October 31, 2023

Elgersma, Ageli, Lidster named OUA football players of the week

Burlington, Ont. – Taylor Elgersma, Muftah Ageli, and Brady Lidster have been named Canadian Football Perspective’s OUA Players of the Week for the quarterfinals.

Offensive Player of the Week – Taylor Elgersma, Wilfrid Laurier

Laurier football player Taylor Elgersma running on the field with his right arm lifted in the air in celebration

After a stat-stuffing regular season, Taylor Elgersma continued to put up big numbers in Wilfrid Laurier’s quarterfinal collision with Waterloo.

Fresh off that record-breaking regular season, Elgersma gave what might have been his best performance of the season, and he did it in only two quarters and change. After coming out of the game early in the second half with the lead well in hand, the London, Ont. product’s stat line read 360 yards on 20-of-22 passing with three touchdowns. He also rushed in another three majors, giving him six total scores in the contest.

Following the game, head coach Michael Faulds described Elgersma’s season so far as ‘some of the best QB play even seen in U SPORTS history’, which speaks volumes coming from the past pivot who graduated as the nation’s all-time leading rusher.

Defensive Player of the Week – Muftah Ageli, Windsor

Windsor football player Muftah Ageli standing on the field during the game looking out toward the distance using his hand to block the sun from this eyes

Muftah Ageli was anywhere and everywhere for the Windsor Lancers in their tough quarterfinal test against Carleton, which proved to be bad news for the Ravens.

Ageli, a Windsor, Ont. local, was instrumental in limiting the Ravens run game on Saturday, consistently cutting down their opportunities with early tackles or tackles for loss. In fact, the third-year criminology major would rack up seven total tackles on the afternoon, including five of the solo variety. Two of those came for a loss, one of which featured him teaming up with Kolade Amusan for the sack. He would also take advantage of another Amusan sack against Tristan Lefebvre, scooping up the resulting loose ball for the fumble recovery.

Ageli was a true standout in limiting Carleton to just74 yards rushing and 11 points in the victory.

Special Teams Player of the Week – Brady Lidster, Windsor

Windsor football player Brady Lidster in mid-kick about to kick a field goal

Points came at a premium in the Windsor quarterfinal game and more than half of them came off the foot of their kicker Brady Lidster en route to their low-scoring victory over Carleton.

From the get-go, it was clear that earning a spot in the semifinals would be a grind, so much so that the only scoring in the opening half came from Lidster. The second-year human kinetics major connected on a 34-yard field goal with just under four minutes to go in the first quarter to open the scoring, before adding a rouge with less than three minutes to play in the half.

After Carleton edged ahead 5-4 to start the final frame, Lidster was called back into action with the chance to get the lead back. The St. Thomas, Ont. local made no mistake on the eight-yard chip shot, ensuring that his team came away with valuable points on the drive. He would add an extra point on Windsor’s game winning touchdown just a few minutes later to cap his day with eight of the team’s 14 points.

Lidster’s pivotal special teams presence also extended to his punting duties, wherein he booted the ball nine times for 309 yards – good for an average of over 34 yards per kick.