Win ends underdog status for Laurier
CIS HAMILTON — In just three short years Laurier Golden Hawks coach Gary Jeffries transformed a football team that had bottomed out with a 1- 7 season in 2002 into a Vanier Cup champion.
Standing amid the bedlam on the Ivor Wynne Stadium field after his club rallied for a thrilling 24- 23 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, with many in the crowd of 16,827 partying with his players, Jeffries could hardly contain himself.
“ That’s pretty good, huh? They’re just so great,” he said, tears streaming down his face.
It was a well-deserved moment of triumph for Jeffries, who identified the flaws in his team during losses to McMaster in the 2003 Ontario final and Laval in the 2004 Uteck Bowl and made the necessary improvements to take the next step.
Perhaps now his program, and the lightly regarded Ontario conference, will get its due. Even though both No. 3 Laurier and second- ranked Saskatchewan entered the Vanier Cup with perfect 11- 0 records, the Huskies were heavily favoured.
The Golden Hawks went out and proved speed and skill can overcome size and strength in the riveting victory, getting a 32-yard field goal with 19 seconds left from Brian Devlin to win it and validate their place among the elite in Canadian university football.
Now the challenge for Jeffries is to keep Laurier there, joining schools like Saskatchewan and Laval who compete for championships year in, year out.
“We’re not satisfied. Now we have to do it all over again next year,” said defensive lineman David Montoya, Saturday’s defensive player of the game. “We’re going to have some fun, we’re going to celebrate this, then we’re going to go into the off- season and get bigger and faster and do it all over again.”
It won’t be easy, as Laurier will lose 12 starters to graduation including quarterback Ryan Pyear, the team’s inspirational leader. His final university game was one of his finest, throwing for three touchdowns and leading two dying-minutes drives to erase a 23- 15 deficit despite suffering a high-ankle sprain in the third quarter. Canadian Press