Kick-off is set for 1pm at Knight-Newbrough Field, University Stadium. The game will also be available on Rogers TV Waterloo Region and Rogers TV Toronto, as well as online at Hawk TV Live (http://www.laurierathletics.com/live/).
The Lions will be riding a huge wave of momentum into the contest after their first home win under head coach Warren Craney this past Saturday. The Lions took out the Ottawa Gee-Gees by a score of 47-36 to improve to 1-1 on the year. They opened with a 48-13 loss to the No. 6 nationally-ranked Queen’s Gaels on Labour Day.
They will be up against a Laurier squad that has traditionally excelled in the OUA but is still looking for its first win of 2012. The Golden Hawks lost their season opener 19-0 to the Toronto Varsity Blues and last week went down to the Gaels by a score of 42-16.
“It’s definitely special,” said Craney just after the win on Saturday. “But we have already started to think about Laurier. I want to be 2-1, I’m definitely not happy with 1-1. We are already thinking about our next opponent and are ready to go out and give Laurier a game.”
The script has been flipped so far this year with the Lions’ offence clicking on all cylinders and the Golden Hawks struggling to move the chains. The Lions are currently third in the OUA in total offence with 896 yards, behind only the nationally-ranked programs at McMaster and Western, while the Golden Hawks are seventh with 468 yards.
On the other side of the ball, the two defences are evenly matched. The Lions have allowed 698 yards and the Golden Hawks 686 through two games each.
Both squads also feature quarterbacks who most recently played in the NCAA. York’s Myles Gibbon of Montreal came from the University of South Alabama, while Laurier’s Travis Eman was at Furman University in South Carolina. They have so far taken different routes becoming re-adjusted with the Canadian game, however. Gibbon has been dominant under centre with over 700 yards of offence (582 yards passing, 151 yards rushing) and five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). Eman, meanwhile, has completed just 35% of his passes and thrown for 209 yards and one score.
In addition to the tremendous play by Gibbon, the Lions have benefitted from the breakout play of fifth-year running back Kyle Exume of Whitby, Ont. He joined the squad for his fifth and final year of eligibility – he spent the first three with the Bishop’s Gaiters and used one year on a CFL practice roster – and is coming off a 180-yard rushing game against Ottawa that earned him OUA and CIS offensive football player of the week honours.
The Hawks have won nine in a row against the Lions, including last year’s 46-7 victory at York Stadium in the season opener. That game was not as one-sided as the score would indicate, however, as the Lions were down 15-7 after three quarters before the Golden Hawks blew it open in the fourth.
Following Saturday’s contest against the Golden Hawks, the Lions will return home for their annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 1pm against the Waterloo Warriors.
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
CFC Youth Game Spotlight: Quebec OL ready to lock it down
