have Morelli and the Laurier offence keep pace with Ottawa. Well, I was quite happy to be proven wrong.

On that night, Morelli tied a school record (accomplished twice by Bill Kubas and later matched by Taylor Elgersma) by throwing for six touchdown passes. He completed 20 of 24 pass attempts for 298 yards.
 

Anthony Pizzuti caught three of those touchdown passes, while Greg Nyhof caught two, and a certain rookie named Kurleigh Gittens Jr. had seven catches for 141 yards and his first career touchdown catch.

Almost forgotten on the night was the fact that Dillon Campbell rushed for 246 yards on 37 carries.

For all intents and purposes, this game was over at the half as WLU led 41-10. The final score was 65-30 in favour of the Golden Hawks. Laurier went on to make the playoffs (Ottawa did not) with a huge road victory at Queen's two weeks later.

2015 Season Laurier Football vs Ottawa

When asked to recall how he felt before that game over 11 years ago, Morelli stated that he didn't really feel nervous, but he knew he needed to play very well for the team to have a chance against the Gee-Gees. He felt that it was really only after his fifth touchdown pass, which put the team up 55 to 10 in the third quarter, that he appreciated that this game was unlike any other game he had ever played in his entire life.

Ottawa had rallied to score a few touchdowns in the second half. Morelli said he focused on closing out the game to ensure the victory instead of chasing individual stats. That being said, in the fourth quarter, he threw his sixth TD pass to Pizzuti to put the team up 65-22.

Morelli recalled the most memorable play being a long touchdown pass he threw to Gittens Jr., only later realizing that "KGJ" would become one of the best Laurier players in school history and a CFL star. He also remembered the stellar game that Dillon Campbell had that evening. Here's what others had to say about Morelli's epic performance:

Nyhof, a senior receiver on the team who had 83 career catches for 1,388 yards and 13 touchdowns over his career, reflected on how it was a night game on a Friday night before Thanksgiving weekend.

"We had a short week of practice, but we had some momentum from the week before with Morelli getting the start in an easy victory over Waterloo. I think that was the week that Eric got the nickname "The Mailman" because he always delivered," Nyhof said.

"I remember feeling very positive that we were going to beat Ottawa. I recall being very excited about that game because my whole family was there, including my sister, who, at the time, was attending school in the USA. It was special to catch a couple of touchdown passes and be part of Morelli tying that record."

Scott Hutter was a rookie defensive back at Laurier in 2015. A CFL player since 2019, Hutter remembered that game very well.

"I was a rookie defensive back in 2015 trying to contribute on defence and special teams. The team was still searching for its identity," Hutter said. "We knew, on offence, we were a run-first team. We had the leading rusher in the country, Dillon Campbell, in our backfield in his final season.

"That night, there was something magical in the air. It seemed like every time "EMO" threw the ball, someone was scoring a touchdown, and the fireworks were going off behind our bench. He could do no wrong. It was a great night.

"All of my teammates and I remember that night fondly. Eric was the kind of guy that everyone was rooting for. He took over after James Fracas got hurt, and he delivered in the clutch and led us to two other big wins later in the year at Queens and McMaster."

Austin Reusch was a fourth-year senior defensive back in 2015. Currently a high school teacher and football coach in Oakville, Reusch fondly remembers that game.

"We had a sour taste in our mouths from the Homecoming loss to Windsor. Seniors like myself were wondering if our playoff hopes had been crushed at that point, "Reusch said.

"We rebounded the next week vs Waterloo, and we knew we had to beat Ottawa to keep our playoff hopes alive.

"I knew Eric took his job very seriously, and I trusted he would deliver a great performance. Every time we'd look up from the bench after a defensive series (note: Ottawa's only first-half touchdown was on a kickoff return), we would see that our offence had scored another touchdown.

"Back then, we had fireworks go off after every touchdown, and I think they went over the entire pyro budget on that game! It was such a euphoric feeling to see us rolling on all cylinders and see how excited we all were. That really sparked our confidence, and it led us to beating Queen's on the road two weeks later and upsetting McMaster on the road in the playoffs."
 

As far as life after football, Morelli has worked at a variety of start-ups and mid-size tech companies in product management, which relates to engineering design, marketing, and sales. He is currently the Lead Project Manager at Carta in Toronto. Although he still watches a ton of football, he focuses on less hazardous sports such as tennis and golf.