Laurier heads to McMaster to face nations top-ranked team in regular season finale
WATERLOO, Ont. (October 19, 2012) – With their playoff fate resting in their hands, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s football team (3-4) heads to Hamilton on Saturday where they will face the nation’s top-ranked team, the McMaster Marauders (7-0).
WATERLOO, Ont. (October 19, 2012) – With their playoff fate resting in their hands, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s football team (3-4) heads to Hamilton on Saturday where they will face the nation’s top-ranked team, the McMaster Marauders (7-0).
Game time is set for 1 p.m. with the game being broadcast live on theScore and audiocast on Radio Laurier.
Currently tied with the Windsor Lancers for fifth in the conference, if the Golden Hawks can pull off the upset against the Marauders, they would clinch their 10th straight post-season appearance. However, if the Hawks lose to McMaster, they will require some help from the teams above them in the standings.
Victories by Windsor and Queen’s, who are playing Waterloo and Toronto respectively, will also do the trick in clinching Laurier a playoff berth.
But in the mind of head coach Gary Jeffries, Laurier is only focused on one thing; playing well against the Marauders. “We don’t talk about the playoff situation,” commented Jeffries earlier this week. “We take it one game at a time and we’re just going to go out and compete.”
In order to pull off the upset against McMaster, the Hawks are going to need to find a way to put last week’s loss to the Western Mustangs behind them.
Laurier was outplayed in every aspect in the game, going on to suffer one of the worst losses in team history. Despite that, the Hawks have shown themselves to be resilient all season, twice bouncing back from losses to post victories the following week.
Meanwhile, the Marauders come into this game as the best team in the country, having held the No. 1 ranking throughout the season. Last week, McMaster faced one of their stiffest tests of the year in the Windsor Lancers but pulled away in the second half to earn the 39-18 victory. Kyle Quinlan of South Woodslee, Ont., continued his masterful performance this year, throwing for 401 yards and three touchdowns while also tossing two interceptions in the win.
If the Hawks are to have any chance of pulling off the upset, they will need their defence to step up and have their best game of the season. The group, who has performed well all year, will be looking to senior linebacker Drew Galpin of Kitchener, Ont., to continue his outstanding season. Already sixth all-time in Laurier history for tackles in a season, Galpin could move into the Top 3 with a similar performance to the one he had against Western when he registered 10 tackles.
“We’ve given him a chance, an opportunity to perform this year,” said Jeffries on Galpin’s play this season. “He’s a great kid who just leads by example. He’s healthy thi s year and it’s great to see him enjoying the success that he’s having.”
As for the Hawks offence, it is expected that Travis Eman of Brampton, Ont., will make his first start at quarterback since Lauriers Week 3 victory against the York Lions. Steve Fantham of London, Ont., who has started every game since then, was hurt last week against Western, meaning that James Fracas of Waterloo, Ont., will dress as the backup.
NOTES: McMaster has won two straight contests against Laurier but the Hawks still hold a significant edge all-time, winning 39 of the 54 meetings with the Marauders…another Hawk who has shone on defence this year is Carlos Naranjo of Whitby, Ont., who leads the OUA with eight pass breakups this season…kicker Ronnie Pfeffer of Kitchener, Ont., who has 12 field goals this year, needs only one more field goal to move into the Laurier.s Top 10 for single season field goal totals
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
