It seemed as if everything was going to go right for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
The men’s football team was ahead 15-5 going into the half, quaterback Julien John had thrown for a touchdown and had sent third-year Dillon Campbell on a fabulous 69-yard run for another touchdown.
But in mere seconds into the third quarter, on a rainy Saturday afternoon on the York Lions’s new turf field, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks saw their lead disappear before their eyes, dropping their third game in a row 33-20.
This is the first time Laurier has lost to York since 2002.
“Honestly I can’t really say,” Campbell said of Laurier’s second-half offensive shutdown. “I guess on both sides of the ball, we got a little too excited I guess and we just didn’t complete what we were supposed to do.”
Laurier’s offence started off strong, forcing York to concede a safety at 9:20 of the first quarter. Not even a minute later, second-year Greg Nyhof received a nice 35-yard pass from John to put the Hawks ahead 8-0.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Campbell would use his legs to put Laurier’s second touchdown of the game, and with a successful conversion, Laurier was ahead 15-0.
A team safety and a 36-yard field goal from York’s Nick Naylor would bring the Lions within ten.
“We felt really good [going into the game],” head coach Michael Faulds said after the game. “So we felt really good with how we ended last week against U of T, we thought we could build off that momentum. And we kind of did early on. Obviously the rain and wind were a factor early on, and Dillon Campbell had some unbelievable runs …”
But then, the game took a turn for the worse for the Hawks.
Four consecutive scoring plays for York, which included three consecutive touchdown plays and a safety, put York ahead of the Hawks at the end of three quarters, 28-15.
“And then, for whatever reason, I don’t know if it’s taking your foot off the pedal, or a little complacent, but in the second half and the third quarter they started chipping away at it, we had some bobbled snaps, some turnovers, and the next time you look up, they’re in the lead and we’re fighting and clawing just to be productive,” Faulds said.
While third-year kicker Ronnie Pfeffer’s 44-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter seemed to be a positive notion, nothing more came from the offensive side of the ball for Laurier.
The game would end with another field goal from Naylor and another conceded safety from Laurier.
John went 9-for-32 with two interceptions, 148 yards and five sacks.
With the loss, Laurier is now 0-3 on the season and head into their game against crosstown rivals, the Waterloo Warriors needing a win to keep any sort of playoff hopes alive.
“We obviously have to build off what we did in the first half, and last game what we did in the second half and hopefully [against] University of Waterloo we can put four quarters together,” Faulds said.
