Laurier alumnus and former Golden Hawk quarterback Ian Noble will be making his return to the football field next season; however this time he won’t be wearing purple and gold.
The history and political science major, who graduated last year, has been named to the roster of the Hawks’ bitter rivals, the Western Mustangs.
“I thought this was a great opportunity for me to go to school and play ball again,” said Noble, who will be attending Western’s prestigious School of Law. “I still have two years of eligibility left, and this just seemed like the right fit for me.”
Western has been responsible for knocking the Golden Hawks out of the playoffs the past two seasons, remaining undefeated against them in regular season action.
The last time Noble played in game action was in the 2008 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semi-finals, where the Mustangs defeated the Hawks 36-28 to end the purple and gold’s season. In that game, Noble came off the bench with the Hawks down 33-7 and led three touchdown-scoring drives to spawn a comeback bid that fell just short.
Despite his almost two-year hiatus from football, Noble maintains that he has stayed healthy and in good shape. He will also be training extremely hard to earn what he hopes will be a starting position with the Mustangs, who find themselves thin at quarterback after the graduation of Michael Faulds, who claimed the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) record for career passing yards last season.
“I will have to earn my spot on the team,” said Noble. “[Western] has many talented quarterbacks, but my advantage comes with being more experienced.”
The only quarterback currently on the Mustangs’ roster who has any experience is second-year Donnie Marshall – the son of head coach Greg Marshall – who has only played sparingly, backing-up Faulds for the past two seasons.
Laurier head coach and manager of football operations Gary Jeffries is supportive of his former quarterback’s pursuits in both academics and athletics.
“If that works out school-wise with his program then that’s great,” said Jeffries. “And if he gets an opportunity to play football at the same time, then that’s even better.”
Noble will be moving from his West Vancouver home to London in June to begin training camp.
The Golden Hawks and Mustangs will not be playing any regular season games against each other in the 2010 season, so their first potential match-up will be in the playoffs.
“You can’t help but be happy for him,” said Jeffries. “He’s a really good kid and we’re happy for him.”
