WATERLOO, Ont. – With some Friday night football on the menu to begin the Thanksgiving long weekend, the #1- ranked Golden Hawks feasted a little early with a 33-26 road win over the #6-ranked Windsor Lancers.
The victory not only extended Laurier's unbeaten run to 7-0 but, with one regular season game remaining, also secured first place overall (and a first-round playoff bye) in the OUA. The last time the Golden Hawks achieved that positioning in the conference standings was 2005.
It was another warm October evening as Laurier made the trip down to the Rose City but, fortunately, Windsor was a little cool on their first drive of the game, finding themselves hemmed in their 30-yard line.
Laurier's defence quickly forced a two-and-out, but a miscommunication on the long snap to kicker Brady Lidster retreated the Lancers to their end zone, ultimately conceding a safety. The Hawks were up 2-0 just two minutes in.
The first quarter was a battle in the trenches as both teams could not make up meaningful ground. But Dawson Hodge went to work splitting the uprights with a no-doubt 36-yard field goal. The frame ended with the Golden Hawks leading 5-0.
The Golden Hawk faithful who followed the team to Alumni Stadium found themselves holding their breaths in the second quarter as the Lancers, on their Senior Night, ramped up the intensity.
After three first-down plays, the home side entered Golden Hawk territory. Windsor looked threatening but a five-yard penalty set them back and, at third and 11, Lidster put three on the board for his side on the 22-yard field goal.
Windsor's defence kept Taylor Elgersma and company at bay, not allowing the purple and gold to respond like they have been able to do all season long.
Joey Zorn, fifth in the OUA in rushing yards per game, broke down the Laurier defence going 51 yards before being brought down a single yard behind the goal line. Danny Skelton called his own number for the first major of the game, and Windsor flipped the score to lead 10-5.
Lidster's 68-yard kickoff fell into, and out of, Ryan Hughes's hands on the return play and Aron Massaquoi recovered the ball to put the Windsor offence back on the field. Fortunately for the Hawks, the Lancers were flagged, placing some distance between them and the end zone.
Laurier's hit squad only had a short rest, but tired legs dig deeper.
Second-year linebacker Ethan Gregorcic pushed Zorn's rush attempt back for a loss of a single yard, and on second and 11 Skelton missed his target.
The Golden Hawks held strong, preventing another touchdown, but with Lidster setting up for a field goal, the Hawks were at risk of falling behind eight points.
Lidster, 14 for 21 on three-point plays, missed wide. A player who the Lancers had been purposely avoiding sending kicks to all game turned the tides, and it was none other than the electric Tayshaun Jackson.
Jackson, starting from the very back of his end zone, used the blocks weaving in and out along the sideline before cutting to the middle, eventually reaching the Windsor nine-yard line on an incredible 120-yard missed field goal return.
"The big turning point was they're up 10-5 and going for a field goal, which was going to make it 13-5. They miss it, and Tayshaun Jackson takes it all the way back," said Laurier's manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds after the game.
"I'm proud of Tayshaun on that play and everyone else blocking for him, and he's done that several times this year, sparking us when we need it most."
Jackson's marathon of a run was the catalyst for the Golden Hawks in the second quarter, stringing together 21 unanswered points.
Darion Bacik-Hadden started the scoring frenzy, rushing the hand-off from Elgersma into the end zone for his first touchdown of the season. The Hawks were back on top 12-10.
Instead of sending a soaring ball to the Windsor returners, Hodge kept the kick short, 34 yards short, and the special teams unit flew fast to get the last touch before it went out-of-bounds, resulting in an onside kick and Laurier possession.
Tanner Nelmes got the Golden Hawks down to first and goal where Elgersma and Ethan Jordan took over. Nelmes left the back-field early drawing a defender out wide with him, Jordan cut across the middle and ran onto Elgersma's leading pass, falling into the endzone for his eighth touchdown. The Hawks increased their lead to 19-10 with 4:01 left in the half.
Approaching one minute remaining, Nelmes and Elgersma hesitated on the hand-off where the offensive line cleared the way for Nelmes to pick up 12 yards on the play and another first-and-goal scenario.
Elgersma looking deep into the endzone found Raidan Thorne a step ahead of the coverage and made the diving catch with 0:02 remaining, putting the Hawks up 26-10. Thorne collected his third touchdown of the year, and his second in as many games.
Laurier took a commanding 16-point lead going into halftime, but 5:25 into the third quarter, the Lancers struck back as Christopher John collected six points.
The Lancers gambled electing to attempt the two-point conversion where Skelton took the ball himself thinking he had an open lane, but Harnoor Dhaliwal shut Skelton down, tackling him at the one-yard line, leaving Windsor with just the six points.
This time, the purple and gold were able to respond thanks to the all-star duo of Elgersma and Jordan. With Nelmes lined up in the backfield with Elgersma, they faked the transfer and with a Lancer coming in hot on Elgersma, he unleashed a 28-yard pass to Jordan for his second touchdown of the night.
The Lancers took possession with 1:35 to go in the third quarter now finding themselves down 33-16. Skelton combined for 49 yards on the play with two different receivers, quickly gaining ground into the Laurier zone.
Looking to close the gap to ten points, Skelton was once again foiled by Dhaliwal who teamed up with Owen Goetz to maintain the Golden Hawks 17 point lead.
Windsor settled for the field goal to start the fourth quarter, but on the ensuing Laurier drive, Elgersma was swarmed by a pack of blue and yellow where Marco Piccioni forced the fumble and the Lancers regained possession, looking to mount a comeback. On the play, Piccioni picked up his second forced turnover of the game.
The turnover would result in a Windsor touchdown, bringing the Golden Hawks lead down to a single score at 33-26. Laurier fans once again had to sit on the edge of their seats.
With Jaxon Stebbings making a run in the endzone, Elgersma was unable to land the pass being intercepted by Istvan Assibo-Dadzie, giving the Lancers a chance at evening the score, but it would be a tough task having to march 120 yards downfield.
The Laurier defence maintained composure, and second-year linebacker Jessie Wilkins was the main reason the Lancers could not break centre field. Wilkins silenced Zorn on all three of Windsor's rushing attempts, ending the night with five tackles.
Wilkins's three stops forced Windsor into the timeout at third and three with 4:48 left in the game, where the Lancers could have gambled once again to pick up the three yards for a first down, but the Lancers who were seven for 20 on third-down conversions elected to punt.
The Golden Hawks were hoping to run out the remainder of the clock, but a miscommunication put Hodge back on the field to punt, and the ball was in the Lancers' hands with 1:13 remaining.
Windsor's choice to kick the ball away the play before almost paid off. But once again the Laurier defence stepped up and shut the door.
Skelton going to his go-to man in Zorn was stopped not once, but twice, as Chisanem Nsitem and Marcus Tenney brought Zorn to the turf on third down, sealing the deal for the Golden Hawks.
"Windsor's got a good rushing attack. They ran it three straight times, including on third down, but we stood our ground and stopped them. So the fact that we stopped a good running team like them was impressive," Faulds said.
He also noted how securing the extra week of rest "during that crucial time is important."
"I'm proud of how our coaches and players have battled. They've earned this number one seed."
Up Next
The Golden Hawks travel to the nation's capital to face the 2-5 Carleton Ravens, who will enter the game after their bye-week.
"Carleton's fighting for their playoff lives," said Faulds. "We've clinched the first-round bye, but that's not going to change how we approach this game. We have a chance to go 8-0. We have a chance to continue to try to get better."
Kickoff is set for 1 pm and all the action can be seen live on OUA.tv.
