The Hawks suffered a 19-0 setback in their Week 1 opener on the road in Toronto. While Laurier’s defence was excellent in defeat, sacking Toronto quarterback Richard Quittenton four times, the Hawks offence struggled, generating just 190 yards of total offence. Laurier quarterback Travis Eman of Brampton, Ont., who was making his first career start in the OUA, was one bright point on offence as he threw for 122 yards and ran for a team-high 62 yards. Defensive back Felix Odum of Pickering, Ont., al so stood out for the Hawks, making seven tackles, while rookie Anthony Petrucci of Sarnia, Ont., had six tackles and a sack.
On the other side of the ball, the Gaels are coming off a 48-13 win in their home opener against the York Lions. Queen’s used a 35 point first half to grab an insurmountable lead and coasted to victory on the legs of running back Ryan Granberg of Sherwood Park, Alta., who finished the game with 149 yards rushing and three touchdowns. As for Gaels quarterback Billy McPhee of Burlington, Ont., he threw for 181 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions.
Although the Hawks have more than enough motivation to make up for last week’s performance, there is added incentive in the Laurier locker room as it was the Gaels who knocked out the purple and gold out of last year’s playoffs. Queen’s edged out the Hawks 14-10 in the quarter-finals and Laurier will be looking to exact a measure of revenge on Saturday night.
In order to do that, Laurier will have to improve their performance on offence and on special teams. The Hawks receivers dropped nine passes in Week 1 while the special teams had two kicks blocked, one field goal and one punt. If Coach Jeffries squad can tighten up these two areas, and with the Hawks defensive strength, it could make for a very competitive game against the Gaels, one of the early season favourites for the Yates Cup.
“We need to compete hard and really dig down,” said Head Coach Gary Jeffries. “We’re a young team, but if we make something happen early on, I think we can gain some confidence and get a real momentum going.”
NOTES: Queen’s leads the all-time series against the Hawks 8-7, dating back to their first meeting in the College Bowl in 1968…under Gary Jeffries, Laurier holds a 5-4 edge over the Gaels dating back to the 2003 season…Mitchell Bosch of Langley, B.C., Chris Ackie of Cambridge, Ont., Asante Mizan of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Petrucci were responsible for the four sacks against Toronto last week…Saturday’s game will mark the third straight year that the Hawks have played their home opener under the lights at Knight-Newbrough Field
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