Purple, Black and Gold

Hawks upset Queen's, earn playoff bye

 

WATERLOO – The Laurier Golden Hawks spoiled the No. 2 Queen’s Gaels’ quest for a second straight perfect regular season with a surprise 25-13 decision in Saturday’s Ontario university football action.

 

The 6-2 Hawks also earned second place and with it, a first-round playoff bye with Saturday’s win.

 

The hosts limited Queen’s quarterback Dan Brannagan’s entry into the record books to about 15 minutes.

Brannagan briefly held the Canadian university record for career passing yards on Saturday, until he was eclipsed by Western’s Michael Faulds who threw for about 550 yards in a victory over Toronto, also Saturday.

So it's Faulds who finishes as the nation's career leading passer with an unofficial total of 10,811 yards. Brannagan finishes his career with 97 yards less than Faulds.

In other Ontario University Athletics conference action, Waterloo crushed York 52-3; Western blanked Toronto 40-0; Ottawa got past Windsor 24-9 and McMaster defeated Guelph 32-29.

 

Laurier got touchdowns from Shamawd Chambers on a 44-yard pass reception from Evan Pawliuk and defensive back Scott McCahill returned an interception 110 yards for a major.

 

The Hawks’ defence held Queen’s to one touchdown, a four-yard scamper by Ryan Granberg.

Brannagan passed for 289 yards on Saturday. Pawliuk finished his day with 273 yards.

 

The loss ended Queen’s school record 17-game regular season win streak.

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CDN

Laurier spoils Queen's season

Laurier beats Queen's 25-13. Yup. It's true. Will check in later with deets.

Laurier up at the half

P, B and G is at midfield today for the Queen's vs. Laurier football game.

Get this. . . Laurier, much-maligned Laurier, is leading previously undefeated Queen's 18-6 at the half.

Brannagan set the CIS record for passing yardage in this game, but word is Western's Mike Faulds just overtook him for the record at a game against Toronto in London.
Queen's has not yet scored a touchdown today.
Laurier looks reasonably solid, especially on defence, and  QB Evan Pawliuk has gone 10-for-13 on his passes for a TD and 99 yards. Best of all, he's not thrown a pick, unlike Brannagan who tossed a doozy of an interception.
It was picked off by Laurier's Scott McCahill (his third pick in two games) on the Laurier goal line and returned 110-yards for the major.
Wonder what the third quarter holds.

Rankings schmankings

From the I-just-work-here department. . .

Voters left the gridiron Laurier Golden Hawks out of the national rankings for what is it now the third straight week.

Admittedly, the Hawks staggered through parts of the season.

But, Laurier beat at least one other ranked team, No. 10 McMaster, by a resounding margin.

For the record, yes, I'm one of about 50 media members who casts a weekly ballot for the Top-10 rankings, along with every head football coach in the country.

I had Laurier at No. 10, in place of Mac who needed OT to handle Windsor on Saturday.

That said, Mac beat Western earlier this year.

Not that it really matters to the teams, but I do think Laurier is worthy of a Top-10 ranking.

Oh, and for my money, Queen's, the only undefeated team left standing in the nation, is absolutely No. 1, ahead of Laval, given the Gaels' status in the most competitive conference in the country.

Naismith notes

Whew. What a weekend. Just opening up my notebook here to let the moths out.

Forgot to mention the rest of the all-stars selected at this past weekend's Naismith Classic hoops tourney at UW.

Of course, Waterloo product Grace Fishbein got the nod as MVP on the women's side of the draw.

She was joined by her Memorial Sea-Hawks teammate Alexandria Forsey on the all-star team as the school from St. John's, N.L. cruised undefeated at the four-team event.

Other all-stars included Aieisha Luyken from the University of the Fraser Valley and Concordia Stingers Melissa Szilagyi and Kourtney DiPerno, as well as UW's freshman sensation Saraya Hickey.

On the men's side, UW's Ben Frisby, Manitoba's Sean Maxwell, Casey Fox from Acadia and University of Toronto Blues Rob Paris and Nick Magalas were named tourney all-stars.

The tourney MVP, UW's Matt Hayes, drew rave reviews with his complete game.

The fifth-year centre is not likely to light up the scoreclock with his shooting skills, but he does bring a dimension to the Warriors' defence that is largely unquantifiable.

Hayes' determined work under the boards causes opponents to alter and often miss their shots, Warriors coach Tom Kieswetter pointed out to me after the championship game, which his team won 61-56 over Toronto.

That's not a skill that is charted statistically. But it is often a game-changer.

With their bench that's 10 or 11 legitimate players deep, UW's men have already convinced me that they can challenge for an Ontario West conference title this season.

Hawks defence answers the bell

 

GUELPH

– The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks survived five turnovers and fended off the Guelph Gryphons 21-14 in Ontario University Athletics conference football action on Saturday.

In other conference games, Queen’s retained its unblemished record with a 27-26 win over Western;

Waterloo thumped Toronto 30-7; Ottawa faced York and McMaster was to travel to Windsor

Saturday night.

Laurier’s defence held the OUA’s most prolific offence to one TD on Saturday before about 1,000 fans at Alumni Field.

Guelph’s other major came on a 111-yard interception returned by Mark Durigon.

The Gryphons, who fall to 3-4 on the season, held a 14-3 lead at the half.

Laurier QB Evan Pawliuk scored both touchdowns for the Hawks on short-yardage runs. Chris Mamo added a 23-yard field goal and a single point convert. Alex Anthony hauled in a two-point conversion for the Hawks.

Hawks return man Dillon Heap set the single-season Canadian university punt return yardage record on Saturday. He now has 820 yards on the season.

Laurier improves to 5-2 on and entertains first-place Queen’s next Saturday at University Stadium in a regular-season finale.

It's over

Game over. Laurier 21, Guelph 14. I'll check in later with the deets.

Laurier up

It's a new game in Guelph. Pawliuk scores on six-yard TD scamper. Score is Laurier 21, Guelph 14.
Eight minutes left in the fourth.

Game tied in Guelph

Start of the fourth here in Guelph. . .

Game is tied 14-14 following a Laurier field goal in the third and Evan Pawliuk's one-yard TD plunge which was followed by a two-point convert.

11:38 remaining in the fourth.

Somewhere in there, Laurier's punt returner Dillon Heap set the single-season CIS record.

Gryphs lead 14-3 at half

Pruple, Black and Gold is at the 55-yard line for today's Laurier at Guelph grid game.

Evan Pawliuk tossed two picks in the Gryphons' end zone through the first half to Guelph's Mark Durigon.

One resulted in a 111-yard TD return. Yikes!

So, here we sit freezing at halftime, with Guelph leading 14-3.

I'll check back later if I can thaw out my fingers.