Laurier men’s football team wins against the Waterloo Warriors in nail-biting finish, 53-50

The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s football team won a three-overtime thriller against the Waterloo Warriors on Thursday, Oct. 10 securing a 53-50 win at Warrior Field, not only giving Laurier another point in the Battle of Waterloo race but gaining revenge from their 34-32 loss in 2018, the first loss to Waterloo in 16 years.

Laurier would kick off the scoring with both a rouge point and a field goal from Nathan Mesher, with Connor Carusello adding a rouge point of his own and Osayi Iginuan rushing for a touchdown to put the Hawks up 12-0 in the first and second quarter. 

Waterloo would come back with a touchdown and a safety to cut Laurier’s lead to three, but Ente Eguavoen would add a touchdown of his own to extend the purple and gold lead to 19-9. Waterloo would kick a field goal to bring their point total to 12, but Kevin Wong added one more touchdown for the Hawks to close out the first half 26-12.

“Our players were really focussed and determined for the Battle of Waterloo. This turned out to be one of the most excited and entertaining regular season OUA football games ever. I’m so proud of our team’s mental toughness and focus to be able to handle all the emotions and play well all the way into 3 overtimes,” said head coach Michael Faulds in an email statement.

Throughout the third and beginning of the fourth quarter, Waterloo would score 13 unanswered points, bringing the deficit to just one point with just over 10 minutes to play in the matchup. 

Kavantye Bailey would get on the scoreboard as well to give Laurier a 33-25 lead, however, a rushing drive and a good two-point conversion from the Warriors with less than five minutes to play in the game would send it to overtime.

Both teams would manage to score a touchdown in both the first and second overtimes of the game making the score a tie at 47 points apiece, but in the third overtime when Laurier’s defence pressured Waterloo into only giving up a field goal, the purple and gold’s chance to clinch was present.

At second and goal on the Warriors’ three-yard line, Connor Carusello would through a three-yard pass to Brentyn Hall. Though initially, a flag on the play had players and fans alike holding their breath, the flag was declined and the Hawks took home a win to put them at 4-3 on the season. 

“This was a very meaningful game for playoff standings in what has been a crazy year of OUA football. As excited as we are for this big win against our cross-town rivals in 3 overtimes we need to quickly move on to our next opponent, the Carleton Ravens on Friday, October 18th. We are focussed to get our 4th straight win to end the regular season and hit the playoffs with a ton of momentum,” Faulds continued.

A win over the Ravens would put the Golden Hawks at 4-4 on the season, with the team starting off the season 1-3 and winning their last three matches. Losses from both Carelton and Toronto on Friday would secure the team’s playoff chances. 

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