November 12, 2005
LAURIER REPEATS IN 98TH YATES CUP
WATERLOO – Winning has become a habit for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks football program. And the defending Ontario University Athletics champions looked hungrier than ever as they soundly defeated the Western Mustangs 29-11 to capture their second consecutive Yates Cup in front of a wild crowd of 5,915 at University Stadium in Waterloo. The victory earns Laurier a spot in the Uteck Bowl against the Acadia Axemen next week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, leaving them just one win away from a date at the Desjardins Vanier Cup December 3 in Hamilton.
For the quietly confident Golden Hawks, advancing to the bowl game was apparently never in doubt.
“It was great for us because we have a lot of fifth year guys that will be graduating and we didn’t want to see them lose out and end their careers in this game,” said defensive back Joel Wright. “I thought we played a fantastic game and beating Western was all the more sweeter because they came in with a chip on their shoulder, telling us they were going to beat us and I don’t think they had a chance from the beginning.”
Laurier (10-0-0-0 overall) rode fifth-year running back Nick Cameron for the second straight week of the playoffs. After producing a school playoff record 263 yards in the semi-finals against the McMaster Marauders last Saturday, Cameron churned out another 167 yards with three touchdowns, including a thrilling 55-yard run for a score at the start of the second quarter that began to distance the Golden Hawks from Western. He was named the RCA Lyra Player of the Game in each of the wins.
“He’s sweet,” fourth-year lineman Kyle Weston said of Cameron. “The O-line, we’ve just got to smack heads and we let Nicky find the seam and if he wants to run, we’ll let him run.”
Cameron said the win was a complete effort by the whole team but despite the emotion of winning another OUA championship, Laurier still has plenty of work to do. The Golden Hawks only loss in the past two years was to the two-time defending Vanier champion Laval Rouge et Or, a 30-11 defeat in the 2004 Uteck Bowl. Cameron figures it’s a different team that will head East next week.
“There’s no way we can be satisfied,” said the Norland, ON native. “Last year, I think maybe we were a bit satisfied when we ran into Laval, like some said, it was men versus boys. This year, we’re older, we’re more prepared.”
The Golden Hawks looked fully prepared for the high-octane Mustangs, who had shown an ability to rack up points all season long with one of the most balanced offences in the nation. Western, playing in its first Yates Cup since 1997, had no answer for a stubborn defence that gave up some yardage through the air, but kept the visitors from establishing the run or completing drives. The Mustangs had just 37 total yards rushing.
Western led 5-3 after the first quarter before Cameron’s first touchdown. In the second and third quarters, Laurier scored 26 unanswered points to pull away, taking full advantage of some costly Mustang turnovers. The Golden Hawks blocked a Derek Schiavone punt early in the third quarter and ended the drive with a 33-yard Brian Devlin field goal. Minutes later, defensive back Gavin Cond came up with a huge interception, leaving Laurier at the Western 30-yard line. Cameron capped that drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, his third of the afternoon. Cond had six solo tackles, an assisted tackle and a fumble recovery to go along with the interception, while fifth-year defensive back Ian Logan led all players with seven tackles.
OUA MVP Andy Fantuz was generally held in check by the Golden Hawks secondary. The Chatham, ON native had six catches for 75 yards but was double and triple teamed throughout the game, never being able to get in rhythm with quarterback Michael Faulds.
“We worked hard to get here and we had what we wanted, playing against the best team in front of a packed house,” said Fantuz, who was playing in his first Yates Cup. “We just didn’t execute the way we wanted to and we had some big penalties that held us back.”
“We seemed to be driving the ball alright and then we’d always just make one bad play. I think mental mistakes and not playing as hard as we could on every play was the problem.”
Western finally scored a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when Faulds hit Ryan Clutterbuck for an eight-yard score. Faulds completed 23 of 39 passing attempts for 288 yards, with a pair of interceptions to go along with the touchdown.
Quarterback Ryan Pyear had a quiet day for Laurier passing for just 137 yards. But the Belleville, ON native was poised orchestrating an offence that has been near perfect of late. Pyear gave credit to head coach Gary Jeffries for keeping the team calm in an emotional game.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Pyear said of the experience playing for Jeffries. “Whenever we started stepping out of line, like we did a couple times when we got penalties, he called us all in and put us back on the track and straightened us all out. He’s such a huge supporter of our players. There isn’t one guy on the team that wouldn’t fight to the death for him.”
Laurier’s goal now is to become the first team OUA team in 10 years to advance to the Desjardins Vanier Cup. The last was Western, which lost to the Calgary Dinos 54-24 in 1995.
“We were one win away from making it to the Vanier and this year, we remember that, we remember what it was like to be that close and come up short,” Pyear said. “It would be huge for the OUA. Huge for us but just as big for the OUA to have a team in the Vanier Cup. It’s been a long time.”
“We’ve got something special with this team and hopefully, we’ll keep it going. There’s no way we’re flying that far just to lose.”
- OUA -
For the quietly confident Golden Hawks, advancing to the bowl game was apparently never in doubt.
“It was great for us because we have a lot of fifth year guys that will be graduating and we didn’t want to see them lose out and end their careers in this game,” said defensive back Joel Wright. “I thought we played a fantastic game and beating Western was all the more sweeter because they came in with a chip on their shoulder, telling us they were going to beat us and I don’t think they had a chance from the beginning.”
Laurier (10-0-0-0 overall) rode fifth-year running back Nick Cameron for the second straight week of the playoffs. After producing a school playoff record 263 yards in the semi-finals against the McMaster Marauders last Saturday, Cameron churned out another 167 yards with three touchdowns, including a thrilling 55-yard run for a score at the start of the second quarter that began to distance the Golden Hawks from Western. He was named the RCA Lyra Player of the Game in each of the wins.
“He’s sweet,” fourth-year lineman Kyle Weston said of Cameron. “The O-line, we’ve just got to smack heads and we let Nicky find the seam and if he wants to run, we’ll let him run.”
Cameron said the win was a complete effort by the whole team but despite the emotion of winning another OUA championship, Laurier still has plenty of work to do. The Golden Hawks only loss in the past two years was to the two-time defending Vanier champion Laval Rouge et Or, a 30-11 defeat in the 2004 Uteck Bowl. Cameron figures it’s a different team that will head East next week.
“There’s no way we can be satisfied,” said the Norland, ON native. “Last year, I think maybe we were a bit satisfied when we ran into Laval, like some said, it was men versus boys. This year, we’re older, we’re more prepared.”
The Golden Hawks looked fully prepared for the high-octane Mustangs, who had shown an ability to rack up points all season long with one of the most balanced offences in the nation. Western, playing in its first Yates Cup since 1997, had no answer for a stubborn defence that gave up some yardage through the air, but kept the visitors from establishing the run or completing drives. The Mustangs had just 37 total yards rushing.
Western led 5-3 after the first quarter before Cameron’s first touchdown. In the second and third quarters, Laurier scored 26 unanswered points to pull away, taking full advantage of some costly Mustang turnovers. The Golden Hawks blocked a Derek Schiavone punt early in the third quarter and ended the drive with a 33-yard Brian Devlin field goal. Minutes later, defensive back Gavin Cond came up with a huge interception, leaving Laurier at the Western 30-yard line. Cameron capped that drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, his third of the afternoon. Cond had six solo tackles, an assisted tackle and a fumble recovery to go along with the interception, while fifth-year defensive back Ian Logan led all players with seven tackles.
OUA MVP Andy Fantuz was generally held in check by the Golden Hawks secondary. The Chatham, ON native had six catches for 75 yards but was double and triple teamed throughout the game, never being able to get in rhythm with quarterback Michael Faulds.
“We worked hard to get here and we had what we wanted, playing against the best team in front of a packed house,” said Fantuz, who was playing in his first Yates Cup. “We just didn’t execute the way we wanted to and we had some big penalties that held us back.”
“We seemed to be driving the ball alright and then we’d always just make one bad play. I think mental mistakes and not playing as hard as we could on every play was the problem.”
Western finally scored a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when Faulds hit Ryan Clutterbuck for an eight-yard score. Faulds completed 23 of 39 passing attempts for 288 yards, with a pair of interceptions to go along with the touchdown.
Quarterback Ryan Pyear had a quiet day for Laurier passing for just 137 yards. But the Belleville, ON native was poised orchestrating an offence that has been near perfect of late. Pyear gave credit to head coach Gary Jeffries for keeping the team calm in an emotional game.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Pyear said of the experience playing for Jeffries. “Whenever we started stepping out of line, like we did a couple times when we got penalties, he called us all in and put us back on the track and straightened us all out. He’s such a huge supporter of our players. There isn’t one guy on the team that wouldn’t fight to the death for him.”
Laurier’s goal now is to become the first team OUA team in 10 years to advance to the Desjardins Vanier Cup. The last was Western, which lost to the Calgary Dinos 54-24 in 1995.
“We were one win away from making it to the Vanier and this year, we remember that, we remember what it was like to be that close and come up short,” Pyear said. “It would be huge for the OUA. Huge for us but just as big for the OUA to have a team in the Vanier Cup. It’s been a long time.”
“We’ve got something special with this team and hopefully, we’ll keep it going. There’s no way we’re flying that far just to lose.”
- OUA -
