CFC10 U Sports Rankings Week 9: Laurier keep their Yates Cup dreams alive

TOP HEADLINES

• Heartbreak on one sideline. More heartbreak on the other. The football gods abandoned Waterloo this past week in favour of Laurier. York truly has nobody to blame but themselves after building a 22-14 lead at halftime, but then the offence went cold only mustering a field goal in the second half which allowed the Warriors to claw their way back for a 26-25 victory. All the Lions needed to do was win and they would’ve punched their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2004. You can only imagine how loud the sound of silence was in the dressing room after letting history slip through their fingers. Somehow that’s not the most heartbreaking moment, because after celebrating their improbable comeback to keep their postseason dreams alive, the Warriors learned that their hated rivals Laurier managed to topple Western in a 55-39 shootout, which meant nobody was leaving York Lions Stadium with a smile on their faces. While many fans were probably hoping for the Cinderella story, you can’t help but admire the Golden Hawks performance led by QB Will Russell throwing for 481 yards and five touchdowns, and an unbelievable turnaround on the defensive side of the ball shutting down the Mustangs offence after allowing 35 points in the first half. Russell couldn’t have done it without his sidekick WR Ryan Hughes, who had a career day catching eight passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Rounding out the offensive explosion was RB Tayshaun Jackson, who amassed 131 total yards and caught the other two majors from Russell. Now the only question that remains is whether Laurier has what it takes to do it all over again next week against Western in the OUA quarterfinals.

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• Last week we casted some doubt about how far Montréal could go with QB Esteban Bedoya running the offence. Well, Bedoya silenced a lot of critics after throwing for 384 yards and three touchdowns to help the Carabins secure a 37-36 victory over McGill. Bedoya might’ve also found his new favourite weapon with WR Simon Larose having a massive game catching seven passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously the final score was a lot closer than they would’ve liked, but this was a monumental win for the Carabins that clinched at least the second seed going into their regular season finale against Laval, where first place and home field advantage will be on the line. On the other side, McGill will be disappointed they couldn’t find a way to come out on top, but they can still take a lot of positives away from this game knowing that they have the horses to keep up with the Carabins, and might get another bite at the apple in two weeks depending on the results of the regular season finale. Rookie sensation QB Elliott Drapeau had a breakout performance throwing for 421 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 completions, which is a great sign for the Redbirds that he’s starting to truly feel comfortable in the pocket with the playoffs on the horizon. In a conference that’s always been defined by a two horse race, it really feels like we’ve finally got three programs ready to compete for the Jacques Dussault Cup this season.

PAST RANKINGS: WEEK 5 – WEEK 6 – WEEK 7 – WEEK 8

#	Last Week	School	Conference	Record	Results
1	1	Laval Rouge et Or	RSEQ	7-0	W 58-0 vs. Bishop’s
2	2	Montréal Carabins	RSEQ	6-1	W 37-36 vs. McGill
3	4	Saskatchewan Huskies	CANWEST	6-1	W 21-19 vs. Alberta
4	3	Queen’s Gaels	OUA	7-1	W 25-17 vs. McMaster
5	6	Windsor Lancers	OUA	6-2	W 27-23 vs. Guelph
6	5	Western Mustangs	OUA	6-2	L 55-39 vs. Laurier
7	7	McMaster Marauders	OUA	6-2	L 25-17 vs. Queen’s
8	8	McGill Redbirds	RSEQ	4-3	L 37-36 vs. Montréal
9	10	UBC Thunderbirds	CANWEST	5-2	W 21-17 vs. Regina
10	UR	Laurier Golden Hawks	OUA	4-4	W 55-39 vs. Western