November 5, 2016

No. 5 Golden Hawks hold off No. 7 Marauders to advance to the 109th Yates Cup

WATERLOO, Ont. (November 5, 2016) - McMaster's football season came to a sudden halt as the No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks topped the Marauders 21-19 in the OUA semifinal on Saturday in Waterloo, Ont.

McMaster 7-3

Laurier 8-1

Final

McMaster (7-3)

Laurier (8-1)

WATERLOO, Ont. (November 5, 2016) - McMaster's football season came to a sudden halt as the No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks topped the Marauders 21-19 in the OUA semifinal on Saturday in Waterloo, Ont.

After trailing 21-6 midway through the third quarter, the Marauders tried to mount a season saving late comeback to bring the score within two points (21-19). McMaster had two more opportunities in the closing minutes to earn the win, but the Laurier defence held strong to end the Marauders 2016 season.

Quarterback Asher Hastings of Regina tossed 336-yards with two touchdowns in the loss. Hastings' 336 passing yards were his second highest total this year.

McMaster's Dan Petermann of Stoney Creek, Ont., was the game's top receiver hauling in 131 yards on 15 receptions while Dan Vandervoort of Barrie, Ont., posted 116 yards receiving on 11 catches. Petermann and Max Cameron of St. Catharines, Ont., had the two receiving touchdowns in the game

Rookie kicker Adam Preocanin from Burlington, Ont. continued his stellar season notching field goals from 27 and 31-yards while hitting several long punts and kickoffs.

Laurier built a 20-6 lead in the opening half with touchdowns from Kurleigh Gittens Jr. of Ottawa and Osayi Iginuan of Hamilton. Gittens touchdown came on a loud 63-yard pass from Michael Knevel (Brantford, Ont.), just before the first quarter ended while Iginuan punched in the ball on a one-yard run with 43 seconds remaining in the half.

For Laurier Knevel was 11 for 18 throwing for 159-yards in the air including the 63-yard touchdown bomb in the first quarter. Gittens tallied 72-yards receiving while Levondre Gordon of Mississauga, Ont., rushed for 92 yards in the win.

The Golden Hawks advance to the 109th Yates Cup battling the No. 3 Western Mustangs who knocked off the No. 8 Carleton Ravens 51-24 in the other OUA semifinal game on Saturday. The Yates Cup goes next Saturdayand will be hosted by Western in London, Ont. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm and will be broadcast on CHCH.

McMaster finishes the year with an overall record of 7-3 (6-2 regular season) with their only regular season losses coming against Ottawa and Western. Season highlights include a 40-10 win over Carleton in the season opener and then a 32-5 win against Toronto on Football Day in Hamilton which was played at Tim Horton's Field. McMaster was also a perfect 5-0 at home including a 4-0 record at Ron Joyce Stadium.

The Marauders had the best defence in Ontario and third best in the country trailing only Montreal and Laval. McMaster's defence surrendered just 87 points over eight regular season games for an average of 10.9 per game.

Although the Marauders season is over, university football in Hamilton isn't quite over with the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup scheduled for November 26, 2016 at Tim Horton's Field. The best two teams in the country will battle for university football's top prize - the Vanier Cup in the national championship game. Tickets are still available visit: www.vaniercup.com to purchase.