Laursen’s Record Leads Gaiters past Huskies on Friday night in Lennoxville

Noah Laursen's (Calgary, Alta./bishop Carroll H.S.) schoolrecord five field goals and Louisphillipe Gregoire's 176 yards on 23 carries led the Bishop's Gaiters past the St. Mary's Huskies 23-15 on Friday night on Coulter Field.

The victory is Bishop's first over the Huskies since their move to the AUS. It moves them to 4-3 and in solo second place in the conference. St. Mary's falls to 3-3.

Bishop's gobbled up the opportunity early on as they marched seven plays and 81 yards to score on their opening drive when quarterback Charles Aubry (Laval, Que./college Lionel-groulx) hooked up with fellow freshman Nathan Lupien (Saint-jerome, Que./cegep Saintjean-sur-richelieu) for a 24-yard catch and run.

Laursen kicked his first field goal on the next drive, a 37 yarder, to put Bishop's up 10-0. The Huskies replied with a field goal of their own as the first quarter wound down to cut the Bishop's lead to 10-3 after 15 minutes.

Justin Julien picked off Aubry and returned it 61 yards for the pick-six to even the score at 10, 11:32 into the stanza. Bishop's responded. They marched eight plays and 60 yards then Laursen kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Bishop's a 13-10 halftime advantage.

The third frame saw Laursen kick his third field goal of the night, this one from 21 yards for the only score. SMU appeared to be marching into for a major when Aarron Franklin (Los Angeles, Calif./utah State Univeristy) picked off Huskies' pivot Joshua Shim in the end zone and returned it 51 yards to give Bishop's instant field position.

The first play of the fourth was Laursen's only missed field goal but resulted in a rouge. Bishop's conceded a safety but held a 17-10 advantage early in the quarter. They Gaiters' defense held strong following a SMU 9-play, 60-yard drive that resulted in a Brian Hope 22yard field goal for the visitors.

Gregoire took over late. The ground and pound game with him and Norman Ossohou (Paris, France/lycée Van Gogh) wore on the Huskies defense. Laursen kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2:18 left to extend the advantage to 20-15. Antoine Walker-graham came up with a huge sack on the ensuing drive to force a Huskies' punt and when Gregorie broke free for 38 yards, Coulter Field was rocking. Laursen's fifth field goal, a 13yarder, set the school record and forced the Huskies to try to march the length of the field in 43 seconds.

The victory, is Bishop's fourth of the year, their most since 2013.

The Huskies were penalized 17 yards for 145 yards while Bishop's committed eight fouls that cost them 91 yards.

Next up the Gaiters travel to Sackville, N.B. for a tilt with the Mount Allison Mounties (2-4) who will be coming off their bye week. A win and Bishop's will qualify for the post-season for the first time since joining the AUS.